Philippine E-Journals

Essential Competencies for Teachers in Special Schools: A Perspective from Hong Kong

Peter Westwood | Martty Y.P Wong

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

Wong

This paper summarizes developments in the teacher competency movements in Britain, US and Australia with particular reference to the field of special education. The writers describe the scope and potential uses of professional competency lists for special education teachers, and discuss methods for developing and validating such instruments. They illustrate one such method using data from a survey in Hong Kong in which 61 Chinese teachers in special schools were asked to self-report essential knowledge, skills and personal qualities they require in their daily work. Data from Hong Kong are compared with research evidence from other countries and also with existing special education teacher competency lists. The results indicate that the teachers in Hong Kong appear to require almost identical knowledge, skills and personal attributes as those described in competency lists for special educators from other countries, thus suggesting there may be reasonable cross-cultural validity in such instruments. Drawing on the data from Hong Kong and overseas the writers then provide a core competency checklist that could be used to evaluate the relevance of curriculum content in pre-service and in-service special education courses.