Reality
Let special children see the light and touch the future
Inclusive Education Breakthrough
Just looking at the photos, Xuanxuan, who is in the first grade of a middle school in Beijing, is no different from other children.
Xuan Xuan's father Hang Yiming (pseudonym) even told China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that his son has an IQ of 129, an excellent grade in science and engineering, and he is particularly interested in transportation.
But these are not the "plus points" that Xuanxuan can integrate into normal teaching activities-that is, integrated education.
Because of Asperger's syndrome (a type of autism spectrum, AS for short), Xuan Xuan often does not listen to instructions and commits behaviors that violate classroom discipline.
In addition, since there is no concept of distance from fellow students of the opposite sex, some of his actions will be regarded as "hooliganism."
Therefore, after two weeks of enrollment, he was faced with the choice of "Parents accompanied by class" or "Online classes at home".
In the meantime, Xuan Xuan's grandma proposed to go to the school to accompany him, but the school rejected the proposal on the grounds that an old man had been pushed and injured while studying at the school.
Both parents are office workers, Xuan Xuan had to go to school at home and return to the traditional mode of special education-"isolated education" with strict boundaries between "normal" and "special".
According to the National Bulletin on the Development of Education in 2019 issued by the Ministry of Education, in 2019, there were 794,600 students in special education schools in my country, of which more than 390,000 were in regular classes.
According to reports, the rest of the children mainly rely on special education schools, special education classes in child welfare institutions, and home delivery, and strive to achieve many of them.
Nearly half of special education students are enrolled in regular classes in ordinary schools and receive integrated education.
Some netizens described the current implementation of integrated education in general schools in this way: "It seems to be a visible light, but it is an intangible future." A reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily found in an interview that it is necessary to truly achieve "integration and integration." "For the ideal state of education, relevant departments also need to establish a multi-party support system to provide a place for interpersonal relationships for children like Xuanxuan, provide correct behavioral imitation models, and gradually break down barriers.
The twists and turns to study
Since Xuanxuan was diagnosed as "suspected AS" at the age of 3, Hang Yiming has been upset about his son's reading problem.
He has sent Xuanxuan to a rehabilitation center under a hospital in Beijing, a kindergarten taught by acquaintances in his hometown in Northeast China, and a private integrated kindergarten in Handan, Hebei.
Before elementary school, he let his son attend preschool at an extracurricular training institution in Beijing for another year.
According to Xuan Xuan's family observations, more than 10 years ago, doctors and teachers had limited knowledge of AS. They just gathered some children with autism together to carry out teaching activities. Xuan Xuan's symptoms were mild and they were easily affected by other children.
After entering ordinary school, Xuanxuan "troubled" from time to time, and the teacher repeatedly reported to his family that the child was too difficult to manage and needed to accompany him.
Xuan Xuan's grandma is the main force to accompany students, but when the children really cannot control their behavior, they are also helpless.
For this reason, Xuanxuan's family has repeatedly expressed apologies to teachers and parents and truthfully reported Xuanxuan's situation. However, many parents have joined forces to report problems to schools and education departments.
Hang Yiming remembered that when he was in the second grade of Xuanxuan Primary School, at a parent symposium to resolve conflicts between him and other children, the other party's grandmother clamored "to kill him."
Starting from the third grade of elementary school, the school has tried a "compromised" solution for Xuanxuan's education problems: children go to school two days a week, with the main subject teachers intensively teaching, and the rest of the time at home.
Xuan Xuan's grandma is an old technical secondary school student, who can basically cooperate with the teacher to help with homework.
His performance remains at the upper-middle level, but his social development is lacking.
According to the original plan, in the first half of this year, Xuan Xuan, who is about to start his junior high school, had to go to school for a while. Affected by the epidemic, he had to give up. This affected his performance after entering junior high school.
Xuan Xuan's educational problems are not isolated cases.
Netizen "Big Wolf" formed an online discussion group about Asperger's syndrome.
As an adult patient with AS, Dalang told the China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that in adolescence, children with AS traits will have emotional instability, hyperactivity, tics, and compulsion.
For example, for the simplest writing, many children will not be able to do it because of the lightness of the pen, the difficulty of the pen, the amount of strength, and the idea of starting the pen.
