International Journal of New Education ISSN: 2605-1931 · Núm. 10 - Diciembre 2022 · Págs. 21-38 Comparative stakeholder perspectives of inclusive education in four regions of China Enviado: 21 de agosto de 2022 / Aceptado: 14 de septiembre de 2022 / Publicado: 31 de diciembre de 2022 M. DEL MAR BADIA MARTÍN Department of Basic, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. mar.badia@uab.cat 0000-0002-3661-1175 ROSA FORTUNY GUASCH Department of Applied Pedagogy, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. rosa.fortuny@uab.cat 0000-0002-4660-4390 HONGAN ZHOU College of Educational Science, Sichuan Normal University, China. honganzhou@163.com 0000-0002-6297-3014 ERHUO GU College of Educational Science, Sichuan Normal University, China. geh1@163.com 0000-0003-3360-3425 DOI 10.24310/IJNE.10.2022.15282 RESUMEN ABSTRACT The European project INCLUTE (Promoting inclusive Perspectivas comparativas de las partes interesadas so- education through curriculum development and tea- bre la educación inclusiva en cuatro regiones de China cher education in China) European Union (Proyecto Erasmus +) 561.600-EPP-1-2015-CN-EP helps to contri- El proyecto europeo INCLUTE (Promoción de la educación bute the demand for highly educated teachers at the inclusiva a través del desarrollo curricular y la formación primary school level can be tackled, and universities in de docentes en China) Unión Europea (Proyecto Erasmus +) China can be encouraged to take European standards 561.600-EPP-1-2015-CN-EP ayuda a contribuir a la de- into consideration. This project is innovative because manda de docentes altamente calificados en la escuela pri- it focuses on the topic of inclusive education for sup- maria donde se puede abordar el nivel y se puede alentar porting teacher training for Chinese primary school a las universidades en China a tomar en consideración los teachers. The Confucian pedagogical ideal of “learning estándares europeos. Este proyecto es innovador porque se without discrimination” still predominates among Chi- centra en el tema de la educación inclusiva para apoyar BADIA MARTÍN, M., FORTUNY GUASCH, R., ZHOU, H. Y GU, E. nese educators nowadays. However, over the last thir- la formación de docentes de escuelas primarias chinas. El ty years, government stakeholders have underscored ideal pedagógico confuciano de “aprender sin discrimina- the need to implement inclusive education policies, ción” todavía predomina entre los educadores chinos en following the Western model. Thus, the Chinese edu- la actualidad. Sin embargo, durante los últimos treinta cational system has started to implement the “lear- años, los actores gubernamentales han subrayado la ne- ning in the classroom” policy – a halfway alternati- cesidad de implementar políticas de educación inclusiva, ve between Confucian traditional pedagogy and the siguiendo el modelo occidental. Por lo tanto, el sistema Western notions of inclusive education. Nonetheless, educativo chino ha comenzado a implementar la política little is known about the Chinese perspectives on, and de “aprendizaje en el aula”, una alternativa a medio ca- expectations about, inclusive education. Accordingly, mino entre la pedagogía tradicional confuciana y las no- the present study aims to identify the Chinese stake- ciones occidentales de educación inclusiva. No obstante, holders’ perception of inclusive education through a se sabe poco sobre las perspectivas y expectativas chinas survey, an interview and a focus group out of a sample sobre la educación inclusiva. En consecuencia, el presente of 8,412 subjects composed of primary school teachers, estudio tiene como objetivo identificar la percepción de las government officials and Non-Governmental Organi- partes interesadas chinas sobre la educación inclusiva a zation (NGO) workers from Guanxi, Sichuan, Chon- través de una encuesta, una entrevista y un grupo focal gqing and Tibet. The results of this study suggest that de una muestra de 8.412 sujetos compuestos por maestros Chinese education stakeholders conceptualize inclu- de escuela primaria, funcionarios gubernamentales y tra- sive education as a philosophical idea related to new bajadores de organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG) methodological strategies, but that it is not associated de Guanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing y Tíbet. Los resultados with disabilities, education for all or the educational de este estudio sugieren que los actores educativos chinos community. The weaknesses and strengths of inclusive conceptualizan la educación inclusiva como una idea filo- education are discussed. sófica relacionada con nuevas estrategias metodológicas, pero que no está asociada a las discapacidades, la educa- Keywords: Inclusive Education, Teaching without ción para todos o la comunidad educativa. Se discuten las Discrimination, Learning in the Regular Classroom, debilidades y fortalezas de la educación inclusiva.Tam- special education, pupils with disabilities. bién se concluye con una serie de indicadores que orientan mejoras en la metodología estudiada. Palabras clave: Educación Inclusiva, Enseñanza sin Discriminación, Aprendizaje en el Aula Regular, educa- ción especial, alumnos con discapacidad. 