Kaili Chen Zhang

Recent trends indicate a significant increase in the number of families opting for home education in the UK, yet research dedicated to this area remains limited. Moreover, there is a notable scarcity of studies focusing on the lived experiences of home-educating families of young children. Amidst this context, a new conceptual framework was develop...

The purpose of this study was to provide a deeper understanding of the challenges early childhood intervention practitioners faced and their commitment to work. Data suggested that participants struggled to manage their roles and responsibilities, the lack of time, resources, and professional support, and growing workloads. In the face of these cha...

Elective home education is a significant aspect of the UK educational system, yet dedicated research on this topic is limited. This study, employing Appreciative Inquiry, explored the best practices perceived by 90 UK home-educating parents. It uncovered diverse strategies, emphasising the importance of resources such as technology, curricula, and...

In early childhood education there is an increasing focus on the issues related to male kindergarten teachers. The shortage of men entering the teaching profession, the high turnover rate, and social marginalisation pose a challenge to the recruitment and retention of male kindergarten teachers. Furthermore, an imbalance in the ratio of men and wom...

This study reports data on early childhood teachers' perspectives of early childhood inclusive education in New Zealand. A qualitative method was employed for this research. The process included an internet survey questionnaire which was sent out to early childhood teachers across New Zealand. The results indicated that though early childhood teach...

Using a mixed-method approach, this present study examined the roles of calling and the relation between life goals and spiritual values among early childhood professionals in New Zealand. Among the 102 participants who completed the surveys, 24 participated in the follow-up individual interviews. In line with previous research, results showed that...

Gender stereotypes are often an unconscious notion, which can unjustly confine individuals’ pathways to that of those deemed acceptable in society. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to explore whether such ideals are shown by primary school students’ and their teachers. Results showed that gender stereotypes were present, with both students a...

To examine the current status of early childhood inclusive education in New Zealand, this article highlights the country’s overall structure of inclusive education and other services for individuals with special needs. The unique features of early childhood special education services and disability issues related to solutions to child poverty are a...

New Zealand has a reputation for having one of the most inclusive education systems in the world. However, research and anecdotal evidence show that many parents of young children with disabilities have difficulties accessing intervention and health-care services and may be less satisfied when they do receive services. In addition, though a plethor...

Prior literature shows that values and life goals are associated with one’s long-term levels of well-being. However, not much has been done on values and life goals among immigrants in New Zealand. This study aimed to address this lack of research by examining the personal values and life goals among immigrant parents in New Zealand. Based on the l...

This article describes the practical application of an innovative bilingual preschool program that involves two-way immersion of both English and Chinese in classrooms. This has not been written about extensively, especially in the context of early childhood classrooms in Asian countries. The primary goal of the two-way immersion kindergarten is to...

To describe the current status of autism interventions for youth in Singapore, this article highlights the country's overall structure of special education and other services for individuals with autism. The unique features of the restorative farm therapy programme, a comprehensive approach which has been used to enhance the wellbeing of youth with...

AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND HAS a reputation for being a world leader in early childhood education. However, research indicates that many early childhood teachers in New Zealand encounter difficulties when working with children and families from diverse backgrounds. In addition, though a plethora of research has been done on early childhood teachers’ part...

It has been well identified and supported in the literature that values and life goals are associated with one’s general well-being. However, there have been few studies on values and life goals among international students in New Zealand. This study addressed this lack of research by focusing on the life goals and personal values among internation...

Early childhood care options and practices differ around the world, as influenced by societal perspectives and needs. As early educators and policymakers around the world work to improve education and care services to better serve young children and their families, we must consider context-specific values and standards of quality to ensure early ed...

Spirituality is recognized as one of the ways people construct knowledge and meaning in life; it deals with the sphere of values and beliefs, and informs the choices and actions of many individuals. However, spirituality is frequently underused in practice in teacher education. When it comes to the area of special education teacher training, the la...

This study examines the effectiveness of five spelling strategies used to teach junior secondary school students with dyslexia. Participants were 30 secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. The teachers commented on five spelling strategies: the phonological strategy, an integration of phonological and orthographical strategies, the rule-based strat...

