This study aimed to investigate how the special educators perceive their stress and professional development amidst Education Reform 2000 in Hong Kong. A conceptual framework was constructed to probe the external and internal influences of education reforms upon teachers in special schools. A combined inquiry was used to complete the task. For knowing external environment influences, two methods were employed. Historical study was selected to scrutinize 21 official documents that were closely related to the education reforms. Document analysis was chosen to examine 21 local theses, surveys, or reports on teacher stress, and to categorize 409 relevant news clippings related to the education reform, teacher stress, and professional development. As to internal influences, three methods were utilized. First, a four-section modified questionnaire was sent to 159 teachers in special schools, among them 92 teachers responded (57.9%) for data analysis. Second, 11 individualized semi-structured interviews were conducted, which were categorized into four administrative teachers, three experienced teachers and four novice teachers to triangulate the findings of quantitative analysis. Third, a focus group discussion with six experienced teachers was held to collect further relevant data.
Results were found in data or evidences on four foci. As for the education reforms, most teachers realized that the influence of education reform was complex. The frequent changes in educational policies, which were relating to class structures, curricula, teachers' qualification and composition, existence and stability, quality assurance and accountability, operation style, and provision of special schools, had affected the schools' operations and teachers' lives. Regarding teacher stress, all levels of teachers in special schools were working at a high level of stress. The stressors of professional investment, school organizational variables, personal variables, and work-related stressors

背景：香港教育改革著意鼓勵學校引用校本課程發展模式推行融合教育。
目的：本研究探討教師在發展校本融合課程所遇到的挑戰。
研究對象：參與香港教育學院舉辦的融合教育培訓課程的教師。
研究方法：包括訪問和問卷調查。
研究結果：本研究發現教師是與同級教師進行共同備課或通過校內課程發展組調適現行的課程；在設計和實施校本融合課程時，教師遇到的挑戰主要有：班內融合生的數量過多、教師缺乏相關的專業知識與能力、實施課程時因要配合課堂時間的編排而產生混亂、評估上的公平問題與及學校資源的不足。
總結：要面對校本融合課程發展的挑戰，參與的教師必須先行接受有關課程發展的培訓；學校也須委任融合教育的統籌教師，負責領導校本融合課程的發展；學校之間也須建立融合教育的網絡，讓教師互相支持和解難，從而有效地提升融合學生的學習。
Background: Education reform in Hong Kong emphasizes the use of school-based curriculum development mode to implement inclusive education.
Aims: To explore the challenges teachers had in developing school-based inclusive curriculum materials.
Sample: Those teachers who had been involved in the inclusive education programmes organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Education.
Methods: Interview and questionnaire survey.
Results: The results indicated that teachers prepared their lessons with those colleagues who were teaching at the same class levels or used the teaching materials already adapted by the School Curriculum Committees. The challenges teachers met in developing and implementing school-based inclusive curriculum materials mainly included: there were too many special need students in a class, teachers possessed inadequate relevant professional knowledge and skills, confusions caused by insufficient time arrangement in class in implementing the curriculum materials, the problem of unfairness in the use of assessment methods, and lack of resource support.
Conclusion: To face with these challenges, teachers should have prior training before they are involved in inclusive education. An inclusive education coordinator is needed. He/She should undertake the work of leading the development of inclusive education and monitoring the quality of inclusive curriculum in the school. Additionally, schools should develop inclusive education network through which teachers could support one another. The purpose is to ensure the effectiveness of inclusive education that

本研究採用家長問卷調查方式，在香港和北京兩地進行了調查，主要考察了中文閱讀障礙的特點，不同口語背景對閱讀障礙的影響以及閱讀與知覺和動作技能之間的關係。結果發現，中文閱讀障礙在不同年級兒童中有不同的表現，低年級兒童最大的困難是字形識別、語音解碼與書面語理解，高年級兒童讀寫上的最大困難是段落產生；口語背景影響兒童的閱讀獲得及閱讀障礙的表現；中文兒童讀寫障礙與知覺加工和動作技能上的缺損顯著相關。這些結果對於促進對閱讀障礙機制的理解以及鑒別和治療均具有重要意義。
A survey was conducted among parents to investigate the specific characteristics of children with reading disabilities. The effect of different dialects and the relationship between reading, perceptual processing and motor skills were also studied. Different presented characteristics showed reading disabilities among different grades of students. Lower graders had the most difficulties in word recognition, phonological decoding, and comprehension in written characters, while production of paragraphs seemed to be the most difficult part among higher graders. A child's spoken language affects on reading acquisition and presentations of reading disabilities. Chinese reading disabilities were closely related with perceptual processing and deficits in motor skills. These results enhance the understanding of the mechanism of reading disabilities, and bring the significant contribution of identification and teaching children with reading disabilities.
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