Interviews with School Administrators

May 28

In this activity, we were tasked with interviewing either an advocate for children’s rights in special education or a school administrator.

We have all done a deep dive into the American laws and policies covered; with many of my peers being situated in the American education system, I expect that there will be a wealth of information provided. This leads me to approach this task from the local laws that directly impact my working environment in China.

This proved to be difficult at first. I reached out to a few special needs schools, but they declined to comment, rightly so, as this is a difficult area for discussion. I then turned to the administrators in my own school.

I interviewed the international department high school principal, who provided me with his experiences and knowledge. With this achieved, I went further and got my own principal in our kindergarten to answer my questions from the Chinese perspective.

Their responses have lined up with the conclusions I had made before the research I have previously done. The laws and policies are there but not well known or in practice, with social stigma playing a major role in the effectiveness of interventions, identification and training.

Below you will find the interview with the foreign high school principal. It was split into two segments. Unfortunately, someone walked into the first half and needed the classroom we were using back.

Here is the response listing from the Chinese principal. This part is more of a direct response rather than an interview. I had prepared the questions, had them translated and then sent that to her to prepare before the interview. I was joined in the interview by the manager of the foreign department for kindergarten, Janet Zhuang, who acted as translator for the principal. It was a very enlightening conversation that helped me understand these issues from the Chinese perspective.

Questions

The questions I had prepared were quite specific to the task at hand. Here is the entire question list.

Interview

Expert Opinion on Laws and Policies in Special Education

In this interview, I will interview several school administrators at my school to discuss how the policies are implemented locally in China within the scope of their experience.

I hope to gain different insights and collect valuable data on the subject matter.

Questions:

Introduction – Could you tell me about your qualifications and history in education?
SPED – What experiences have you had dealing with Special Education in China or elsewhere?
General – What laws or policies are you aware of that govern special education in China?
SPED – What do you know of “The Special Education Act”? (1)(2)
Law – What policies or laws impact the approach to special education in this school?
Practice – How are the laws or policies implemented in the teaching practices at different levels in this school?
Follow up – If none, what improvements could be made to this?
General – Are there any services that this school offers or organizations that we work alongside relating to special education?
Law - What are the professional or legal ramifications of a breach in policy?
General – How does human resources at the school deal with these policies in school?
Law – How do human resources handle a breach in policy?
General – What is your view of Special Education in China?
Follow up – Are there any areas that you feel could be improved?
General – What should a special education teacher be aware of to provide the most effective interventions for special needs students?
General – What type of training should be provided to general education teachers to assist special education teachers?