Teachers' understanding of inclusive education : comparing perspectives in China and Italy

Abstract

In recent years, inclusive education has become a major challenge for school systems in both Western and Eastern countries, and many countries have been putting considerable efforts into making their education more inclusive. The present study was undertaken to investigate Chinese and Italian teachers’ understanding of inclusive education based on the medical and social model of disability. 45 semi-structured interviews were conducted with school teachers in Italy (N = 19) and China (N = 26). Our findings show that Italian teachers understand inclusive education mainly as certain values such as full access, and respect for students’ differences and potential, which reflect a social model of disability, while Chinese teachers perceive inclusive education primarily from a medical model of disability, influenced by the Chinese cultural and social understanding of disability. The reasons for these different understandings of inclusive education in Italy and China are then discussed. In the end, practical implications for the further development of high-quality inclusive education in both countries are provided.