KINGERGARTEN TEACHER’S ATTITUDES TOWARDS CHINESE EARLY LITERACY IN MACAU

ABSTRACT

THIS STUDY AIMS TO EXPLORE THE DIFFICULTIES AND CHALLENGES FACED BY REGULAR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN MACAO WHEN DEALING WITH INCLUSIVE STUDENTS IN THE CLASSROOM. AS THE CONCEPT OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION DEEPENS, THE NUMBER OF INCLUSIVE STUDENTS IN MACAO HAS BEEN INCREASING, BUT THE GROWTH OF SCHOOLS PARTICIPATING IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION HAS BEEN SLOW, POSING MORE CHALLENGES FOR REGULAR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. THIS RESEARCH ADOPTS A MIXED-METHOD APPROACH, COMBINING CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS TO COMPREHENSIVELY UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES TEACHERS FACE. THE STUDY CONDUCTED STRUCTURED OBSERVATIONS OF 15 LESSONS, COVERING 5 GRADE LEVELS AND 5 SUBJECTS, AND CARRIED OUT IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH 7 TEACHERS. THE FINDINGS REVEAL: (1) INCLUSIVE STUDENTS GENERALLY EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES IN CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION, TASK COMPLETION, AND INDEPENDENT LEARNING; (2) TEACHERS GENERALLY LACK SUFFICIENT PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF INCLUSIVE STUDENTS; (3) SCHOOLS LACK RESOURCES AND SUPPORT, INCLUDING ADAPTIVE CURRICULUM ARRANGEMENTS AND ASSESSMENT METHODS FOR INCLUSIVE STUDENTS; (4) THERE ARE CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN CURRENT EDUCATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICAL NEEDS, SUCH AS THE NO-RETENTION POLICY FOR GRADES 1-4, WHICH MAY LEAD TO MISSING THE BEST INTERVENTION TIMING FOR INCLUSIVE STUDENTS. BASED ON THE RESEARCH RESULTS, THIS PAPER PROPOSES RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDING STRENGTHENING TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, OPTIMIZING SCHOOL RESOURCE ALLOCATION, IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL POLICIES, REINFORCING EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION MECHANISMS, AND PROMOTING HOME-SCHOOL COOPERATION. THESE FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS PROVIDE IMPORTANT REFERENCES FOR POLICY-MAKING AND PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENTS IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN MACAO. 本研究旨在探討澳門普通小學教師在課堂應對融合學生時所面臨的困難及挑戰。隨著融合教育理念的普及，澳門融合學生數量不斷增加，但參與融合教育的學校數量增長緩慢，使得普通小學教師面臨更多挑戰。本研究採用混合研究方法，結合課堂觀察和深度訪談，以全面了解教師面臨的問題。 研究對15節課進行了結構化觀察，涵蓋5個年級和5個學科，並對7位教師進行了深度訪談。研究發現：（一、）融合學生在課堂參與、任務完成和自主學習等方面普遍存在困難；（二、）教師普遍缺乏足夠的專業知識和技能來有效應對融合學生；（三、）學校資源和支援不足，缺乏針對融合學生的適應性課程安排和評核方式；（四、）現行教育政策與實際需求之間存在矛盾，如一至四年級不留級制度可能導致錯過融合學生最佳干預時機。 基於研究結果，本文提出了加強教師專業發展、優化學校資源配置、完善教育政策、強化早期識別和干預機制，以及促進家校合作等建議。這些發現和建議為澳門融合教育的政策制定和實踐改進提供了重要參考。