Lunch at the Grand Hotel.Chengching Lake , Our Villa at Sunset

Part I: A Four Day Weekend from Friday,4/17, to Monday 4/20
We continue to enjoy our wonderful experiences here in Taiwan!! Maren is now with us, and we laugh a lot, see beautiful and/or fascinating sights, and overall are having a grand time! I am going to divide this past weekend's adventures into three parts!



On Friday, April 17th, Maren's first full day here, we slept late and had a leisurely breakfast. We then headed by subway to a new place for us, Chengching Lake in the eastern outskirts of Kaohsiung City. We went via a combo of subway and cab and arrived at the most impressively elegant hotel that seems to be in the middle of nowhere, near the enormous Chengching Lake. The decor out and in is luxurious, and even though we were in casual clothes, we decided to venture inside to take a peek. Well, the staff there was SO welcoming that we ended up having a fabulous lunch there, (Maren's very generous treat!)followed by one of the managers taking us on a tour of the hotel,
showing us some of their nicest suites with views of the lake, etc! What fun! And, by the way, I cannot grow orchids like those in their lobby!!! They are HUGE!!


We meandered slowly around part of the lake (it is very large) , enjoying the bridges, the water, the flora and fauna everywhere! It was low-key, just perfect a day!










We ended the day back with a quick stop at the ubiquitous 7-11 and then on to our villa, with wine and crackers watching the sunset in the patio outside our villa door! Life can be so tough at times!!.

Today, April 16th, we had our final two school interviews, first with a reputedly top boys' high school in Kaohsiung and then with a delightful elementary school. Once again, each school takes advantage of the lush warm climate to showcase plants, each has a guard house to monitor visitors, each has attractive parking areas made of brick or tile rather than blacktop, and each has a staff that is deservedly proud of their school. Our observations of how the teachers in Taiwan service kids with disabilities (learning, physical, emotional) seem to hold true for these two schools as well: an occasional pull-out option to support mainly inclusive classroom teaching. The Min Tsu Elementary School impressed us by their having helped create a special program, now administered by the Kaohsiung City government, to train parents of autistic children how to communicate more effectively with their children! The program is offered for two full days, a Saturday and a Sunday, near the summer's end. This school is known for its servicing of autistic students and indeed has a special room to teach the 12 autistic students in their school. Some classes do have aides for the more limited children if placed in the inclusive classroom.

In between our two visits, we grabbed a quick lunch at guess where!?? And then, in our forty minutes to kill, we went to their wonderful National Museum of Science and Technology and zipped particularly through the interactive children's sections. Fun! The pictures here show: the insides of a turn stile; the way the heat of our hands can make a meter go up; the power of the energy created by rapidly turning a crank lights up a light bulb; and the workings of a lunar and a solar eclipse by placing the observer (Ted) between the sun and the moon.

The last exciting event of the day was Maren's arrival!! Her plane, just like Chris, Neot and Maya's was late, so we didn't pull into our villa until after midnight!! But we are so glad she is here!!

Ted and I had an exciting day yesterday when we, as a team, co-taught a group of 120 graduate students and teachers in the School of education at National Kaohsiung Normal University! We were invited by Shih-Min, pictured here with Ted,
another of Ted's former students who now teaches in the School of Educational Administration at this nearby university. (Since I took the pictures, there are none of me teaching, but Ted and I truly demonstrated co-teaching!) Our presentation seemed to be very well received, and we were treated to a wonderful traditional Chinese dinner afterwards! Additionally, Shih-Min presented each of us with some lovely gifts (souvenirs). One was a colorful figure in a fish shape and the tale is that a dragon turns into a fish and is a symbol then of good luck! Also, despite our repeated instructions not to pay us, we were given an honorarium for our talk.

Then, today, we went to yet another public school, this time an industrial vocational school specializing in all categories of engineering training:mechanical, electrical, etc, etc. The day time student body comprises both a comprehensive traditional school and the industrial school, with a total of over 2000 students. Then, they also run a night school serving another 900 plus students, for whom the night time option is very helpful, as they work in the day.
Again, as we have discovered everywhere we go, we were treated most graciously and learned more about how this school provides learning for their students with special needs. Basically, in the Industrial School, there is a Student Counseling Center, headed by a Director and employing, among others, two special education teachers. The two special ed instructors provide extra help for the 15 students who are classified in their school as such. The help is provided in a number of ways. Primarily, the school supports an inclusive model, so that those 15 are scheduled into regular classes most of each day. However, they also are scheduled anywhere from 6 to 8 periods a week about once a day), depending on their needs, into the Student Counseling Center for extra help with one of the two special ed instructors. Additionally, they usually do not attend after-school classes of physical education and military training but instead, again report to the Center.
Very interesting! (Do you recognize Cynthia on the far right? She has been invaluable in helping us: setting up the interviews, acting as interpreter as needed (often!), chauffeuring us to the schools (she has a car!), etc!

On Monday, April 13th, after an uneventful Easter for us (we slept most of the day away, having awakened early to say good bye to Chris, Neot and Maya), Ted and I had another school interview, this time at the Fuxing Elementary School. Once again, we were delighted at the reception for us; each school we have visited, without exception, serves us tea and munchies during our conversations!
The school, like all the ones we had seen previously, is arrayed with colorful outdoor courtyards, beautiful and lush tropical plants and warm and gracious people. And the principal's office, where we typically have our interviews, is always large, decorated, in this case, with the lines from a famous Chinese poem, and arrayed with comfortable chairs and a table.



