Jointly organized by Centre for Advancement in Special Education (CASE) and Wah Ching Centre of Research on Education in China (CREC)
Symposium
The Challenges of Special Education in China: Past, Present and Future
About the Symposium
Special education has been developed in People’s Republic of China for more than 130 years. It can be roughly divided into three stages: Early Stage (1874-1949), Developing Stage (1949-1980) and Expansion Stage (since 1980). Since 1980, as the country opened up to reforms, planned economy has been giving way to market economy. The transformation of the county provided a breeding ground to speed up its growth. This was when special education entered her Expansion Stage. At this stage, in response to the tide of inclusive education, the country put an end to the over 100-year-old policy of isolating special schools, and established a new system whereby special classes and “Learning in Regular Classrooms” (LRC) in regular schools became the main stream policy and special school became the main support. The inclusion of special education into the mainstream and also the expansion of special education service have not only increased the demand on teachers with special education training , but also posed new challenges to whole education system. These challenges come from demands for new curricula for basic and special education and for effective teaching models, from multi-discipline and related field, from community life, from the need for accessible environment, from advanced assistive technology and from the evaluation of teaching efficacy . Do all these challenges imply with the country being caught in the turn of the tides, there would be a new paradigm? What will be the future directions and visions for special education in China ? Programme
Lecture 1: Speaker: Lecture 2: Speaker: Lecture3: Speaker: Reflections and Visions of Special Education in China from the “Tenth-Five Year Plan” XIE Jingren, Director, Department of Special Education, Bureau of of Basic Education, Jingren Ministry of Education ,China The Process of Curriculum Development for Children with Intellectual Disabilities LIU, Wenzhen (Ms.), Former Research Director, Education Research Unit for Children with Catering for Special Needs While Pursuing the Mission of Inclusive Education – An Overview of the Functions of Special Schools in the Pursuit of Inclusive Education HE, Jindi (Ms.), Committee Member, Professional Development Committee on Education for
Intellectual Disabilities, Division of Special Education, The Education Society of China
children with intellectual disabilities, Division of Special Education, The Education Society of China and Principal, Shanghai Luwan Special Education Needs School
Date Friday, 2 June 2006 Time 3:15pm – 5:00pm Venue Rayson Huang Theatre, The University of Hong Kong Language Putonghua (Simultaneous Interpretation to English will be provided) Chair Prof. XU, Jiacheng, Beijing Union University, China
Enquiry: Please visit (www.hku.hk/case/activities.htm) or contact Miss Alison LI at 2241-5828 or via email (case@hku.hk) for details. Registration: Please REGISTER by either (1) filling out the registration form and return to CASE or sending a notification with your name in full, organization, email and telephone number via EMAIL (case@hku.hku) or FAX (Fax: 2857-4043).