Why Inclusion? • 11
time and space to create their own learning and in which teachers can help them
learn to use their strengths, are the most effective settings for inclusion.
To be sure, there is a lot to learn. In this book, we suggest some key per-
spectives on child development that may be new to you and that may inspire
you to do some reading and learning. We show you specific teaching tools and
practices that will stretch your perspective or your approach. We offer ways to
help you adjust your priorities or your teaching style to most effectively sup-
port all the children in your care. We hope you will be pleasantly surprised,
as we have been in our inclusion journey, to learn that the new or different
aspects of inclusion make up a smaller part of the picture than the basic skills
and strengths all teachers have. Inclusion is much more a matter of applying
your skills in new ways than it is a new set of skills.
• • •
In this chapter, you learned how all programs have been faced with the chal-
lenge of inclusion. You also saw how inclusion is, far from just a necessity, a
means of enhancing and broadening program quality. You learned how inclu-
sion benefits children, teachers, families, and communities. You reflected on
why teachers would want to embrace inclusion and learn to think of them-
selves as inclusion teachers. In the next chapter, you will examine the roots and
basics of relationship-based education, the platform upon which all teachers
can learn the tools of successful inclusion.
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