From unconscious to conscious inclusion: meeting special education needs in West China

A Systematic Review of Generic and Special Needs of Children with Disabilities Living in Poverty Settings in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…The need of freedom from fear and anxiety of being bullied because of the disability was highlighted from the primary caregivers' perspective (Hartley et al, 2005). This was also addressed in another article (Deng & Holdsworth, 2007) but from the service providers' perspective, where teachers and local head teachers were interviewed. The children's perspectives on safety needs were not addressed in these included articles.…”

“…These studies stressed the importance of people (in society and at school) being knowledgeable about disability and having positive attitudes toward schooling for children with disabilities in order to fulfil self-esteem needs. The special needs of children with disabilities include school organizations where teacher's salaries were not dependent on the performance results of the class and where the teachers have adequate knowledge on inclusive education (Deng & Holdsworth, 2007;Kristensen et al, 2006). The children's perspectives on self-esteem needs were not addressed in the included articles.…”

“…Generic needs related to safety issues were addressed by the primary caregivers and service providers in three articles (Deng & Holdsworth, 2007;Hartley et al, 2005;Yousafzai et al, 2003). The immediate future was of great concern for primary caregivers struggling to earn money for daily needs and seeking treatments for their child.…”

Instructions for students with special educational needs in Chinese mainstream classrooms: modifications and barriers

“…Students with SEN were observed by many professionals (e.g., Gao et al 2004;Liu 1992a, b;Deng and Manset 2000) that they were just ''sitting in the regular classrooms'' without any attention from teachers and peers, or absent from school with their names on the student list just to show that they were enrolled to school. In a rural elementary school of Gansu province, the authors found that a student with hearing problems was sitting in the last row of a crowded classroom with about 80 students, and the teacher told the authors enthusiastically that he had arranged a peer tutor for him, and he was placed at the back of the classroom because his peer tutor was very tall (Deng and Holdsworth 2007). In order to conclude the whole situation of instructional quality, Deng (2004) claimed that no obvious improvement was found in general classrooms for those with SEN when compared with the early stage of LRC experiments in 1980s, and rhetoric went far beyond essence.…”

“…However, institutions for educating individuals with disabilities were not established by American and European missionaries until the late nineteenth century with the invasion of Western power, and the number of special schools and student enrollment did not display a much growth before 1980s. Special education represents a radical change in social and educational perspectives of disabilities by far, especially in the large parts of rural areas, where many children without disabilities did not yet attend school (Deng and Holdsworth 2007). The atmosphere of equity in education and social justice has yet to be nurtured.…”