In 1997, the two-year pioneer project on inclusive education for students with disabilities was implemented. The peer ambassador programs aiming at creating more opportunities for students with and without disabilities to interact with each other were also launched at that time. The aim of this study was to examine the experience of the peer ambassadors from an insider's perspective. A convenient sample of 23 peer ambassadors from 6 secondary and 17 primary schools participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative method and content analysis. The findings suggested that the roles of peer ambassadors included friend, academic tutor and Big-Brother-Big-Sister. All participants had very positive feelings in the process of helping others. Three quarters of the participants reported that they had development in the areas of personal qualities and interpersonal skills. All of them received support from the resource teachers, but their participation was affected by the attitude of peers and family. They also indicated that they needed support in handing the challenging behavior of classmates with disabilities. A mutual helping relationship was found between students with and without disabilities in the inclusive schools and the peer ambassadors also had personal development through the helping process. Strategies for program improvement are suggested to encourage students with and without disabilities to learn together.
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The development of inclusive education practices have led to worldwide discussion of how best to deliver a more equal education apportunity for all. In Hong Kong this has led to the development of the concept of an inclusive curriculum for special schools. This paper looks at the implications of writing an inclusive curriculum that has common curriculum content for all pupils that is based on the State curriculum. Over a four year period, nine special schools for pupils of different designated disability collectively pooled their resources to work for one common curriculum goal. In doing so they discovered that the biggest challenge was to the teacher's hearts and minds. Over 130 teachers were involved in the project. It required a significant paradigm shift in the way the teachers thought both about what they taught and how they taught. It required a common team effort within and across each school. It was apparent that providing equal opportunity to raise standards of education for the all the pupils required the recognition that every teacher had to change their way of thinking, every teacher matters. 全納教育的發展及實踐已引發了全球性的討論，討論焦點為如何為所有學生提供平等教育機會的最佳方法。在香港，一個全納課程的概念正在特殊學校中發展。本文檢視這一套以中央課程為本及以課程內容適合所有學生的原則下發展的全納課程範式及其所涉及的問題。過去四年，九間收納不同弱能類別學生的特殊學校匯聚他們的資源，致力為達致同一課程目標工作。過程中，最大的挑戰來自教師的心能及熱誠。超過130位教師參與這個計劃。這計劃涉及一個重要的範式轉移，教師需要就教學內容及教學方法重新思考。這計劃亦需要學校共同努力。計劃顯示要達到為所有學生提供平等機會及提升教育水平的目的，每一位教師都需要改變他的思維方式︰一位教師都也不能少！
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This paper looks at the evolving trend of government influence on schools and education across the world, and asks what is happening in Hong Kong in both mainstream and special education. Recent evidence would suggest that in many countries governments are starting to question the efficacy of current policies and practices. The challenge is for the Hong Kong government to reduce its quasi influence, and for teachers to begin to self-examine the efficacy of their teaching practices in terms of meeting the needs of each and every student in their classroom. There appears to be a conflict of interest between the needs of the state and the needs of the classroom. If teachers were to be given more responsib1ility for the learning progress of each student, rather than simply the overall progress of groups of students, current pedagogical practices would require a major paradigm shift. 本文就全球不斷進展的趨勢,檢視各國政府政策對學校及教育的影響,並探討香港主流教育與特殊教育的現況。最新資料顯示,不少國家的政府已開始懐疑現行政策及實踐的成效,香港政府要面對的挑戰,是如何減少它在形式上的影響及如何令老師開始自我審視在處理個別學生需要教學方法的效益。事實上,國家所認同的需要與課堂裹所期望的需要,像各有分歧。作者指出,如果老師要為每一個學生學習進展負責而不是為一群學生的整體進步為目標,則現行的教學實踐需經歷一次重大的範式轉移。
