|
Editor's Notes
|
| Happy New Millennium! |
| By the time this much delayed 1999 Second Issue of the Special Education Forum "sees the light" we are already well into the New Millennium. Unlike the previous issues, the production of this pre-Millennium Issue was fraught with uncertainty, frustration, comradeship and challenge. First uncertainty. Our "free distribution" policy had left the Special Education Society with just enough funding for one more issue. For some time the future of the Forum hanged in midair. Our hope was pledged on the positive response of the Quality Education Fund. Then came the frustration of the QE Fund response. "There is no evidence showing that teachers from non-special schools need the journal," was the response. "And it is unclear how teachers can involve in this project". Talk about "Inclusion"; talk about "shared responsibility of special needs"! Fortunately came the redeeming spirit of comradeship. It came in two forms, a continuous flow of papers on special education issue from the field and mutual encouragement and support from within the Editorial Board. The former underlines the demand for a focussed arena for special education and the latter the strong commitment to provide it. And here lies the challenge, the challenge to maintain, against financial odds, a platform for voices on special education to be delivered, heard and shared. We see this as a much more important commitment than before as Hong Kong is moving towards educational reforms that claim to broaden the responsibility base for special needs so much so that it is almost "politically unwise"(if not "professionally unethical') to ask why in the proposed Framework for Educational Reform, is the term "special education" (or "special education needs" not mentioned. We think we know the answer. But we cannot disperse our worries. Already we have witnessed the dissolution of the Special Education Department in our teacher education institute. Soon the specialized staff of the Special Education Section in the Education Department will be dispersed in various divisions. At the curriculum development level, the future direction is for one curriculum for all children. While the Special Education of Hong Kong (and with it the Hong Kong Special Education Forum) unequivocally supports the integration of special education in the educational system, it has reasons to remain reserved at the pace and approach being adopted. We look forward to a time when every officer in the Education Department and every teacher in our schools sees it as their responsibility to address special needs and share their experiences, skills and insight in managing such needs. We hope we can still be there to disseminate their voices and foster such exchanges and sharing of views. Until then we will stick with the challenge of maintaining a base for special education. |
| The Editorial Board has therefore voted unanimously to suspend the "free distribution" policy and from the next issue onwards the Forum will only be distributed to members of the Society and subscribers. The pricing details have been included in this issue. All individuals and organizations on our mailing list will still receive the current issue free with a Subscription Form for the next issue. We do hope that our readers understand the grave situation we are in and lend us the vital means to continue our goal to serve the field. |
| The diversity (and complexity) of the papers in this issue does speak for the multiplicity of special education concerns. We have papers on inclusion, dyslexia, language perceptions of newly arrived children (NAC), behaviour modification and counseling for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties, multi-sensory room for the severely mentally handicapped, information technology for the hearing impaired and an autobiography of a person with physical handicap. A fine mix to vet the appetite of our readers. |
| In Volume One, Number Two, we published the summary of Penny Mitler's report on the consultancy study on the Pilot Project on Integration. We are again privileged to be given the opportunity to publish the summary of the other government-commissioned consultancy report. Mr. Crawford, who heads the consultancy team and himself a consultant of the Society, and his research team at the Hong Kong Institute of Education gives an objective and comprehensive report of the evaluation study in his paper: "Integration in Hong Kong: Where are we now and what do we need to do? A review of H.K. Government's Pilot Project". While I will leave readers to delve into the details of the survey findings, it is worth noting that while pupils and parents appear to benefit from the Project, teachers are less certain of their roles and their skills in addressing the needs of "integrated" students. The paper calls for "improved preparation and support". We endorse this appeal and agree that "preparation" is most urgently needed at the teacher education level and that "support" from both mainstream schools and special schools must be sought. Of course, success in integration is not just about access, teacher preparation, skills, curriculum, important though they are. Attitude change is equally important. Andrew Kwok's account of his own struggle as a physically handicapped person in his paper, "Growing up with disability" reminds us that prejudice and labeling are still obstacles to be removed before our children with disability can enjoy the opportunity of growing up as a "normal" person. |
