A matter of organisation? Perspectives on inclusion in Danish preschools measured by the ECERS-3

This article investigates whether the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale v.3 (ECERS-3) contains a latent dimension interpretable as inclusion. I scrutinise certain items in the ECERS-3 that provide information about the relations between subscales and about the organisation of routines, transitions, and group activities from an inclusive perspective. The subscale Program Structure contains items that describe the quality of children’s communities and include didactic considerations, such as planning and organising the learning environment in relation to children’s development. In trying to establish the ECERS-3 as a proxy for inclusion, I find strong correlations between items on room arrangement, space for privacy, and child-related displays and the subscales Interaction and Programme Structure. The findings are discussed in terms of inclusive strategy, inclusive practice, and inclusive culture.