Pre-service teachers’ training, knowledge and perception towards students with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder: A cross-cultural comparison between Hong Kong and Mainland China

This exploratory study inquired into pre-service teachers’ views towards students with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Hong Kong and Mainland China including pre-service teachers’ knowledge and misperception of ADHD and their acceptability towards students with ADHD, and also investigates the training about how to support students with ADHD that pre-service teachers in Hong Kong and Mainland China have received at university level. The participants selected for this study were the pre-service teachers who enrolled in undergraduate programs of education in universities and were studying in the final year of universities. There were 50 pre-service teachers from Hong Kong and also 50 pre-service teachers from Mainland China introduced and invited by emails and posters who completed a 10-minute questionnaire for the study. Based on the results of study, this paper compares and contrasts the similarities and differences of pre-service teachers’ views towards students with ADHD between Hong Kong and Mainland China, and analyzes the reasons for similarities and differences and discusses the different consequences of supporting students with ADHD in Hong Kong and Mainland China.