Lim, Levan

"The original purpose of the research study was to conduct a survey of the post-school outcomes of students with disabilities after they have left their special school settings and to use the results to inform the development of appropriate plans and actions to improve their post-school outcomes. Specifically, the research aims were to: 1. investigate the post-school outcomes of students with disabilities (graduates from special schools; and 2. engage in appropriate plans and actions to develop a formal transition model and programme (which was part of a larger curriculum reform at the selected research setting)."-- [p. 1].

A term that has high social desirability and attractiveness when used to describe a person is "creativity". A term that can be said to have low social desirability is "disability". These two terms can be said to represent bipolar opposites when used in association with or describing a person. The social perceptions of and meanings associated with creativity and disability imply that these two concepts are rarely linked. The purpose of our research was to investigate the social perceptions and connotations of the terms "creativity" and "disability" from the perspectives of two groups of teachers/instructors: those who work with individuals with disabilities and those who do not work with and are not exposed on a regular basis to individuals with disabilities. Our study specifically focuses on how both these groups of teachers perceive and evaluate the appearance of individuals who are creative and have disabilities. Implications of the study for education are presented.

"The general aim of this project was to undertake an in-depth investigation into how teachers are responding to diverse learners in mainstream classrooms so as to inform the development of pedagogies and practices that are inclusive of these students, and to use these findings to inform the development of a new educational model for teacher training."-- [p. 1].

"The fields of special needs education and disability in Singapore have witnessed significant changes and developments especially during the past two decades in the wake of Singapore's evolution towards its vision as an inclusive society. This collection of chapters presents information, knowledge, research, and perspectives across a wide range of topics and issues that are relevant to the lives of persons with disabilities, their families and their communities. This book offers a compendium of local knowledge and research on special needs and disability and integrates international literature, exemplary practices, and innovative ideas for considering future directions and efforts for the fields of special needs education and disability in Singapore."

Special education in Singapore has evolved considerably during the past two decades with greater enrollments of students with special educational needs in regular mainstream schools. This progressive transformation in Singapore’s education towards the inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream classes has been accompanied by concomitant changes in teacher preparation programs for both general and special education teachers and professionals. This article situates and describes special education in Singapore and its increasing role in partnering with mainstream education within Singapore’s socio-historical context and evolvement as a nation since independence. Current issues related to special education and its expanding role in preparing teachers and related professionals for working with students with special educational needs in both mainstream and special schools are discussed with implications raised for future directions.

The success of inclusive education can be influenced by how teachers in regular schools perceive students with special needs. In Brunei Darussalam where inclusive education has been implemented a little over a decade ago through a model where learning assistance teachers work alongside with regular teachers to support the learning of students with special needs, there is limited research on the views of teachers within the regular school system towards including students with special needs. This study investigates the perceptions of both learning assistance and regular teachers towards including students with special needs in the regular school environment. The Perceptions to Inclusive Education Scale (PIES) was adapted, translated into Malay and validated for use to examine the perceptions of inclusive education of Bruneian teachers. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from the use of this adapted instrument. The results of this study on teachers' perceptions towards including students with special needs provide some evidence of the progress of inclusive education hitherto as well as delineate some areas of concerns for improving the success of inclusive education in Brunei Darussalam.