ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the views of a group of kindergarten students in an elementary school in South West Florida. The children, some of whom have labels of autism, participated in an inclusion project where four children with autism joined the kindergarten class for sustained periods each day over the period of a school year. All children were encouraged to share a picture booklet with a familiar teacher. The booklet was created with pictures of the class that depicted three tenets of inclusion: having fun, joining in and learning together. In addition, the teacher kept a journal where she detailed observations of the children and noted conversations with the general education teachers and parents of the children. This chapter presents the responses to the picture booklets by the children and the notes made by the teacher. The following questions guide the discussion in this chapter:
What can teacher educators learn from multiple insider perspectives related to inclusive experiences to inform inclusive teacher education experiences?
How do teacher educators come to understand what teachers need to know for inclusive practice and how teachers come to know, do, appreciate and be through promoting greater appreciation of insider perspectives?
What are some of the barriers/challenges for teacher educators who may wish to use insider perspectives in their inclusive education experiences?
