Special education is not "basic," and impaired children shouldn't be stereotyped. What matters most is finding the best way for them to learn. Taipei's Chungshan Elementary School was the first in Taiwan to have concentrated special education-the program has a 43-year history. It's developed with the times, and now as well as 15 regular classes, it has seven special education classes and four resource classes. The MOE deems it one of the nation's best programs.
Chungshan currently has 186 teachers. Twenty are accredited in special education, and most have at least some training. "New MOE standards give priority to hiring accredited teachers," says principal Wu Chin-lung. He himself has some university credits in counseling
The parent volunteers are unique to Chungshan Elementary. Mainly parents of regular students, they have seen the efforts made by teachers in special education, and decided to help out on their own initiative. For example, the third-grade special education class has eight students, with 15 parents taking turns coming in to give a hand.
General affairs director Tsui Te-lung says the point of the class is not improving schoolwork but learning life skills. Students take buses, the MRT, and the train, and leave the school grounds for swimming and other classes-all activities that require a lot of people to help them out. That's where the parent volunteers come in.
In addition to these concentrated classes, which assist moderately to severely impaired students, there are also "resource classes" for every grade to assist students in regular classes with integrating.
Resource teacher Liang Chiu-yueh looks after 12 students in the lower grades. Some are autistic, some have learning disabilities, and some have undefined problems. Before morning classes she assists them with Chinese and math, and during noon recess she holds group activities for those who have trouble with social situations. She's also arranged for an outside teacher to teach African drumming. "Underdeveloped students can discover their abilities through music, and raise their overall level of expression," she says. Middle-grade resource teachers use noon recess for activities like Chinese chess, sports, and making handmade soap-all different means to the same end.
Through the joint efforts of the teachers of mainstream classes, resource classes and special education classes, special education at Chungshan Elementary has not only gained an outstanding reputation, but is setting an example for schools throughout Taiwan.