IMPLEMENTATION OF INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD CONTEXT

The implementation of inclusive education is an encouragement to provide the widest possible opportunities or access for all children to obtain quality education in accordance with students' individual needs without discrimination. PAUD Harsya Ceria has its own identity, which is different from other schools and requires children to respect each other. PAUD Harsya Ceria has students with special needs who are treated with the principle all children will be accepted regardless of their conditions and uniqueness. This research aims to determine how inclusive classrooms are implemented at PAUD Harsya Ceria. This research uses qualitative descriptive research, and data collection is carried out using interviews, observation, and documentation techniques on how teachers manage and arrange inclusive classrooms. The data analysis technique uses data reduction, data presentation and conclusion. The findings show that the same curriculum is used in the school for all children, with the differentiation of playing activities to accommodate students with special needs. Materials used are also selected to suit the students. PAUD Harsya Ceria used special guidelines called the kayang strategy to train teacher assistants in carrying out their duties.


INTRODUCTION
Every child has the opportunity to obtain education, including children with special needs, as regulated in Indonesian Law No. 20 of 2003, which shows that children with special needs have the right to have the same opportunities as normal children in obtaining education. 1Inclusive education is an education delivery system that provides opportunities for all students with disabilities, potential intelligence, and special talents to participate in education or learning in an educational environment with students in general. 2 According to Latus, inclusive education provides an overview of educational services that include children with special needs studying together with normal children in regular schools.The implementation of inclusive education is an encouragement to provide the widest possible opportunities or access for all children to obtain quality education in accordance with students' individual needs without discrimination. 3nclusive schools allow children to learn from various backgrounds and special conditions.With students' diverse backgrounds, implementing inclusive schools will be very relevant for them.Inclusive education programs allow children with special needs to learn at regular schools. 4Those are provided in terms of curriculum, facilities, and infrastructure, as well as the learning system, to provide inclusive education that is adapted to the needs of students. 5All these ensure that all students have equal opportunities to learn and develop and feel accepted and valued. 6nclusive education requires child-friendly schools, non-discriminatory classes, recognition, and respect for all children's rights.Then, teachers must also have professional skills in inclusive classes' teaching and learning processes.Teachers must adapt educational services to the diversity of children's special needs. 7The diverse needs of children in inclusive classes also impact the adjustment of the curriculum, educational facilities, and infrastructure, as well as the structuring of the classroom environment and social interactions between children.Apart from that, the teacher's educational background and understanding of children with special needs and inclusive education are also important in implementing classroom management to provide optimal services for children with special needs in inclusive classes. 8rganizing the management of inclusive early childhood education services requires programmed management, namely curriculum, learning facilities and special accompanying teachers (GPK), which are very important in the learning process. 9The curriculum for inclusive early childhood education services differs greatly from early childhood services.This can be seen when the curriculum prepared can adapt to the uniqueness and characteristics of children.The learning facilities that provide inclusive PAUD services are also slightly different from early childhood education services in general; the learning materials and learning media provided are also specifically adapted to the specificities of students. 10Special Assistant Teachers (GPK) are crucial.They are the main element in facilitating the learning process for children with special needs because special assistant teachers have special competencies in educating children during the learning process according to their special needs. 11anaging classes with an inclusion system is not an easy thing to implement.The current obstacle often faced by schools that have not implemented inclusion is the teacher's readiness to manage teaching and learning activities.Suwarsih said that an inclusive school teacher must be patient and caring and understand their students' special circumstances, abilities and needs. 12The importance of inclusive learning in early childhood (PAUD) institutions must be implemented in national and core curricula and in executing the curriculum in an inclusive environment that considers the needs of all children and can provide the best program for non-regular children in their educational development.Curriculum development is designed for children who cannot follow the curriculum recommended by the government to fulfil the services of the Special Needs Children program. 13he implementation of inclusive classrooms at inclusive PAUD applies functional criteria or must meet children's needs.Functional criteria are applied through grouping classrooms and designing large spaces for children to study.Room planning is generally based on teachers' competence in inclusive PAUD.The main activities are teaching and learning, child care for early childhood, therapy, and supporting activities open to the public.Those carrying out the activities include students, class teachers, special assistant teachers, daycare teachers, medical teachers, administrators, and visitors.Students, especially children with special needs, are the priority users in inclusive classroom design.This is based on the characteristics of children with special needs who have several differences from normal children.They require special attention to get into the same classroom without making it difficult for children with special needs. 14yahria said that inclusive education at early childhood education institutions in Indonesia is still not inclusive enough.These can be seen from the problems of educators, supporting facilities and infrastructure, and the inclusive education curriculum, which cannot answer the existing challenges yet. 15However, this statement starkly contrasts the research conducted by Rosliana and Hizriyani, which stated that the Inclusive Education policy in PAUD schools was implemented according to expectations.The research showed that the existence of regular schools is able to provide inclusive education.In addition, every PAUD school has an established inclusive education system due to its experience in providing special service education and inclusive education since 2009 16 .Furthermore, according to Adriati, inclusive education through inclusive classroom management strategies for kindergarten teachers has been achieved, namely that every teacher who takes part in training acquires new knowledge in terms of handling children with special needs and inclusive classroom management. 17itriani and Prayogo stated how to overcome barriers to language development for children with speech delays by showing that they understand the pedagogical approach to children with speech delays.The research shows that there are several steps that teachers can take: 1) Class management, 2) Teacher example, 3) Small group opportunities, 4) Large group opportunities, 5) Learning tools, 6) Referral system.To support this step, teacher competence must also be improved.From the several studies above, what differentiates this research is the research subject and results, while the similarity is that they both discuss inclusion. 18reschool Harsya Ceria is one of the PAUDs in Banda Aceh City, and it is designated as a school providing inclusive education as stated in the decree of the Head of the Banda Aceh City Department. 19PAUD Harsya Ceria has its own identity and different advantages from other schools.PAUD Harsya Ceria requires children to respect each other and not differentiate between their friends.At PAUD Harsya Ceria, there are many children with special needs.PAUD Harsya Ceria has adhered to the principle that all children who come to the school will be accepted regardless of their conditions and uniqueness because not all other schools can provide inclusive classrooms.Therefore, it is necessary to see how inclusive classes are planned and implemented in the learning process at PAUD Harsya Ceria Banda Aceh in order to be able to duplicate it in other PAUD institutions.

