Conceptualising, defining and providing special education in China: stakeholder perspectives

Conceptualising and defining special education determine what services will be provided for learners with special educational needs (SENs). The focus of our study was two questions: (1) how are people with SENs in China defined, conceptualised and perceived by stakeholders, and (2) how does society in China view special education? This was accomplished by conducting a qualitative study using in‐depth interviews with nine Chinese stakeholders, including administrators, practitioners and academics. The findings revealed that China uses the traditional, social and medical models in the same manner as the rest of the world when conceptualising, defining and providing special education services. However, there are several additional context‐related differences, such as the provision of special education in four different ways (i.e., inclusion, mainstreaming, segregation and exclusion). Although the participants believe that society has made significant progress towards the acceptance of persons with disabilities, they assert that minor, unsystematic and atypical discrimination still exists according to the type of disability or socioeconomic status of each member. While this study sheds revealing light on contemporary conceptions about special education and disability expressed by participants, a deeper understanding of the Chinese educational system's eligibility model for special education, and inclusive education has been gained.