A good example of parent advocacy for rights in inclusive education in China

• Author: CUI Fengming
• Pages: 323-338

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 11 JUNE 2016 NO. 2

DOI 10.3868/s050-005-016-0018-4

ARTICLE

A GOOD EXAMPLE OF PARENT ADVOCACY FOR RIGHTS IN INCLUSIVE

EDUCATION IN CHINA

CUI Fengming∗

Abstract While children with disabilities experience exclusion and segregation in

education, parents’ involvement has been very limited due to the lack of parent support

in China. Negative attitudes toward disability in an environment deeply influenced by

the individual model of disability thinking makes it crucial for parents to advocate for

their children’s rights in inclusive education through collaborative and organized efforts.

This article examines barriers obstructing disabled children’s rights in pursuing inclusive

education, barriers parents face to advocate for their children, and the development of

parent support. The author argues that equal and inclusive education for all has a broader

social impact beyond disability rights to eliminate barriers and pursue dignity for all. In

doing so, the author reveals existing structural inequalities facing inclusive education,

encourages the momentum for future changes, and utilizes a good example of parent

advocacy for a deeper and meaningful policy advancement to overcome discrimination

on the basis of disability that causes segregation and exclusion in education.

Recommendations include strategies for the construction of a support network for

parents to play their important roles in advancing the rights of their disabled children in

inclusive education.

Keywords inclusive education, parent involvement, equal participation, educational rights,

good practice

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 323

I. RIGHTS IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND PARENTS’ R OLE IN CHINA ......................... 325

II. A GOOD EXAMPLE OF PARENT ADVOCACY............................................................ 331

A. The Development of a Project...................................................................... 331

B. Parents’ Advocacy for Relevant Policy on Inclusive Education....................... 334

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................ 337

INTRODUCTION

Children with disabilities have been historically deprived of their rights in education.

∗ (󳫸) Ed.D at School of Education of Boston University; Director of China Program, Harvard Law

School Project on Disability, Cambridge, US. Contact: fcui@law.harvard.edu

324 FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA [Vol. 11: 323

In many countries, a large percent of school age children with disabilities are excluded

from education. Even at the primary school level, students with disabilities, on average,

experience significantly lower completion rates and fewer years of education than

students without disabilities.1 Advocates for inclusive education in different countries

have been making tireless efforts to pursue appropriate education for disabled children in

settings together with students without disabilities. In the history of promoting and

protecting educational rights, parents have played a critical role as the strongest and

persistent advocates for their children through peer support between parents and joint

efforts with educators, disability organizations, lawyers, experts, and other groups.

Families of persons with disabilities provide the most immediate environment in which

they can development their potential and enjoy a life in their best interest from the very

beginning of their lives. There is no doubt that the rights of persons with disabilities are

directly related to the quality of life of their families. Legal reform indicates that lessons

have been learned for not providing adequate systemic support to empower parents to

attend to the needs of their children and, consequently, failed children with disabilities.2

However, this picture of failure in the system is blurred by disability being regarded as a

negative phenomenon and the source of all the problems. Through efforts of parents and

other evidence-based academic support for them from academics and groups through

projects, governments’ understanding of parents’ role has increased. Some governments

began to provide funding support to parent organizations to duplicate the successful pilot

projects and improve relevant laws and policies and the construction of infrastructure to

protect the rights of parents engagement.3 To ensure the meaningful participation of

parents, not only should parents have rights to participate in the decision making process

for their children’s education, but they also need to be held accountable for participation

in the process. This is a very important message both to the governing authorities and

parents. For the government, urgent law and policy reform must occur in if existing laws

and policies have not granted parents rights to be included in the decision making process

relevant to the education of their children with disabilities, and have not defined them as

critical team members in the process of evaluation, service design and delivery,

placement, and assessment. For parents, they must understand, respect, and pursue the

rights of their disabled children in education, acquire information, equip themselves with

1 See World Health Organization & the World Bank’s Report on Disability, at 206 (2011).

2 For example, one of the key findings revealed in a report to the former US President George W. Bush

on the status of special education is that, “When a child fails to make progress in special education, parents do

not have adequate option and recourse. Parents have their child’s best interest in mind, but do not feel they are

empowered by the system that fails them.” See President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education,

A New Era: Revitalizing Special Education for Children and Their Families, Jul. 2002.

3 For example, in the United States’ the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004

Amendment, parents’ rights in and responsibilities for their children’s education have been enhanced. See

generally H. Ruther Turnbull, Matthew Stowe & Nancy Huerta, Free and Appropriate Public Education: The

Law and Children with Disabilities (7th edition), Love Publishing Company (Denver), at Chapter 9 (2007).