Bits of small problems emerged one after another, becoming a gulf that was difficult to cross in front of parents and teachers.
"Because they are the way of thinking of ordinary people, but the algorithm of AS is obviously different." Dalang said, parents and teachers have limited knowledge and energy, at most they can only ensure that their children follow the class.
Not only Asperger's syndrome, but other special children's families are also suffering from their children's education problems.
A mother born in the 1980s told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that her son had both ADHD and autism.
She once enrolled her child in an ordinary kindergarten with a fluke and felt that the child was at two extremes and it was not easy to be noticed.
However, it wasn't until the kindergarten graduation ceremony that she inadvertently saw that many children pushed their sons and scolded him for being a fool.
In the past, because of the lack of expression skills, the children have never reflected the relevant problems.
In order not to let the children bear this kind of pressure, she finally contacted the secondary school.
Another parent of a child with cerebral palsy said that a few years ago, because no public school was willing to accept her child, she went to all private schools and rehabilitation institutions in the city where she was located, not to mention how much money she spent, "the child has become The'little mouse' of various educational experiments".
Finally, through buying a house and changing her household registration, she contacted a public school to agree to the child's trial, but the child still did not get involved. "Students and parents are doing face-saving projects."
Deep-rooted "isolation net"
A mother once asked Ni Yan, the national model for self-improvement and the honorary principal of Haiyuan County Special Education School in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, for help. She hoped that two children with intellectual disabilities could train for a while at the cultural employment and entrepreneurship training base for the disabled.
But the 16-year-old twin sisters hadn't stayed at the base for a full day, and the child's mother couldn't bear it and took the child away. "This makes us helpless."
Ni Yan believes that one of the key "sticking points" that hinder the development of special children is the "psychological barriers" set by the children's parents.
Many parents feel guilty because of their children's special circumstances, and do more to make up for and over-care for their children, which is not conducive to the growth of their children.
In addition, many parents of special children will also express "hide" and "escape" and cannot fully accept the true condition of their children.
Liu Le, a full-time teacher in the resource classroom of Fuxing Primary School in Dongsheng District, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, often felt "uncomfortable" in his heart when he first started this career: on the one hand, there will always be people who look at different people around him with a strange perspective; On the one hand, students and parents are unwilling to cooperate with their work.
An autistic student behaved abnormally in class and lost his temper.
Liu Le communicated with the parents and wanted the children to go to the special resource classroom for adjustment, but the other party insisted that the children had no problems.
A mother of a special child said that it took me 5 years to dare to confess the child's condition to others, but she still felt that this was "a punishment from heaven."
When treating her child, she not only loves her child, hates herself, does not want her child to be secretly looked at by others, but also hopes that he can integrate into society.
In fact, not only are the parents of some special children who do not know how to educate their children, some teachers are also at a loss because of the lack of professional knowledge when dealing with special children, and even more, they will have a "fear" psychology.
A head teacher told reporters that there was a child called Qiuqiu in his class with "behavioral disorder."
During school, the ball sometimes deliberately knocked down other students, sometimes stabbed others with a pen, and even tore or stepped on other students' textbooks.
"Because the teachers know the situation of the ball, the requirements for the ball are relatively loose, and other children are unreasonable and will follow the imitation to make trouble." This teacher gave an example. Sometimes the ball would suddenly run out of the back door and the class bell rang. Without entering the classroom, the teacher can only suspend the class and go out to find someone.
"It did affect other students in the class."
However, the solutions that this teacher can think of are very limited.
Every time there is an abnormal behavior in the ball, she can only try to appease other parents, and mediate the conflict with reasons such as "the child is still young" and "boys are more naughty".
But with more and more such situations, she can only arrange a single table for the ball according to the requirements of the school, and ask the parents to come to the school to accompany.
At an academic conference, an elementary school principal said frankly, “If a normal child is injured by this child (special child), this kind of education makes her unable to guarantee the safety of other students.” “The work and spirit brought to the teacher The pressure is beyond words."
Wang Xiaohong, principal of Ordos Special Education School, who has been in the special education industry for more than 20 years, analyzes that integrated education is a systematic project. From student enrollment assessment, education placement, to curriculum adjustment, teachers need to continue to learn and practice, but it is limited by the current situation. Parents have increased their children’s educational expectations and some key schools blindly pursue the rate of enrollment and the proportion of eugenics. Teachers in ordinary schools are not sufficiently aware of taking responsibility.
