The integration of children with disabilities in mainstream early childhood settings is a common practice in many developed and developing countries world-wide. A number of key points have been raised concerning such integration, including the increased attention to civil education about the rights of persons with disabilities, training for teachers, and close communication between the government and the mainstream schools. This paper presents a qualitative study of these critical issues in the context of integrated early childhood centres in Hong Kong. These centres operate under an integration policy inherited from the British colonial period. This policy lies within the larger philosophical context of Confucianism with its commitment to excellence, which makes for an intensely competitive schooling environment. Thus, the story presented in this paper is a collection of multiple perspectives of parents with and without children with disabilities, teachers, and school principals on the topic of integration. Looking at the bigger picture, we argue that rather than simply inheriting a policy that is prone to bureaucratic machinations, the policy must be adopted and owned within the local settings if it is to work properly. The implications of this study resonate with integrated education in settings that may be very different from the ones described herein.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2013.780007]

In Hong Kong, early childhood education and related teacher training have been neglected for a long time. Due to teachers' work for the recognition of early childhood education and teacher training, the British-Hong Kong government gradually put more emphasis on early childhood education and its teacher training. After the handover, for the citizens to cope with the changing economic system from a manufacturing based to a knowledge based society, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has further conducted a series of education reforms, as well as recognizing early childhood education as the foundation of young children's life long learning. Therefore, training professional and quality early childhood teachers has become very important.
The aims of this study were to understand the perceptions of early childhood administrators on teacher training, their training work, and the difficulties they encountered in teacher training. One principal from a kindergarten and one supervisor from a childcare centre were interviewed. The findings indicated that the training did not pose additional pressure on early childhood administrators and their teaching staff. The findings also showed that the government's policy had strengthened the profession's confidence on teacher training and had attached greater importance to early childhood education.
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Chinese society has, traditionally, perceived sex as a taboo subject, and as such, is seldom discussed openly, and rarely taught in schools. Under these circumstances, most Hong Kong people never learn about sex education during their formal school years. With an increase in the number of sex-related crimes in Hong Kong, education is becoming increasingly important. Since learning in early childhood influences a person's future values and behaviour, sex education should be implemented early, preferably in pre-schools (Roffman, 2002; Woody, 2002).
To implement effective sex education in pre-schools, parents' views are important. This pilot study aims to investigate Hong Kong parents' perceptions towards implementing sex education programmes in pre-schools. One kindergarten and one childcare centre were randomly selected for this study. A total of 12 parents were interviewed. The findings indicated that most parents lacked the confidence to discuss sex-related issues with their children mainly because they had insufficient knowledge and skills, and also felt embarrassed. However, to overcome these inadequacies and feelings they were willing to better equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and skills for the benefit of their children.
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