ABSTRACT
This qualitative study explored how kindergarten teachers balance care and challenges when handling learners with special needs, providing a basis for program recommendations. Teachers offer balanced care through psychosocial support, progress monitoring, and collaboration with parents or guardians. The challenges faced by kindergarten teachers include managing learners’ behavioral concerns, limited attention spans, large class sizes, lack of training and resources, and maintaining close collaboration with parents. Teachers manage these challenges by implementing a structured and supportive classroom environment, using differentiated and individualized instruction, providing emotional responsiveness and positive discipline, and fostering collaboration, all while engaging in reflective teaching practices. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with kindergarten teachers and analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that effectively supporting learners with special needs requires a deliberate balance between emotional care and instructional support.
Keywords: Balancing Care, Challenges, Kindergarten Teachers, Learners with Special Needs
INTRODUCTION
Inclusive education has become a cornerstone of modern teaching practices, aiming to provide equitable learning opportunities for all learners, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, or emotional differences (UNESCO, 2020). In the early years of education, particularly in kindergarten, the implementation of inclusive classrooms presents unique challenges and opportunities (Ngadni et al., 2023). Kindergarten teachers are not only expected to deliver academic instruction but also to nurture the holistic development of young learners some of whom require specialized support due to disabilities or developmental delays (Hasanah et al., 2024).
Despite the growing emphasis on inclusion, there remains a gap in research focused specifically on the lived experiences of kindergarten teachers navigating these demands. Understanding their perspectives is vital in shaping policies, training programs, and classroom practices that truly support inclusive education. Recent empirical studies underscore that despite strong policy rhetoric, inclusive education practices in many settings face persistent challenges. Moreover, poor learning environment, lack of instructional materials, inadequate facilities, minimal stakeholder support were recurrent issues (Balik & Ozgun, 2024).
Kindergarten teachers face special demands. Young children are often less able to articulate their needs, have shorter attention spans, and require more hands-on care. Supporting learners with special needs at this stage involves not only academic readiness but also socialization, emotional regulation, and play-based learning. A 2023 study by Daniels & Pyle on kindergarten teachers’ approaches toward inclusion in play-based learning for children with developmental disabilities where children access at different developmental levels, and foster community acceptance among peers.
However, as much as inclusive education embodies progressive ideals, its implementation particularly in early childhood settings presents complex challenges, especially for the educators responsible for executing it on the ground. While inclusive education promotes social integration and equal opportunities, it also places significant demands on teachers, particularly those in the early childhood sector who may lack adequate training, resources, or institutional support (Ngadni et al., 2023).
Teachers are expected not only to adapt their instructional strategies to cater wide range of abilities but also to manage classroom dynamics, collaborate with specialists, engage with families, and foster and inclusive culture all maintaining the emotional warmth and care essential in kindergarten settings. The emotional labor, professional strain, and systematic challenges that come with these expectations often lead to internal conflicts, burnout, and a sense of professional inadequacy among teachers (Mangalcal, 2024).
Due to these observations, the researcher would like to determine the balancing care and challenges of kindergarten teachers in handling learners with special needs.
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