Inadequate "software and hardware"
In addition to subjective reasons such as lack of understanding of children with special needs, the objective reality of "a late start, weak foundation, and excessive debts" is also an important reason that restricts the rapid development of integrated education.
A village school principal in the western region said that due to limited school conditions, they can only educate special children as much as possible within their abilities. However, for example, if they encounter some deaf and blind children, the school will not be able to provide more for these children. Professional guidance.
"There is no counterpart teacher, no special teaching materials, and no rehabilitation training or specialty education is provided."
A principal of a key experimental elementary school in the central region also said, "I am ashamed" because the school does not have sufficient resources and support systems, and has not accepted special children during his tenure.
At the Fuxing Elementary School where Liu Le is located, there are currently 15 disabled students studying in regular classes, with complicated types and symptoms.
In order to bridge the communication between special education and general education, the school deliberately set up resource classrooms, divided into multiple functional areas such as parent reception area, file management area, and sensory rehabilitation area, with relatively complete hardware and software equipment.
However, this post-90s special education teacher from a subject class believes that the additional support services and various resources that ordinary schools can provide for special children are still lacking.
She said that there are two full-time teachers in the resource classroom of Fuxing Elementary School who are responsible for the sensory integration class, language training and rehabilitation class, and life adjustment class for 15 disabled students.
"Each student arranges at least one class per week. This amount of class hours is far from enough for children."
Liu Le often encountered such a situation: the students in the previous class had very good results, and the students in the next class had forgotten all the contents of the class and needed to teach again.
She said, "The memory and learning ability of special children are relatively poor, and they need coherent and concentrated training."
As a "sample" of integrated education in Gansu Province, the kindergarten of Gansu Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation Center also has problems such as tight school funding and brain drain.
Wang Yuanfen, the person in charge of the kindergarten of the center, told reporters that due to establishment restrictions, the loss of professional teachers in the kindergarten is relatively serious. They often just train a teacher who has both a preschool education background and qualifications related to rehabilitation and medical care. They will be due to their status and income. Reasons to choose to leave.
Wang Yuanfen also said that children’s listening environment will change in the early stage of convergence, the surrounding noise will increase, and the children’s self-awareness will germinate, they will not be seen in the new environment, and timely psychological counseling will be lacking. Will produce "return to furnace" phenomenon.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that some professionals pointed out: Currently, there are only more than 60 institutions of higher learning in China that have special education programs, and they were opened relatively late. Most of them are in the stage of exploration, imitation, and reference.
It is not conducive to the professional, sophisticated, and in-depth construction of the special education team, nor can it adapt to the current background of "universal schools becoming the main battlefield of integrated education".
In addition, an industry insider pointed out that in recent years, the spectrum of childhood diseases has undergone major changes.
Even teachers who graduated from special education majors will encounter all kinds of "blind spots" in their education and teaching work. In many cases, special education work must vary from person to person and from event to event.
Gradually explore the realization of "fusion and integration"
How to resolve these problems?
Researchers at home and abroad generally believe that there must be a strong support system to provide sufficient resources for integrated education from multiple aspects.
As the lead department, the Ministry of Education has successively issued programmatic documents such as "National Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010-2020)", "China Education Modernization 2035", and "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Promoting Equalization of Basic Public Services". Interpreted and issued documents such as the "Second Special Education Enhancement Plan (2017-2020)" and "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Compulsory Education of Disabled Children and Adolescents", and determined that "regular education" and "universal education priority" In the general direction, specific measures such as "one person, one case" and "one place, one case" are proposed.
Many ordinary schools and teachers in ordinary schools also strive to explore the ideal model of "fusion and integration" within the scope of their ability.
Ningzi Primary School in Lingtai County, Gansu Province is a village-level complete primary school. At present, among the 34 students of the school (including 6 kindergarten students), two special children, Xiao Juan and Xiao Bin, are in the second grade. Collectively, the school specially selects Ru Jie, who has 12 years of teaching experience, as the head teacher. At the twice-weekly regular meeting, the teachers will also write down the recent growth of Xiaojuan and Xiaobin in the "Lifetime Planning" form. Guiding measures.