RESEARCH METHODS
This research uses a qualitative research method using a descriptive qualitative approach with a case study type of research.This research was carried out at PAUD Harsya Ceria Banda Aceh, focusing on the kindergarten level.The criteria that researchers set for this research's subjects are people involved in the activities who know and understand information related to the research focus.Based on this, the subjects in this research were selected using the following criteria: Willing to be interviewed, have a lot of experience regarding inclusion, and know more information about children with special needs and normal children because they have been teaching at PAUD Harsya Ceria for a long time.The subjects of this research were two (2) teachers who taught in class B. Primary data was obtained from teachers in class B at PAUD Harsya Ceria.In contrast, secondary data was obtained from documents regarding the school, such as lesson plans, learning books, and objects that support study sources.This research uses interactive data analysis with the Miles & Huberman model, with the following steps: data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. 20This research uses 3 (three) implementation criteria in inclusion classrooms, namely (1) implementation of the curriculum, (2) implementation of learning facilities and (3) implementation of special

The Implementation of Inclusive Classroom in the Learning Process
The implementation of classes in the learning process at PAUD Harsya Ceria is carried out through the management of three (3) criteria: (1) curriculum, (2) learning facilities, and (3) special accompanying teachers.

Curriculum
The curriculum used at the Harsya Ceria PAUD school is an independent curriculum or, called Kurikulum Merdeka, and the curriculum used for children with special needs and normal children is the same.The only difference is in the level of difficulty of the game.As one teacher said, "The curriculum used for children with special needs and normal children is the same, but the level of learning difficulty is different.For example, during cutting activities, children with special needs cannot yet cut but are allowed to use their hands to tear, while normal children still use scissors".The curriculum, facilities, infrastructure, and learning system in providing inclusive education must be adapted to the needs of students. 22The curriculum for inclusive early childhood services is very different from early childhood services in general, especially since the curriculum provided is specific in its preparation and adapted to students' specifics and characteristics. 23reparation and planning of the lesson plans is conducted one (1) week before the learning activities.The learning model used at the Harsya Ceria PAUD school is called "sentra".The learning steps conducted in the classroom are the same for children with special needs and also for normal children: the opening, core, and closing activities.Teachers provide the same chairs, tables and play equipment for children with special needs and normal children in the same place.The differences are seen when playing.Children with special needs usually did not listen to instructions from the teacher, and children with special needs were also assisted by special accompanying teachers (GPK).
While playing, children with special needs would be accompanied and assisted by a teacher in completing the activity.In contrast, normal children completed the play activity independently without the teacher's help.After playing, children with special needs were immediately put into their special rooms so they would not throw tantrums and disturb other normal children who hadn't finished their activities.And when it was time to tidy up, only normal children helped the teacher, while the special children did not.After everything was done, the children with special needs and normal children sat in a circle and would read a prayer before continuing to study.
Assessments in the school used checklists with no differentiation in the technique used.However, the level of assessment is different for children with special needs who use the PPI (Individual Learning) sheet.The names of the instruments are daily, weekly, report card, and portfolio assessment instruments.Daily instruments are given every day, weekly instruments are given every week, report cards are given every semester, and portfolios are given once a year to the parents.

