Hong Kong has experienced a major shift in inclusive education since 1997. The present study examines practical challenges for including learners with ASD in ordinary school setting.

School-based learning community is widely supported by educators as an effective professional development strategy to improve teaching and learning. With reference to the collaborative and supportive features, the professional learning communities (PLCs) are further recognized in schools. Teachers in different schools work collaboratively to solve the actual problems that they come across in their classrooms and improve their teaching practice. With the support of school teachers, education officers and tertiary academics, PLCs was widely adopted as a strategy to enhance teacher professional learning. The tripartite partnership offers a platform for teachers to actively engage in professional sharing about teaching and learning. The paper illustrates the outcome of the lesson study in a two-year project of University-School Support Program (USP). It is evident that the Lesson Study was an effective collaborative mode of professional development for teachers of special schools in Hong Kong.
[Copyright © The Hong Kong Special Education Society].

A core goal of inclusive education worldwide is to maximize the learning potential of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream educational settings. However, little research attention has been paid to SEN children's social and emotional gains from inclusive education compared to their academic performance. This study included social, emotional, and academic variables in a single research design, not only to test their relationships but also to explore the predictive roles of social and emotional factors in academic performance for SEN students. Participants were 515 SEN students in grades 1–6 in mainstream primary schools in Hong Kong. The results showed that the social and emotional competences of children with SEN were significant predictors of their academic performance (p < .001), with emotional competence having the larger impact. Although SEN students' relationships with peers and teachers were not found to be direct significant predictors of academic performance as reported in previous studies; they positively and significantly predicted emotional and social competences of SEN students (p < .001). Implications for establishing a caring campus, as well as developing educational interventions which will increase SEN students' positive emotional experiences and foster and maintain their adaptive social and emotional competences are discussed.
[Copyright © Springer].

After the introduction of the nine-year compulsory education in 1978, educators are not satisfied with just a quantitative growth in education but request for a better guarantee in the quality of education. The demands for improving the mixed-ability teaching and meeting the diversified needs of students are well known. Services provided for children with special educational needs (SEN) have been reviewed in the Education Commission Report (ECR) No.2 while additional learning support for students in mainstream secondary school with a large intake of the bottom 10% students has been also will discussed in the ECR No.4. Suggestions on providing extra learning support have been highlighted in the ECR No.4. For example, the introduction of a school-based remedial support programme in secondary schools with a large intake of Band 5 students, the design of the core curriculum for academically low achievers and the establishment of more Practical Schools and Skills Opportunities Schools for students of low learning motivating arc well noted. In the report, it spotlights that approximately 14% of school population in Hong Kong experience difficulties in learning or adjusting to their school life. However, only 2% of them are provided with special educational service and support in special education classes or special schools. Considering the limited special education provisions and the policy of integration, Winter (1993), a local educator, predicted that it is likely that the above ratio of SEN children in mainstream schools and in special schools (6:10 will persist or even increase rather than decrease in future years). As most SEN children in mainstream schools find difficulties in school learning and adjustment, a great proportion of them are described as the academically low achievers or children with learning and behavioral problems. The notion of the behavioral problem and developmental issue in mainstream schools has attracted the public attention in both the ECR No

Nowadays, the application of computer technology in assisting the classroom teaching and learning is common and popular, particularly in special education. Many researches have indicated the inherent value and significance of using CAL in teaching children with special educational needs (SEN). It has been stated that the computer may serve the communicative, instructional, training, recreational, learning or adaptive purposes. School success in applying the technology depends on many factors but familiarity and proficiency of teachers to the increasing demand of such technology are essential elements. However, there is not much available literature illustrating the use of computers in mentally handicapped schools in Hong Kong. The purposes of this paper are to investigate the instructional use of the computers and the difficulties encountered in different types of mentally handicapped schools. The research has been carried out in different types of mentally handicapped schools in Hong Kong. By questionnaire, the resources, facilities and frequencies of use in computers have been identified. Variables such as school types, school policy, budget, teacher attitude and commitment and instructional practices were identified and their contribution to the effectiveness of the program have been examined. By the follow-up case studies in the three different categories of mentally handicapped schools, an in-depth study on the organizational factors, teachers' attitude and commitment, pupils needs and instructional practices have been investigated. Such quantitative and qualitative analysis aimed at illustrating a clear picture about the use of resources in the classrooms. The results indicated that nearly all the mentally handicapped schools used the computers in teaching their SEN students. However, the students encountered different sorts of difficulties in using the computers, owing to their physical and intellectual disabilities. It was found that some of the teaching activities

This paper examines the statistics on the official provision of teacher and teaching training in Hong Kong primary schools. It is found that there is no clear and operational definition of the expertise of teaching in the primary workforce, nor teachers are well-prepared for their development of teaching expertise. Under such an unfavourable teacher preparation and development, the writer called for teachers' self-initiation to develop "group expertise among themselves and make improvement in primary education. Introduction: This paper intends to evaluate whether the provision of teachers and teacher training can facilitate the identification and development of teaching expertise with, and for primary school teachers in Hong Kong. Data of such provision are compiled from the official teacher surveys and will be used for analysis. It is noticed that 'provision' of teachers and teacher training is the input to the education system and is only one of the many aspects that constitutes the development of teaching expertise. Other aspects like 'teaching and learning processes', 'teacher performance' and 'pupil achievement' are related and influential. Nevertheless, attention to the input condition can never be dispensable. The Theoretical Framework: Sternberg et al. (1995) argued that there exists 'no well-defined standard that all experts meet and that no nonexperts meet.' A prototype view is proposed to consider teaching expertise as a category of resemblance that 'is structured by the similarity of expert teachers to one another rather than by a set of necessary and sufficient features'. They postulated the following categories which they called the 'expert teaching prototype': The prototype expert teacher has 'extensive, accessible knowledge of subject matter and of teaching per se as well as knowledge of the political and social context in which teaching occurs. The prototype expert teacher posseses a broad perspective of well-organized domain knowledge which is contributive

Although a substantial body of studies has been focusing on exploring approaches to enhance the learning of children with special educational needs (SEN) in kindergartens, considerably fewer studies have been conducted to test early childhood educators’ confidence levels in early identifying and facilitating the learning and social development of children with SEN. This study took the initiative to conduct a large scale survey in the Chinese context, seeking to develop a good understanding of teacher preparation for identifying and supporting children with SEN. Over 5000 early childhood educators from 519 kindergartens and kindergarten-cumchild care centres (KGs) in Hong Kong participated in this survey study. Specifically, we examined these teachers’ confidence levels in terms of early identification and intervention through a wide range of instructional activities. We also investigated external needs these teachers perceived to be critically important for supporting SEN children. The role of integrated programme (IP) in these surveyed KGs on teachers’ confidence levels in supporting children with SEN was also examined. Implications of findings of the current study to early childhood education, improvements of existing facilities and resources to support teachers’ professional development are discussed.