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Challenges to equal educational opportunities for all students still exist in many places across different societies in times of increasingly diverse student populations in schools. Not only students with different learning abilities but also those from different social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds have diverse learning needs. We argue that inclusive education should take a broader perspective regarding students of difference and/or difficulty,while principals play out important leadership roles for equal educational opportunity in schools. This paper aims to examine two principal leadership approaches to practices for the diversity of student populations. By conducting a cross-case study, the principals cultivated an inclusive and multicultural school environment for the students. The findings show that the principals turned their schools around by adopting similar and different leadership practices. Hence, they can transform the schools towards more inclusion for students of differences and difficulties. 隨著學校學生的差異性不斷擴大,在不同地方為所有學生提供平等教育機會仍然面對各樣挑戰。主要除了學習能力的差異,亦可能因來自不同社會、文化及種族背景,學生的學習需要變得更複雜。我們認為校長在平等教育機會中擔任重要的領導角色,而融合教育應以更全面的觀點去應對學生的學習差異與困難。這篇文章以跨個案研究分析兩位校長在面對學生複雜和差異的學習需要時的領導方式,為學生的學習提供一個共融及多元文化的校園環境。研究結果顯示兩位校長實踐相似但不相同的領導方式促使學校轉型,他們帶領學校發展成為更能接納學生差異與困難的共融校園。
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The work reported here grew out of an on-going investigation of the essential competencies required by teachers working in special schools in Hong Kong (Westwood & Wong, 2003). The earlier study explored the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that teachers in special schools are required to apply in their daily work with students with disabilities. This brief report addresses a slightly different question — namely, the areas of knowledge and skill in which teachers feel they require additional training and development. A total of 76 teachers in special schools responded to an open-ended request for information on this matter. Results indicate that teachers mainly require additional practical advice on teaching strategies, managing the behaviour of students with disabilities, and adapting curriculum to meet the students' needs. The teachers aslo perceived a need for additional information and skills in collaborative teamwork, and in acquiring an understanding of various therapeutic approaches deemed useful in special schools. The paper links the results of the survey with recent and proposed changes within the education system in Hong Kong.
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Since the release of the official document on education reform, special schools in Hong Kong have been making efforts to develop their own school-based curriculum to echo the spirit of 'one curriculum for all' (Curriculum Development Council, 2001). However, there are several concerns when working towards this spirit: (1) it is difficult to help students with special educational needs (SEN) access the central curriculum due to the lack of guidance; (2) a common language has not been developed with agreed performance standards to describe students' attainment and learing progress; (3) and low expectations for students is common due to high emphasis on skills training oriented education and (4) a lack of direction in teaching and the understanding of the key learning areas. This article is, therefore, an attempt to (1) review the trends and related studies on 'accessing the central curriculum' from an international perspective; (2) discuss the concerns on assessment and curriculum development for improving access to the central curriculum for students with SEN in Hong Kong with respect to the "one curriculum for all' spirit; (3) describe a project (the SAME Project) in Hong Kong in this related topic and to highlight the accomplishment of the Phase 1 of the project. The implications to the field are also discussed. 自從教育改革文件發表以來，香港不少特殊學校都會致力發展校本課程去回應「同一課程」的精神。在過程中，遭遇不少問題，例如︰(1) 缺乏指引去協助有特殊教育需要學生學習中央課程；(2) 缺乏一個共通語言及共同同意的表現標準去描述學生的能力及學習進度；(3) 由於過份重視技能訓練引致對學生期望偏低的普遍現象；(4) 缺乏對主要學習領域的認識及教學方向。就上述情況，本文會 (1) 從國際視野檢視「接受同一課程」的趨勢及研究；(2) 就「同一課程」的精神討論如何評估及課程發展去改善香港特教學生接受中央課程的機會及 (3) 描述一個與此題目相關的計劃(「融通計劃」及介紹這計劃第一階段的成就。最後會討論此計劃對業界的含意。