| Meanwhile teaching and counseling strategies appear to be the concerns of front-line teachers. 何福全及Robert Elliott in their paper, '「音節分析與中文閱讀困難的關係及對教導有關學童的啟示」(The relationship between syllable analysis and dyslexia in Chinese and its implications on teaching children with the disability) attempts to explain reading difficulty (dyslexia) in the context of the Chinese language and suggest teaching strategies to assist dyslexic children. Such studies in Chinese are rare and we thank 何福全 and Robert Elliott for sharing their insight with us. We are also grateful to Priscilla Ng and Peter Westwood for their paper, "Do adolescent girls with emotional and behavioural difficulties respond to a token reward system in mathematics classes?" Low motivation and poor self image have always been the causes (and products!) of continuous failures in students with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Extrinsic reinforcement and with it the sense of success may be a good lead to "eventual desire to attempt work for its own sake". Another strategy, this time using the "Control Theory" is suggested by Ng Wing-pei in his action research report, "A study of the use of Control Theory in counseling in a school for social development in Hong Kong". This is the first action research paper to appear in the Forum. We hope to be able to publish more in our ensuing issues. |
| The use of technology also forms a focus in our papers for this issue. Both Ken W. Li's paper, "Contribution of contemporary technology to teaching of children with hearing impairment and 冼權鋒's "如何更發揮多感官室的功能" (How to enhance the functions of Multi-sensory Room) explore the possibility and teachers' perception in the use of advanced and sophisticated technical aids in the teaching of children with disabilities. It is worth noting that Ken Li is a lecturer from the new Institute of Vocational Education. We welcome contributions from the teaching professionals in the mainstream system. |
| Finally,何志明 continues to share with us his concern over the adaptation of Newly Arrived Children (NAC) in his paper with 鄭美儀, "本港新栘民學童的第二語言態度研究" (A study on the attitude towards second languages in Newly Arrived Children in Hong Kong). The high social status associated with the English language by NAC and their obvious difficulty with the language must not be taken casually by our schools. |
| 1999 was quite a busy year for the Society. It was a busy year for education in Hong Kong, too. Apart from the strong currents of School-based Management, Information Technology, Quality Assurance Inspection, we saw the launch of two important consultation papers, one on education reform and the other on curriculum reform. Both of them will have strong implications on special education. The Society held focussed discussions on both consultation papers. We are particularly concerned with the consultation paper on "The Holistic Review of the School Curriculum" and its implications on special education. The response paper by Maria Wong can be found in our "政策回應" (Policy Response) Column. We have also published in full the consultation document to give our readers a complete view of the proposed approach. We hope that this will stimulate more discussions and thoughts on this important subject and we welcome comments and views from our readers. We have also submitted our response to the proposed Framework for Education Reform This is just our initial response. What about yours? |
| Our response to Information Technology was our Annual Seminar on the implication of information technology on special education. For those who missed the excellent presentations by our guest speakers and the popular experiencing-sharing sessions, they could make it up by reading our "第二屆特殊教育學會週年研討會匯報" (Report on Annual Seminar). |
| QAI (Quality Assurance Inspection) is something teachers loathe and love. What is it like to be observed, analysed and dissected? What kind of pressure (pleasure) the school faces during the lengthy inspection period? Does the QAI team understand the special learning features and patterns of special needs children? What good does it do to pupils, teachers, school? How much would the extensive paper work involved affects normal teaching and learning? 天藍was among teachers perhaps with those questions in mind who attended the Society's Workshop of Quality Assurance Inspection. She her sentiment in "質素保證視學經驗分享會之我見" (Sharing Sessions on Quality Assurance Inspection (QAI) - A personal perspective) in the "教師心聲" (Voices of Teacher) Column. |
| The advent of the Millennium saw a series of epoch-making proposals in education. All of them should have immense and far-reaching implications on education in the 21st Century. They would also bring about radical approaches to special education. We should all prepare and equip ourselves for the challenges ahead and respond proactively and positively to these challenges, keeping firmly in mind our duty and commitment to our students with special needs. |
|
A. Tse
|