In formulating various management systems, the school has also added a little more "human touch". In the daily assessment and some routine inspections, a personalized education plan is set, and the content of the evaluation of children is also more diverse.
Xiaojuan was inconvenient to move, and her parents were a little worried, so the school agreed to accompany them.
Xiaobin is struggling to learn, so the teacher set the teaching goal as "improving language skills, developing good living habits, and learning to abide by social rules."
After studying in regular class for a year, Xiaojuan has made considerable progress.
Even though she suffers from cerebral palsy with physical disability, writes very slowly, and writes "swiftly twisted and twisted", but every day she draws strokes and finishes all subjects seriously.
During the break between classes, she will also go to the playground to exercise with the help of teachers and classmates. “At first, she could only walk one or two steps without help. Now she can walk 5 steps in a row.”
Mother Fan Fengling felt that her daughter's personality became more cheerful.
Now, this rural mother with little literacy decides that she will provide as much as the child can read, “It’s okay if you don’t grow crops, and you must not leave it alone.”
After working for more than 3 years, Liu Le has also devoted a lot of effort to special children.
At the first contact, she will test the students’ cognitive ability, language level, and adaptability, and then ask the parents about the child’s medical history, education history, treatment history, and family situation. Finally, she will contact the teacher to understand the classroom performance and learning of the disabled student Ability etc.
The entire assessment takes a week, and then Liu Le will carry out targeted educational interventions based on each student's situation.
The fifth graders usually have hearing impairment and usually rely on hearing aids to get outside sounds.
In addition, due to inaudibility, Ping Ping’s pronunciation is also problematic, which leads to Ping Ping’s role as an “invisible person” in the class and rarely communicates and plays with his classmates.
Therefore, after the pronunciation and articulation training course is over, Liu Le will arrange some "small tasks" for Pingping to convey information.
Once, she asked Pingping to tell a third-grade student that his red scarf had fallen in the office.
Pingping wrote down the other party's name, class and other information on his hand, and made full preparations.
Later, by dialogue alone, this third-grade student understood what it meant.
This greatly increased Ping Ping's confidence.
From not daring to speak, to assisting in body language and text expression, to expressing ideas through the mouth, gradually, I am willing to take the initiative to speak with classmates.
What makes Liu Le more happy is that some ordinary children also have a more tolerant vision in the process of interacting with special children.
Hearing impaired children have got the first grade in the English test, their classmates will study harder, or take the initiative to help some children with special needs.
For this reason, several front-line teachers suggested that, in order to better integrate, the basic courses of special education should be taken as the "compulsory courses" for normal students, so that prospective teachers can have some special education problems that they may face in the future before entering the workplace. Must understand.
Provide an environment of equal communication for special children
"What they lack is an opportunity for equal communication." Wang Yuanfen, head of the kindergarten of the Gansu Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation Center, said that integrated education is where education fairness really comes into play. It will help children with special needs develop a sense of psychological self-confidence and feel that society is Tolerate yourself.
In September 2016, the kindergarten of Gansu Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation Center opened to help hearing-impaired children go to school with healthy friends while receiving rehabilitation training.
In order to accurately serve the needs of each special child, the park not only performs acoustic treatment on the environment of the classroom and single training room, but also has audiologists who come into the class every day to observe the child’s hearing status, debug and maintain the child’s equipment, and Continue to advance the rehabilitation work and conduct individualized training for special children.
Wang Yuanfen said that after integration, mainstream behaviors and habits will guide special children to make changes, and many children who have graduated and entered ordinary primary schools can better adapt to the school environment.
In the training for ordinary school teachers, Wang Yuanfen will especially emphasize the importance of the mental health of special children, calling on teachers at each education stage to pay more attention to the mental state of special children, and communicate with the children and their parents in time after discovering problems. Resolve some problems in the bud.
Integration not only meets the needs of special children's social support, brings equality and respect, but also makes the educational system structure and educational practice more flexible, cooperative and accepting.
Some attempts and explorations are being carried out everywhere.
