Nursery World - A Unique Child: A-Z of inclusive practice

By Mary Dickens, early years consultant (All Together Consultancy and London Metropolitan University)

'Inclusion is a process of identifying, understanding and breaking down barriers to participation and belonging.'

Early Childhood Forum (2003)

If we are trying to make our practice inclusive, it is vital that we try to ensure that there are positive attitudes to all kinds of difference. Inclusive practice includes helping everybody to understand and celebrate differences, and tackling any fears or misapprehensions on either side.

Negative messages about characteristics, attributes, customs or behaviours are often internalised by young children, who are in the process of constructing their identities and trying to make sense of what they see and hear around them. Some of these negative messages may be overt but others may be subtle and/or unintentional.

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