Vaatamata kaasamist toetavatele poliitikatele ja uuringutele on kaasava hariduse rakendamine lasteaedades väljakutse. Selleks on oluline süsteemne ja terviklik lähenemine. Oleme loonud kirjanduse põhjal kaasava hariduse rakendamise mudeli. Siinne artikkel keskendub juhtumiuuringule, mille eesmärk on mudeli põhjal välja selgitada kaasava hariduse rakendamise tunnused lasteaias. Selgus, et kõik mudelis avatud võtmetunnused ilmnesid ka lasteaedades. Erinevused esinesid perekonna, institutsiooni ja riigiga seotud tunnustes, millele lasteaedades tähelepanu ei pööratud või mida ei teadvustatud. Lisaks ülevaatele kaasava hariduse rakendumisest seisneb uuringu praktiline väärtus ka ettepanekutes mudeli parandamiseks õpetaja ja institutsiooni tasandi täiendavate tunnustega. Kokkuvõttes ilmnes, et kaasava hariduse rakendamine lasteaedades sõltub eelkõige kaasava hariduse olemuse mõtestamisest ja rakendamise väljakutse seisneb riigi tasandi võtmetunnustes.  Summary

Despite the development of policies and research supporting it, inclusion remains a challenge in contemporary education. We have developed a theoretical model for implementing inclusive education, thereby supporting early childhood education quality. It is necessary to establish the applicability of this model in order to apply it to improve the practices for adopting inclusive education. We conducted a case study, which showed that all levels and key characteristics of the theoretical model were also relevant in practice. However, as a result of the case study, the features describing the key characteristics were modified compared with the initial model. Additionally, the case study revealed that some of the features did not appear in practice. Those undetected features were mostly related to understanding the concept of inclusive education and the philosophy of inclusion. There appeared a need for a clearer understanding of inclusion on both the institutional and state level. The implementation of inclusive education does not in itself always increase inclusion or reduce exclusion. Therefore, when implementing inclusive education, it is necessary to think carefully about what is being done to allow all children to be meaningfully involved in the same classroom and by their teachers.