Learning Facilities
PAUD Harsya Ceria has a Kindergarten level and is divided into two groups, namely Kindergarten A and Kindergarten B. Kindergarten A has a total of 13 children (9 children with special needs and 4 normal children), while Kindergarten B has 12 children (7 children with special needs special and 5 normal children).In class B, chairs are provided for all children without any differentiation.The seats provided for normal children and children with special needs are also the same, as the teacher said, "The seats are the same size and model, because the facilities for normal children and children with special needs are not differentiated".The facilities provided for normal children and children with special needs are educational game tools, tables, chairs and study rooms.
The facilities provided to children with special needs are the same as those provided to normal children.Teachers will provide specific-needs-related media for children with special needs in accordance with the child's limitations, needs and development stage.This could be found when children were playing cutting papers, whereas, for normal children, the paper provided was smaller.In comparison, children with special needs were given bigger-sized paper and assisted by special assigned teacher (GPK).This is in accordance with the idea that the learning facilities that provide inclusive preschool services are also slightly different from early childhood education services.The learning materials and learning media provided are also specifically adapted to the specificities of students. 24

Special Assistant Teacher (GPK)
Here at PAUD Harsya Ceria, a few special assistant teachers are provided to support children with special needs.PAUD Harsya Ceria at the kindergarten level has 5 (five) class teachers with a Bachelor of Education (S.Pd) degree, while there are 2 (two) special accompanying teachers who also hold a Bachelor of Education (S.Pd) degree, yet not from the special education department.The numbers are also quite small, and only 2 special teachers are available to accompany two (2) children with special needs, while the rest are just regular accompanying The special assistant teacher's job is only to accompany the special child, not to teach in the classroom and not to be involved in creating teaching modules and the assessment process.Those are subjected to the class teacher's job.
Special assistant teachers (GPK) also did not participate in outside training to improve their competence.The practice conducted at PAUD Harsya Ceria is that the head of the school foundation often provides materials and guidance for handling these special children.The material is usually given at the beginning of the new school year to guide the implementation the "Kayang" strategy.For newly recruited teachers, it was usually given at the assembly's closing before going home and was delivered routinely, while senior teachers would also listen.The special assistant teacher was also not involved in making lesson plans, teaching modules and the assessment process because that was the class teacher's job, while the special assistant teacher's job was to keep the children company.
Special Assistant Teachers (GPK) are very important.They are the main element in facilitating the learning process for children with special needs because special assistant teachers have special competencies in educating children during the learning process according to their special needs.However, these special assistant teachers were not involved in many lesson activities and planning at PAUD Harsya Ceria.Managing a class with an inclusion system is not easy to implement.Until now, the obstacle often faced by schools that have not implemented inclusion is the readiness of teachers to manage teaching and learning activities.Suwarsih said that an inclusive school teacher must be patient and caring and understand their students' special circumstances, abilities, and needs. 25The presentation of learning programs in educational services is in accordance with the development and growth of each student.The different needs of children are met by providing facilities and resources that constitute inclusive education facilities. 26With inclusive education, children participate in the educational process, and obstacles that hinder them can be removed.

CONCLUSION
Inclusive education provides an overview of educational services, including children with special needs (ABK) who study together with normal children in regular schools.Implementing inclusive classrooms is not easy; however, PAUD Harsya Ceria is able to provide inclusive services for both normal children and children with special needs.PAUD Harsya Ceria conducted an inclusive classroom with three criteria: curriculum, learning facilities and special accompanying teachers.An inclusive curriculum is served by providing the same lesson plan with a slight differentiation to suit the children with special needs.Inclusive learning facilities are provided through the availability of special rooms, while the special accompanying teachers are providing assistance with the "Kayang" strategy.
The limitation of this research is that the research samples are limited to only one school.It is hoped that further research can be carried out in a larger number of inclusive schools so that the data obtained will be more varied.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.The table and chairs provided are the same for all children

Table 1 .
Interview Sheet Grid