Document Type: Conference Papers
Year published: 2010
Conference: International Conference on Educational Research (ICER) 2010: Learning Communities for Sustainable Development (2010: Khon Kaen University, Thailand)
The increasing number of Mainland Chinese immigrant children in the Hong Kong school system mandates our understanding of teacher readiness to work effectively with these students. This case study adopted narrative inquiry to probe deep into participants’ lived experiences to reveal significant insight into teacher readiness in working with Chinese immigrant students with disabilities. Data sources included field notes, unstructured- and semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. Findings showed that the special education teacher was primarily concerned about the student participant’s difficulty associated with his disabilities, totally unaware of the impact of her limited proficiency in the child’s first language. The government’s concept of acculturation needs and subsequent policy contributed greatly to school personnel’s lack of awareness of student needs and lack of readiness to work effectively. Recommendations focused on government policies for qualification requirements of special education teachers and reforms to integrate special and multicultural teacher education.