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This study examined visual orthographic skills in Chinese primary school students with spelling difficulties. One hundred and fourteen children with spelling difficulties from grades one, three and five were compared to 114 non-disabled children matched with sex, same school enrollment and grade. All participants were asked to perform on four visual orthographic tasks. Findings revealed significant difference between those with spelling difficulties and those without in various aspects of visual orthographic skills. Data indicated that students with spelling difficulties, in general, tended not to be aware of features of strokes within a Chinese character and not to be aware of the constructional legalities within an unfamiliar radical over different grades. It was also noted that these students in grade one had difficulties with the spatial position of a radical within a Chinese character and lacked knowledge about positional legality of a radical. The findings led to the conclusion that deficits of visual orthographic skills were apparent among Chinese students with spelling difficulties when compared to those without such difficulties. 本研究探討香港小學一、三、五年級，有中文書寫困難學生(n=114)，及對照組非殘障生(n=114) 的視覺拼字能力。對照組學生有性別、就讀學校、及年級之相同組成。全體學生(N=228) 均做四項視覺拼字能力測驗。結果發現兩組學生有顯著差異。一般而言，所選各不同年級，有中文書寫困難的學生，均較缺中文字筆劃和組成方面的基本概識。而一年級學生，已面對中文字體結構空間與方位上的困難。總結是中文書寫困難比對照組學生有較多的視覺拼字能力缺陷。
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Through classroom observations and interviews, the findings in this article recount the supports to five students with hearing, mobility, and visual impairments at a university in Hong Kong. Their instructors and staff at the university were interviewed. Such supports include improvement of accessibility in buildings, the provision of assertive technology grants, and counseling servives. Universally designed instructing strategies and individual adaptations for specific needs students are elaborated as well. The discussion outlines the needs for further research in documenting disability accommodations in the tertiary institutes in the Chinese society. 本文匯報在香港一所大學進行的一項研究，透過課室觀察及面談，探討學校為五位殘疾學生 (包括︰聽障、視障及肢體殘障) 提供的支援服務。面談亦包括大學導師及講師。正規的支援包括建築通道的改善、輔助科技津貼、心理輔導，而自然支援則包括為感知障礙學生提供的支援服務。本文亦會介紹各種通用性的教學策略及為學生特別需要所作的個別調適。討論概括指出在華人高等教育學府的殘疾人士仍有各種需要而需繼續研究。
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This qualitative study, conducted in Hong Kong between September 2009 and August 2011, explored the contextual factors that may influence the effectiveness of a well-established but atypical reporting system utilized in an inviting secondary school. An inviting school is intentionally adopting policies and practices that are compatible with the Invitational Theory (Purkey & Novak, 1996). In this investigation, information gleaned from fieldwork observations was compared to factors that had emerged from a previous study (Chung & Yuen, 2012), which used interviews with students. The findings confirmed the factors from this previous study, namely the importance of constructive comments and teacher-student relationships, as well as revealed additional influential factors—teachers' beliefs, professional development and communication strategies. These factors appeared to connect strongly with the basic beliefs of invitational education. The findings enrich invitational theory in relation to the value of reporting systems as a major adjunct to the curriculum. Inviting schools may preoccupy the advantages to transform their existing reporting system into an individual Education Program for more diverse needs in msainstream schools. The study also revealed difficulties of a contextual nature that the school was encountering while implementing the reporting system. 這次質性研究於零九年九月至一一年八月在香港一所啟發潛能中學裡進行，探討該校一個建立已久卻又非傳統的成績報告系統，嘗試找出什麼情境因素會影響著這樣一個系統有效地推行。一所啟發潛能學校是刻意推行一些與啟發潛能理論相配合的政策與實踐 (Purkey & Novak, 1996)。在這次研究中，實地視察所蒐集的資料與之前透過與學生面談而浮現的因素作比較 (Chung & Yuen, 2012)。這次發現確定了之前研究所指出的因素，這包括建設性評估、師生關係的重要性，並且發現一些新的因素，包括教師的信念、專業發展，以及溝通策略。這些因素明顯跟啟發潛能理論中的基礎信念有很多強的關鍵。這些發現豐富了啟發潛能理在有關成績報告系統的範疇上的意義，這是與課程有重要關連的部份。啟發潛能學校可能具備優勢把現有的成績報告系統轉化為「個別化學習計劃」以照顧主流學校中的多元需要。這次研究亦揭示墦推行這種成績報告系統時，學校在真實情境中面對著的不同困難。
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It is agreed that many children with disabilities benefit from instruction in social skills. This literature review looks at various approaches to the teaching of social skills to students with disabilities that significantly impact behavior, discusses the rationale behind social skills training, and questions the wisdom of limiting particular approaches to students with specific disabilities. The authors urges special educators to consider the overall efficacy of social skills training in general, the effectiveness of particular approaches, and the wisdom of sharing procedures and techniques across categories of disabilities. 很多人相信殘障的兒童都能夠在社交技能訓練中獲益。本文探討最為影响殘障兒童行為的不同社交技能訓練方法及社交技能訓練的背後理念。文章並質疑將某類社交技能訓練方法局限於處理某種殘障類別的理據。作者目的是鼓勵特殊教育工作者持開放態度，考慮社交技能訓練的整體效益並從不同社交技能訓練方法中針對性地找出最適合處理不同殘障類別的方法。
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