Qualitative case study of the experiences of children with disabilities in inclusive child care centres in Hong Kong

An inclusive programme is advocated as the best practice for providing equitable quality education for all children, regardless of their abilities. However, limited research has been conducted on the inclusive programme involving children with disabilities as active participants, especially in Hong Kong. This research is a qualitative case study aimed at listening to children with disabilities as they share their experiences in inclusive classrooms. Three cases recruited from three mainstream child care centres (CCCs) operating the inclusive programme in Hong Kong were employed in this study. Classroom observations, semi-structured interviews and the choice of stickers (e.g. emotional faces and thumbs up/down) were used for data collection. The data was analysed using the framework of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological theory of human development. Three major themes emerged regarding the experiences of children with disabilities in inclusive CCCs: 1) the characteristics of children with disabilities at a biosystem level, 2) the features of child–child and teacher–child interactions at a microsystem level and 3) the features of learning and home environments of children with disabilities. The findings indicate that children with disabilities felt happy about staying with their groupmates and special education teachers. However, they experienced academic difficulties, resulting in them being rejected by their peers, mainstream education teachers and their families. The implications for cultural and instructional changes were also discussed. Copyright © 2023 ACEID.