The main purposes of this study were to analyze the background and content of the central government's policy development in mainland China based on the current development status of inclusive preschool education policy ,to explore local government responses to policy developments; and to explore the effectiveness of local government implementation.
According to the research purposes, this study adopts the methods of document analysis, focus group discussion and semi-structured interview to interview local educational administrators, principals of inclusive kindergartens, inclusive kindergarten teachers and parents. Through literature review, this paper explains the origin, reform and development of inclusive preschool education policy. The connotation, goal and implementation of inclusive preschool education policy are discussed. Take Ningbo city as an example to understand the implementation of the local government's inclusive policy. The conclusions of this study are as follows:
1.Based on the level of regional economic development and the foundation of preschool education development, In 2010, Ningbo was selected as the pilot city of education reform to "strengthen the government's development of preschool education" and promote the reform of preschool education system.
2.According to the policy requirements of the central Government, formulate the three-year action plan for the improvement of preschool education at the municipal level, and the counties (cities) and districts under its jurisdiction formulate the three-year action plan for each region based on their own conditions, and promote the three rounds of action plan from top to bottom.
3.Regulations and policy documents such as Regulations on The Promotion of Preschool Education of Ningbo City, Management Measures for Inclusive Private Kindergartens and Management Measures for The Use of Special Funds for Preschool Education have been issued to provide a basis for the policy development of inclusive preschool education.
4.Public kindergartens, private kindergartens and inclusive private kindergartens shall be governed by classification. In urban areas, the inclusive preschool education resources shall be expanded through the construction of supporting kindergartens in residential areas and the construction of standardized central kindergartens in rural areas.
5.By optimizing fiscal allocation measures, financial input in preschool education focuses on guaranteeing teachers' benefits, awards and subsidies for private kindergartens, and subsidies for children's funds.
6.Implement the "dual-track system" of teacher employment, strengthen teacher training, and provide designated support for key teachers in public parks to strengthen teacher management and improve the quality of teachers.
7. The establishment of "government supervision", "government supervision of the kindergartens", "social supervision of the kindergartens" three supervision system,
strengthen the quality of preschool education supervision.
8.Ten years after the implementation of inclusive preschool education policy, the coverage rate of inclusive preschool education has increased significantly, the number of provincial kindergartens has grown, and the number of teachers with certificates and professional titles has increased, which has the effect of guiding the positive development of preschool education quality.
9.Although the problems of "difficulty entering kindergarten" and "entering kindergarten is expensive" have been alleviated, the " difficulty entering high-quality kindergartens" has gradually become a new problem.
10.The public service system of universal preschool education makes parents have an obvious sense of access, and they are highly satisfied with the convenient access of universal kindergartens and the affordable fees. At the same time, they put forward higher requirements for the access of high-quality kindergartens.
11.Although inclusive preschool education resources have increased, the total amount of public preschool education resources is still insufficient, and the collective-based operation of kindergartens brings about the potential concern that high-quality preschool education resources are "balanced".
12.The imbalance in the distribution of urban and rural education investment is obvious, and the gap between the stronger the public and the weaker the private is more obvious, which should be faced squarely.
13.Private kindergartens have different motives for "switching to the general population", while enjoying the policy bonus, they face the dilemma of sustainable development, and the quality level of private preschool education with universal benefits is not uniform.
14.Local government contractors have different understandings of the policy and the connotation issued by the central government, so the alienation of the promotion of inclusive preschool education policy is worth paying attention .
15.The promotion of inclusive preschool education policy has not set a perfect teacher guarantee mechanism at the same time, and the stability and quality of teachers still need to be improved.
Finally, specific suggestions are put forward based on the research conclusions, which can be used as reference for administrative units, kindergartens and future development of inclusive preschool education policies.