ABSTRACT

In Singapore, many parents find it difficult to locate early childhood services for their children withspecial needs. As Singapore does not have laws protecting the right to education for children with specialneeds, early childhood center administrators (managers and principals) make admission decisions at theirown discretion on a case-by-case basis. This qualitative interview study examines the individual, variedpatterns of early childhood center administrators’ admission decision making process in relation tochildren with special needs in Singapore. The results revealed an on-going, dynamic decision makingprocess jointly participated in by both administrators and parents. The researcher investigated anddocumented the steps and efforts these administrators took to make the inclusion of children with specialneeds possible in regular early childhood education settings. The implications of this unique Singaporeinclusion model are focused on the moral and professional aspects of inclusion and administrators’ senseof ownership in inclusion without the presence of the law.

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