Disability and Education in China

DISCLAIMER: This is, once again, my perspective on a very broad topic. I can only write from what I have seen and heard. I do not think this is a definitive view, just one person's experience. 

Disability is something that is still slightly taboo in China, with the one-child policy (soon to be two-child policy) there is great importance placed on having strong healthy children and, when healthcare isn't universally available, simple problems can become debilitating. Something that would be relatively easily handled in the UK with NHS resources becomes a lifelong disability, it's sad to see a child out begging on the street who could have probably been "normal" with physiotherapy in early life. Of course, not all families abandon their children for a life of begging on the street and many disabled children are loved and integrated into society, and most of the time that means being put into mainstream schools. Working at public school in Suzhou there were a few students with physical disabilities, but in general they didn't stand out too much; the time I noticed one particular little girl (with what I can best describe as a club foot) the most was at morning exercise when she had a friend to help her walk out into the playground. She definitely didn't get out of doing morning exercise though!

In general students with disabilities are treated exactly the same as those without; they still have to do the homework, do it well, and will get shouted at the same as any other student. The weirdest thing, for me, is that teachers seem to ignore or even not realise that special needs students are any different. This may not be such a big problem for students with physical disabilities, but it is when students with mental disabilities are put in the same situation as the “regular” students that treating everyone the same can get a bit tricky.

There have always been arguments both for and against putting handicapped children in mainstream schools, and I tend to err on the side of being against main-streaming seriously   mentally handicapped children, I don’t believe that it is beneficial for the handicapped student or their classmates. But I can recognise the benefits of main-streaming, especially after working with some students at Aston that I would have previously said did not belong in a classroom with able-minded children. I would like to tell you now about three of my students who all have some kind of mental disability and have challenged my opinions on educating handicapped children.

Nancy (C2A)

Nancy was the first student I came across with serious special needs. From the moment you look at her there is no doubting that something isn't quite right, her eyes are a little too big and her posture is slightly off, and in class she was very, very quiet. In my first class with her she actually got so nervous that she wet herself – luckily I don’t think any of the other children noticed. Nancy’s parents are by no means in denial about her capabilities, they know she has a disability but they just want her to be able to socialise with other children and to get used to the school environment, and for Nancy that has worked. Over the year I was her teacher she went from quiet as a mouse who would never speak and needed huge amounts of help in the spoken exams, to a still very quiet student but a student that could join in and volunteer answers. She had some of the best pronunciation in the class and the last exam I did with her she did it all on her own. A huge achievement for her!

Bob (C8)

Bob is a long standing legend at Yinchuan Aston, very time he sees a foreign teacher he will stop them and ask “Are you busy?” and run away after they answer; I saw him on the bus once and he ignored me when I said hello until the moment he got off the bus when he shouted “Hello teacher!” over his shoulder as he jumped off. He has made his way up through the levels to reach C8 level with students who have a much higher English level than him. We’re not sure how old he is, somewhere between 16 and 18 is our best guess, and he’s in a class with 13 and 14 year olds but you wouldn't guess he was a lot older than them. He plays with the little tiny kids and gloats to them with his high level certificate at the end of term awards ceremony. But the amazing thing about Bob is that, although C8 is way above his level of English, he manages to find ways of adjusting the course to his level. There is never a question he won’t try to answer and in every break during class he will run off to practice on GuaGua, the Aston computer programme. He works incredibly hard and at the end of the semester he does better in the exams than a lot of his classmates because he is always happy to try. He may give very simple answer, but he does give answers that are correct and so he gets points.

The legend that is Bob

Jake (C1B)

Jake is one of our newest students at Aston and he is quickly becoming a favourite. He is one of the friendliest children I have ever met, he is always laughing and trying to talk to someone. He is one of those people whose presence genuinely lights up a room.

I first met Jake in a demo class, he was giddy with excitement. He could barely stay in his chair and was clapping and laughing the whole time, he was ideal demo student because of his enthusiasm. The Chinese teacher (CT) I was working with kept mentioning what a happy little boy he was and how enthusiastic, oblivious to the fact he is seriously special needs. I was surprised anyone could have missed that there was something wrong with him but that’s just the way it is here. Now he has signed up to Aston and I put him in one of my classes. He is a pleasure to teach and picks things up remarkably quickly; he wants to answer every question and at first I thought it was just his boundless enthusiasm and desire to be up and out his chair but he know the answer every time without fail. The biggest thing about Jake is how the other students treat him. With Nancy and Bob other students are wary and don’t want to work with them, they get frustrated when they don’t quite understand what’s going on and sometimes laugh at them. But Jake is completely different, he is accepted as part of the class and the other students help him when he gets overexcited, no one gets frustrated and no one complains when they are partnered with him – somehow he has become completely integrated. Maybe it’s because he’s a big character but he is really is very hard to get annoyed at.

All three of these students are remarkably bright in their own way and seeing them grow in confidence and learn to interact with other children is hugely rewarding – as is seeing students, who were previously cautious and mocking, work patiently with them. I still think that private language schools like Aston, which work outside of the regular school curriculum, are a different case to regular public school. Schools like Aston provide a perfect, safe environment for all types of children to socialise and they give a much more intimate classroom environment than the 60+ student classes at Chinese public school, which allows teachers to spend the 1-on-1 time with students who may need that extra encouragement. Should mentally handicapped students come to schools like Aston? Definitely. Should they be in mainstream schools with huge classes of 60+ students? I'm still undecided.