BACS conference and CECI Edinburgh seminar

In early September, I presented at the annual conference of British Association for Chinese Studies, as part of the first ever disability-focused panel. The other two presenters, Dr Hermann Aubie and Dr Sarah Dauncey, both have had long interest in disability issues in China, but working with different perspectives in human rights and cultural studies. The presentations complemented each other: Hermann gave a good introduction of the context especially commenting on the role of China Disabled Person's Federation (CDPF) and local DPOs; Sarah offered an analysis of the image of 'disabled man' in a biography written by a Chinese author; I revisited the policy development of inclusive education, and pointed out that disabled children's rights to access inclusive provision had not been fully respected, and the dominant role of special education had never been challenged. We had interesting discussions with the audience, such as the role of religion, and the female leadership of Zhang Haidi, the current president of CDPF. We all recognised that China's context for researching disability issues is extremely complex!

In mid October, back at the Moray House School of Education, I chaired the Counting Every Child In seminar. Over 30 people attended the seminar. Professor Meng Deng and his team from Beijing Normal University presented about the development of special and inclusive education in China, especially how mainstreaming severed the need for rural development. Professor Michael Shevlin from Dublin Trinity College presented Dr Paula Flynn's research on behalf of her, which creatively engaged young people's voices in a secondary school. Colleagues from Moray House also shared their latest research. Professor Lani Florian ad Dr Nataša Pantić introduced their work in inclusive education and teacher education. Dr Gillean McCluskey shared their project of Safe and Inclusive Schools Network. I again presented my PhD research findings and the progress of the CECI project. The participants gave very positive feedback for the seminar. Following the seminar, we also had a meeting among the CECI network members, and exchanged research ideas and discussed future plans for potential collaboration.