Special needs education in light of the inclusion principle: an exploratory study of special needs education practice in Belarusian and Norwegian preschools

The purpose of this study is to investigate possible practical consequences of the ideological principle of inclusion. In this article, we investigate, compare and discuss how employees of Norwegian and Belarusian preschools perceive their own, and their preschools’, special needs education practices related to children with language difficulties. This study has a qualitative case design. The investigation contains 10 semistructured interviews of five employees from five preschools in each country. The analysis of the empirical material shows that the interviews primarily revolve around two topics: competence and sense of mastery and self-understanding. Among the staff of the Norwegian preschools, perceptions of a relatively low average competence, unsatisfactory guidance from external professionals and a low sense of mastery are prevalent. The informants from Belarusian preschools perceive a high and more specialised competence, available special needs education competence and a high degree of sense of mastery. Despite different situations and contexts, this study suggests that the preschool sector in both countries face the same challenge; how preschools can implement a form of inclusive educational practice, without at the same time relinquishing valuable special needs education competence.