To examine the key factors that lead to effective implementation of school-wide behavior interventions,this study examined the extent to which school-wide behavior interventions were implemented in four Hong Kong schools. The study also explored Hong Kong teachers' beliefs about behavioral and social skill programs for secondary students with socia...

The main purpose of this research was to explore early childhood education teachers', principals', and parents' perceptions of the role of spirituality in the lives of children with special needs, and how educators and schools can support the spiritual development of these children. Three preschools, the Buddhist, Christian, and Waldorf schools, we...

The spiritual aspect of life has the potential to affect one’s quality of life in terms of emotional and physical well-being, relationships, and social inclusion. Unfortunately, despite public acknowledgement of the importance of spiritual development, little has been written on spirituality in students with special needs. Furthermore, in the field...

This monograph article captures the highlights of the information gleaned from the 2013 CCBD Forum. Participants discussed barriers and obstacles to improve outcomes for children and youth with E/BD as well as solutions and best practices. Participants agreed that all interventions should be based on sound instructional and behavioral principles. I...

To describe inclusive practices in Hong Kong schools, the author presents the current state of educating children and youth with disabilities in Hong Kong schools. The article also highlights specific strategies in the inclusive educational settings that promote holistic learning and development for children in the region. Implications for other co...

To examine the current status of inclusion in early childhood in Hong Kong, this article highlights the overall structure of early childhood and special education services in the region, the historical movement toward inclusion before and after 1997 (the year Hong Kong returned to the People's Republic of China), and its impact on early childhood e...

Values are guiding principles in our life. While some studies found spiritual values to be "healthier," Sagiv and Schwartz (Eur J Soc Psychol 30:177-198, 2000) showed that people holding non-spiritual values were higher on affective well-being. We examined the predictive power of these two types of values with a longitudinal data set collected from...

This qualitative study aimed to examine the inclusive practices implemented in three faith-based kindergartens in Hong Kong. A questionnaire was used to collect information about school backgrounds, students' special needs, teacher training, special education services, curriculum design, school policy, parental involvement, and challenges faced by...

Published in "The Journal of the International Association of Special Education"

Spirituality is of acknowledged and profound importance to children from mainstream school populations, but has been overlooked in respect of children with special needs. This article explores the issues related to spirituality and disabilities, and the relationship between spirituality and education for students with special needs. The following a...

Values and life goals are associated with one's general well-being and quality of life. However, there is insufficient documentation about issues that are linked with the notions of spiritual values and life goals among college students in Asia. This study addressed this lack of research by focusing on the spiritual values and life goals among stud...

Spirituality is recognised by many to be an inherent property of the human being. Empirical studies and theoretical literature both suggest that spirituality affects one’s quality of life in terms of emotional and physical well-being, relationships, and social inclusion. However, the importance of the spiritual dimension of life is rarely acknowled...

Despite public acknowledgment of the importance of spiritual development, little has been written globally on female young adults' personal views of their spiritual values and body image. This article briefly presents the findings of a pilot study that explored female college students' reflections on body image and spirituality. Responses from part...

Preschoolers with autism face a number of challenges in integrating into different community activities owing to behavioural, communication and emotional concerns. Since the year 2009, the Hong Kong Heep Hong Society has developed a training programme for enhancing community participation among individuals with autism. The current project reports f...

To examine and identify the current inclusive practices in early childhood educational settings in Hong Kong, this qualitative study looks at the support and educational services available for young children with special needs in Hong Kong mainstream preschools as well as the characteristics of early childhood educational settings that support incl...

In describing the current status of the education of new Chinese immigrant children (NCIC) in Hong Kong and to provide data useful for designing new policies, this article highlights the region's rise of new Chinese immigrants and the characteristics of the NCIC. Challenges to improve access to and equity in education in Hong Kong, overall quality...

This study examines the effect of a reading intervention aimed at improving the comprehension performance of three students with hyperactive behaviours in Hong Kong. Comprehension tasks, adopted from local exercise books based on Hong Kong Certificate Education Examination Paper I, were used to appraise three participants' reading performance, and...

