Chinese attitudes toward inclusive education: Perspectives of Hong Kong and Macau secondary school teachers, students and parents

Hoi Yan Cheung, Joseph Wu and Sammy K.F. Hui

This research investigated the attitudes of Chinese students toward inclusive education, by dividing the research into two studies with different subgroups included. Study 1 invited 340 secondary students and 129 secondary teachers from 9 mainstream secondary schools in Hong Kong to participate. The Chinese version of the 16-item Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale originally developed by Wilczenski69 was applied. The results were analyzed at item and variable levels. Hong Kong students had significantly more positive attitudes toward inclusive education than their teachers. However, both groups did not show positive attitudes towards inclusive education. Based on the results of study 1, study 2 tried to cross validate these findings by inviting 135 teachers and 260 students in Macau to participate. As well, study 2 extended the horizon of comparison by inviting 260 parents to participate. They were either the mothers or fathers of the 260 students who participated in study 2. The same scale was applied in study 2 and the results showed that neither the Macau students nor the teachers were particularly positive toward inclusive education. The Macau parents had the more positive attitudes toward inclusive education than the Macau students and teachers. The results from the two studies in Hong Kong and Macau were compared and discussed.

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“On the Other Hand” – Geography in Kindergarten Context

Miguel Castro

Geography tries to explain the relationship between Man and the planet. From this point of view, it may seem difficult to introduce geographical concepts in pre-school, since they are too complex and "abstract" for children between 3 and 5/6 years old. The diversity of spaces and the difficulty of access and interiorization of the concepts makes geography distant intangible and imperceptible for these young children. In order to attract children to geography it is advisable to approach them within their own universe. As Kieran Egan shows, children are attracted by the most exotic, strange and different things; with narratives and stories, children are able to manipulate abstract concepts, as long as well-defined binary oppositions are presented. Applying this reasoning to geography, we can significantly introduce different concepts such as forest / desert, mountain / plains.

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