1. INTRODUCTION The concept of inclusive education has been largely debated and developed in the West. In- clusive education is a process aimed at responding to student diversity, increasing their par- ticipation both at the school’s cultural and community level, reducing exclusion in and from education, and creating flexible curricula. There are several studies that speak of its definition. · 22 International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 Comparative stakeholder perspectives of inclusive education in four regions of China For instance, Ainscow, Booth & Dyson (2006, pp. 27); Kavale & Forness (2000); Allan & Slee (2008, pp. 27-41). For Kozleski et al. (2009) claim that the basic principle of inclusive education and inclusive schools is a commitment to fostering the sense of belonging, and nurturing and educating all students regardless of their differences in ability, culture, gender, language, class and ethnicity (Kozleski, Artiles, Waitoller, 2011). In many affluent Western democracies in- clusive education refers to the policy of merging well-resourced segregated special education and general education into one system (Artiles & Dyson, 2005; Singh, 2009). In China, inclusive education is an international educational trend that emerged in 1990, during the educational reform. However, some scholars consider that the Confucian tenet of “teaching without discrimination” reflects the spirit of “inclusive education,” as a new educa- tional thought and trend, implying the understanding and the practice of “inclusive educa- tion” which have followed a particular development process in China. 1.1. The concept of inclusive education in China: from the Confucian tenet of “teaching without discrimination” to “learning in the regular classroom” Confucius, the educator of China during the Chinese Spring and Autumn Period (551 BC-479 BC), put forward the idea of “Teaching without discrimination” (Yang, 1980, p 170), which reflec- ted the equality of (1) educational objects, (2) educational processes and (3) teacher-student relationships. Li (2009) analysed the similarities and differences between “inclusive education” and “Tea- ching without discrimination.” On the one hand, the observed similarities are: a resemblance of theoretical assumptions; a democratic and egalitarian view of human rights and education; the similar core concept of communication; the aim of meeting the different learning needs of all; the educational function of reconstruction (unclear); and the promotion of the common development of individualization and socialization. On the other hand, some differences are that “inclusive education” pursues the development of democratic and egalitarian ideas in all human beings, with the aim of building an inclusive society. Inclusive education is increasin- gly integrated into the “Education For All” concept and lifelong education, and it shows an all – encompassing breadth in educational content, while “Teaching without discrimination” pursues the development of both the virtuous and the talented “shi” and “gentlemen” to go- vern the country. Furthermore, it emphasises social personnel, that is, knowledge of social, historical and political matters, ethics and literature, as well as a contempt for technology and productive labour. Teaching without discrimination aims to achieve peace and prosperity in the society, but women and slaves —who are at the bottom of the social scale— are excluded. International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 · 23 BADIA MARTÍN, M., FORTUNY GUASCH, R., ZHOU, H. Y GU, E. It is evident, then, that the Confucian principles of educational equality, namely “Teaching without discrimination,” shed some light on the concept of “inclusive education” current era, even though there are differences. In fact, the first article that introduces the concept of “inclusive education” in China was published by Huang (2001). Since then, “inclusive education” has become a hot topic for uni- versity teachers and graduate students who are mainly engaged in comparative education and special education research and study, but the scholars who can conduct basic research work from basic concepts, historical logic development and education policy are very few. Huang (2004a, b) defines “inclusive education” as a new educational concept and a continuous edu- cational process that accepts all students, opposes discrimination and exclusion, promotes active participation, focuses on collective cooperation, meets different needs and establishes an inclusive society. Due to the fact that Huang’s interpretation is just an academic study which has not been widely accepted because the majority of Chinese scholars think the concept is vague, and inclusion’s connotation and extension are not clear, it is difficult to provide a clear and op- erational guidance for educational practice. For this reason, Chinese scholars understand the concept of inclusion either as a beautiful educational ideal and value pursuit, or an educa- tional philosophy (Liu, 2007). Nevertheless, in the 21st century, the concept of inclusive education has been further recog- nised both by the Chinese government and by the education administration. In addition, it has gradually become a guiding ideology for China’s basic education and special education reform. Actually, the implementation of China’s Learning in Regular Classroom (LRC) policy re- flects the characteristics of this preparatory model, which makes it possible for children with disabilities to be admitted to a general classroom. Three types of students with disabilities are attended to: 1) students with visual disabilities, 2) students with hearing disabilities, and 3) stu- dents with mild to moderate mental disabilities. In contrast, students with moderate to severe disabilities, multiple disabilities and other types of disabilities are still