This article concerns social skills interventions for children with emotional/behavioral disorders. Drawing on the author's teaching experience and the findings of research on social skills training in schools, and exploring effective ways to facilitate children's social skill development, the paper describes how social skills interventions can be...

A survey research study was conducted with a sample of 100 secondary students from a local secondary school about the motives of cheating. The primary focus of this study was the interplay among variables of self-efficacy, peer influence and cheating. The results showed that students with low self-efficacy were more likely to cheat than those who p...

Although researchers in the health and social care professions have suggested that spirituality is a fundamental human need and a human right that is a necessary component of both mental and physical health (e.g., George, Ellison, & Larson, 2000), spirituality is still a neglected area and underused resource in special education. Little work has fo...

Arguing that spiritual growth is part and parcel of the personal, social and emotional development, education and care of all adolescents, this article explores some key issues on the spiritual needs of adolescent girls within the context of holistic education. Spiritual needs refer primarily to the search for personal meaning, purpose, and identit...

This article presents factors that place girls at risk of delinquency and offending as well as the patterns in juvenile delinquency trends for females in Singapore. The authors also describe Singapore's overall structure of services for young offenders and the current status of alternative education programmes for young women engaged in delinquent...

This paper provides a trans-cultural perspective of emotional/behavioral difficulties and a brief overview of the subculture of today’s young adolescent girls. Features of successful alternative education services provided at a Singapore girls’ home are also presented. This paper concludes with a consideration of implications for teachers and other...

This study reports data on the challenges and needs of girls engaged in delinquent behaviour and the effectiveness of services provided by a girls' home. Implications and suggestions for the planning and implementation of effective programmes and services in alternative educational settings are included. It concludes that alternative education is n...

fter completing this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Describe key characteristics of children and youth with emotional and behavioural disorders. 2. Convey approaches to addressing the educational needs of children and youth with emotional and behavioural disorders. Various terms are used to identify individuals with emotional and/or behavioural...

To support students with dyslexia and Autism Spectrum Disorder in regular education schools in Singapore, Special Needs Officers (SNOs) have been introduced in primary and secondary schools. This chapter examines the SNOs’ perspectives on including students with special needs in general education classes, and thereby considers the feasibility of su...

The purposes of this study were to investigate female juvenile delinquents and at-risk girls' perceptions of their new school experience at a residential alternative education program in Singapore. Participants' views about the three key components of the alternative school are presented. Student characteristics and services offered at the school a...

Published in "Hong Kong Special Education Forum"

To describe the current status of special education and services for children and youth with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) in Singapore, this article highlights the country’s overall structure of special education and mental health, identification and intervention to children and youth with E/BD, perspectives about E/BD, and unique features...

The main purpose of this paper is to review literature associated with social skills training for students with behavioral difficulties in both the general and special education settings. Research findings presented in this review were based on data collected from books, research papers, and reports published from the 1970s to 2004 in the United St...

This article aims to provide an overview of the use of origami in teaching mathematics to deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The author posits that in both the general and special education settings, origami can be very useful for students who are deaf and hard of hearing as many of them need to see and feel to learn and are likely to be concrete l...

To describe the current status of special education and services for children and youths with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) in Singapore, the authors highlight the country's overall structure of special education and mental health, identification of and intervention with children and youths with E/BD, perspectives about E/BD, and unique...

Published in "US-China Education Review"

The authors review 11 studies published from 1971 through the 1990s on learning and behavioral difficulties among Chinese American children. The focus of the review is on (a) quantity and quality of the studies, (b) topics examined, and (c) research findings. Results showed that limited English proficiency, delinquency and gangs, and emotional and...

The purposes of the study reported here were to investigate the social competence of students aged from six to 12, diagnosed with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) in a public self-contained school setting, and to increase the students' social competence by using a literature-based method that employs multi-age grouping, impersonation, and tele...

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) often find little success within public school settings. This is due to a variety of factors including problems with social skills as well as problems originating within their homes and communities. Many risk factors correlated with the school failure of children with E/BD have also been ident...

Published in "Hong Kong Special Education Forum"

Ph D dissertation published in UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (Publication No. AAT 3126561)