For example, the Gansu Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation Center focuses on strengthening art education and training for children with special needs on the basis of basic rehabilitation teaching activities, setting up three types of courses: "dance", "art" and "instrumental music"; Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Disabled Persons' Federation rehabilitation education Teachers in the center adopt a kind of "desensitization" teaching method, according to the development status of the children, gradually reduce the time for parents to accompany reading, improve the children's adaptability to the environment, and support the children with special needs to smoothly transition from institutional rehabilitation training to campus Learning status.
However, many professionals agreed that: As a complex system involving multiple disciplines such as medicine, education, society, etc., the environment provided by the current rehabilitation center is still similar to a "greenhouse environment", and the capacity is limited. As a transfer agency, it explores how to smoothly transition to general schools and special schools for children with special needs.
Say goodbye to the greenhouse and welcome independent growth
Although the road is winding, there is no doubt that inclusive education is advancing in twists and turns, and spiraling upward.
The foundation for compulsory education has become more solid, with "full coverage and zero rejection" for children with special needs, and various funding projects and funding standards have been continuously improved.
Non-compulsory education is developing steadily, with the help of prohibition of discrimination, separate examinations, separate plans, and separate admissions, so that special students can stay and develop well in ordinary schools.
It is understood that in 2019 alone, 12,362 disabled people nationwide were admitted by ordinary colleges and universities, and 2053 disabled people entered higher special education colleges.
To truly consolidate the foundation of "integrated education", it is also necessary for the education department to work with multiple departments to continue to promote support and guarantee work such as barrier-free environment construction, professional teacher training, curriculum and teaching material development, and strive for more ascent channels for special children.
A staff member of the Disabled Persons’ Federation Rehabilitation Education Center in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region suggested that the communication mechanism between multiple departments should be improved, and a common communication system and dialogue mechanism should be established; through the government's purchase of public services, a group of high-quality comprehensive Social workers participate in the rehabilitation and education of special children, so that public social resources can better serve the all-round development of special children.
She said frankly: "If there are no more special children enrolled in the rehabilitation center, it means that the children's special needs and the social environment can be seamlessly connected."
Educational departments in many places are working hard to achieve this goal.
A staff member of the Elementary Education Section of the Education Bureau of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, told reporters that local governments at all levels actively implemented the "Three-year Action Plan for Special Education" and increased funding for special education groups.
At least one special education resource management center should be established in each banner, county, and district, and sufficient special education teachers should be allocated, and special education work in general schools should be circulated to guide the special education work to make effective use of resource classrooms.
In teaching, the teaching principle of "same teaching material, same progress, and different requirements" is adopted, and targeted developmental evaluation is adopted according to the specific situation of special students.
Wang Xiaohong said that children and adolescents with mild special needs can be fully integrated into society and work in all walks of life just like normal people. Children and adolescents with moderate special needs can give them some support and choose some manual jobs with lower professional skills requirements. , Severe special children and adolescents can also participate in sheltered employment in Sunshine Home in the community.
At the same time, some non-profit organizations have become a useful supplement to promote integrated education for special children.
Quiet hot pot restaurants, inclusive cafes, and charity stores for the disabled have appeared in many cities, hiring disabled people, providing training for disabled people, and helping disabled people sell handicrafts for free.
And witnesses like Great Wolf are also actively speaking through QQ groups, media and other channels to fight for more rights and interests for special children.
This makes parents of special children less worried about their children's future.
Hang Yiming said that although he will still be troubled by Xuan Xuan's education problems, Xuan Xuan's future is basically bright. Whether he enters university through the college entrance examination or participates in adult education, he is expected to master the skills and skills to earn a living.
A mother also told reporters that her son used to go to the bathroom in public in the supermarket, and she was so embarrassed that she could not wait to find a place to sew it down.
Unexpectedly, a salesperson took the initiative to help her explain, and the people around her also changed from curiosity and contempt to tolerance and understanding.
During the interview, another parent called her daughter who was studying for the postgraduate entrance examination. Before that, because her younger brother was ill, her older sister chose to major in medicine, and more than once said, "You should take care of your younger brother for life even if you don't get married."
But now, the parent tells his daughter: "Stop thinking about your brother's things, do what you want to do, the environment is getting better and better, and your brother will have a way out."
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Wang Hao Shi Jia Source: China Youth Daily
Version 05 on December 07, 2020