Abstract:
This qualitative research critically analyses Chinese policies regarding inclusive education for
children with disabilities, including children with ADHD. Drawing on disability studies and
sociocultural theory in education, this thesis critically analyses policy discourse in the
Learning in the Regular Classroom (LRC) policy. It aims to understand how the LRC
interprets and dictates the implementation of inclusive education, and to explore the
implications for children with disabilities and those with ADHD in China. This research
shows that the LRC was formulated based on the international spirit of democracy and
equality. However, in pursuing inclusion, two opposing systems are operating, learning in
regular classrooms and segregated ‘special’ education. LRC policies demonstrate mixed
discourses of both inclusion and deviance, with the latter being the dominant discourse. This
study suggests that a shift towards a discourse of inclusion is needed in policy and practice.
This involves a change from academic-oriented, competitive elite education and a
transmission mode of teaching, towards socially interactive approaches based on
sociocultural understandings of teaching, learning and inclusion. It is suggested that
Confucianism could lay the foundations and be the starting point for inclusive education in
China.