I love the little chairs for the little people,and notice how, even in the elementary school, backpacks and shoes remain outside the door to the classroom; slippers are donned and in the kids go! Also, we noticed the use of stair risers again as a teaching tool, only in this school, the instructors use the English alphabet to teach the children the pronunciation of their Chinese characters!!!




Our observations are becoming clearer as we learn more from each set of teachers we interview. For one, it is clear that more and more schools in Taiwan are making the transition to inclusive classrooms from a full resource room pull-out model. These changes are particularly prevalent, so far, in the two major regional centers in the country, Kaohsiung and Taipei, as each is headed by a regional Minister of Education who has the main authority to issue "certificates" when a youngster is deemed, as a result of a series of tests administered by professionals, teacher recommendations and so on, to be a "special needs" student and so entitling him/her to special services in school. Funding,since education is primarily controlled at the federal level, is from one of those two centers which, in turn, are under a Department of Education.
Two, the right to an education is explicitly stated in Taiwan's federal constitution, whereas in the USA, the word "education" itself does not even appear in the national Constitution. However, the reality is that both societies, being democratic, support the right for all kids to a free education. Two amendments to the US Constitution have been widely and consistently interpreted by our courts, among other issues, to guarantee education to all our learners. The interpretation of the Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution gives all rights not specifically given to the federal level to the states, so that educational curricula etc is decided on the state level in America, whereas in Taiwan, as noted, such decisions are made on the federal level . The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution promises "equal protection of the law," and that too is a major legal underpinning for the right of all students to a free public education, no matter what state they live in.
The mandate to change to an inclusive model of teaching (whereby all students, to the maximum possible, should be educated in the least restrictive environment possible (LRE) and not pulled away often to a separate, more isolated resource room), is written in very similar laws of each country: the 1997 Act of Special Education as amended in 2004 in Taiwan, and the PS94-142 1975 law as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) of 2004 in America. In fact, our interviews with almost every school yielded the information that the Taiwanese liked the IDEA law and so basically incorporated it into their legal structure too, even using some of the same language (such as "least restrictive environment," which typically translates to mean, place all learners in a regular classroom and bring the special assistance services to him/her rather than isolating the child and pulling him/her out to the services.)
Three, it seems to us that on the elementary level, almost all students are primarily placed in a traditional classroom, with a very limited pull-out resource room for kids with special needs, on an average of 4 or 5 classes per week maximum. The pull-out option is used as a reinforcement for regular classroom work, but also is the primary tool for teaching kids three subjects: mathematics, Mandarin (both of which meet 4 to 5 times a week)and Life Skills (once a week). On the secondary level, the inclusive classroom also is being phased in, though perhaps the resource room pull-out option is used a bit more frequently, again for those same three required subjects.

Four, it also appears to us that the degree of working closely with the special ed teachers is highly influenced by the principal. In some schools, the cooperation between the traditional and the special ed teacher was fantastic; a "contact book" for each child of special needs, detailing the work done, the concerns felt, etc of both teachers is recorded and goes with the student as he/she travels from a traditional to a resource room and back every day. The students' IEPs (Individualized Educational Programs, as developed by the special ed teacher, required by law)is part of that book in some schools. And not surprisingly, those were the schools where the principal played a strong supportive role for the rights of all kids to be educated in the least restrictive environment. In other schools, the cooperation seemed less intense; regular classroom teachers at one place said they had very little input into the IEPs of their special needs students.

So, we continue to learn, we continue to be, on the whole, very impressed with the Taiwanese public school system, though we have been told that in the rural areas outside the two major regional centers, the educational quality is far less. Overall, the more we travel, the more impressed we are with the similarities and basic human kindness of people in general What a wonderful experience we are so fortunate to be able to have!

More Photos of Fun at YoHo Hotel for Kids:Pt II








A few more pictures and mini-movies from our time at the Kenting National Park's YoHo Hotel for Kids! And sometimes, Mom, Daddy and Nanaby played with the arcades! But most fun of all for all was swimming in the different pools!Here is Maya in a Children's Theater Show!! She sang along with one of the staff and another little one!And here Nanaby, Granddad and Maya are jumping on moving pictures to nudge the images of sweets into one corner and the images of biscuits into another! We won!

Kenting National Park with Chris, Neot and Maya:Pt I of Two



Three days of frolicking in the sun, enjoying Maya as she dashed from one pool to the next, or from the playroom to the Kids Theatre, or from the staff/kid dance to the arcade room, and then, being the water rat she is, back to another pool!







We just returned from a very fun three day "vacation" at a resort hotel for kids in Kenting National Park located in the southernmost tip of Taiwan. Basically, we swam a lot, ate a lot, and,most of all,delighted in watching Maya swim, do arts and crafts, dance with kids and staff, participate in Kids Theatre and overall, have a blast! Chris, Neot and Maya leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow (sob), so we spent our last evening here at the villa, packing and ordering in their last Taiwanese meal (fried rice with chicken and omelette; fried rice with shrimp; spare ribs, and chicken with cheese).