“A never-ending ensemble” : inclusion in an international special school in Hong Kong

Abstract

Inclusion in an international special school was the main focus of this research. As inclusion has been advocated by the government in Hong Kong since 1977, many schools have adopted inclusive education into their policies and practices. The purpose of this study is to identify how inclusion is understood, made into policies and implemented in an international special school setting. A mix-qualitative method was conducted via a two-months observation period. Observational, documentation and interview data were collected and analysed using the thematic analysis method. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted first and followed by theoretical analysis. The index for inclusion was used to analyse the inclusion implementation of the target schools. Positive inclusion policies and practices were identified. However, other negative issues were pinpointed and were found closely related to the societal background of Hong Kong. The lack of vocational support, cultural influences on parental expectation and teachers’ attitudes were found as the main causes regarding the implementation of inclusive education. The elite education system and the emphasis on qualification were identified as contributing factors to the practical issues of inclusive education implementation. Therefore, suggestions regarding community support, teacher training, and parental education programme were advised according to issues identified from the research. The direction of future studies was suggested. One of the possible study areas would be inclusive education in mainstream international schools in Hong Kong.