rejected by ordinary schools (Deng, 2013). However, the practice of LRC is much older than the LRC policy. In 1950, as a kind of folk – sponsored educational practice, rural primary schools in Dabashan, Sichuan, had forms of education and placement for receiving disabled children. In 1970, there were al- ready records of deaf students graduating from ordinary schools in the northeast of China and Beijing. During the Chinese economic reform, some schools in the northeast of China began to place mentally handicapped children in ordinary classes (Piao, 2004; Xing, 2017). · 24 International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 Comparative stakeholder perspectives of inclusive education in four regions of China Historically, in 1996, the State Education Commission and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation jointly published the “National Plan for the Implementation of the Ninth Five-Year Plan for Compulsory Education for Children with Disabilities in China,” and further clarified the role and status of LRC. The plan mentioned that China should “universally implement LRC, set up special classes for towns, set up special education centres in counties with more than 300,000 people, and accept more children with disabilities. Basically, form schools for LRC and special classes within the main body, and treat special education schools as the backbone in the compulsory education pattern of disabled children and adolescents” (Deng & Manset, 2000; Deng, Poon-Mcbrayer & Farnsworth, 2001; Liu & Jiang, 2008; McCabe, 2003; Qian, 2003). In 2006, LRC was formally written in the revised Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China, article 19: “Ordinary schools should receive disabled children of school age and young people who have the ability to receive general education and to help them with their study and rehabilitation”. In 2008, LRC extended from compulsory education to all general education institutions including kindergartens, secondary schools, secondary vocational schools and higher education institutions (Li, 2015). In 2010, the “Outline of the National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020)” is established, divided into “Special Education Development Plan (SEDP) First Session (2014-2016),” where “inclusive education” appears for first time in the national policy text, and “SEDP Second Session (2017-2020),” where the Chinese policy has begun to develop in the direction of considering a better quality (Jia, 2018). Nowadays, the inclusive education development trend is mainly reflected in three aspects (Zhang & Zhu, 2018): (1) changing from moral assistance to humane care, (2) changing from isolated schools to social cooperation, and (3) changing from maintenance care to profes- sional support. Therefore, due to differences in politics, economy, culture and ethnicity, China’s “inclu- sive education” theory and practice have their own specific forms of presentation and still face challenges from the perspectives of concept, system and practice. There is still a certain distance from the goal of inclusive education in China’s learning in regular classroom. How- ever, over the years, China’s “inclusive education” will develop better and better. 1.2. The concept of inclusive education in Canada, the USA, Europe and Australia In China, the understanding of the concept of “inclusive education” is still mainly at the stage of introducing and analysing the “inclusive education” of Western inclusive education scholars. International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 · 25 BADIA MARTÍN, M., FORTUNY GUASCH, R., ZHOU, H. Y GU, E. In fact, in the 1990s, Europe’s citizen movements were generalised and intensified in fa- vour of higher quality education and greater resources and public aid. In this context, the term inclusive education begins to be used. From the year 2000 onward is when, starting in the socially of more advanced countries of northern Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark among others), Australia, Canada and the USA, effective measures are put in place to favour inclusion in the classroom, equal opportunities and respect for differences. This trend is gradually spreading to other countries in the centre and south of the old continent (Casanova, 2011; Forlin, 2006; McCrimmon, 2015; Thomazet, 2009). According to Soriano (2011), it is difficult to summarise the situation and position of the different Western countries regarding inclusion without falling into generalities. It can be said that, in general, and as shown by the approval of the different agreements and international documents by the Western countries, the tendency or the common objective is to achieve quality education for all students. In addition, the implementation of inclusive education implies a deep reflection on the educational system as a whole. It implies a political will to change and assume some theo- retical and methodological challenges in the educational level in which both students and teachers, parents and educational leaders are involved (Escribano & Martínez, 2013; Jardí et al., 2022; Rojas & Haya, 2020). The interpretation of “inclusive education” in the “Policy Guidelines on Inclusive Educa- tion” published by UNESCO (2005) is often cited in Chinese journal articles where inclusive education is considered a process through increasing the participation of learning, culture and community to reduce exclusion within and outside the education system, and focus on and meet the diverse needs of all learners. Inclusive education is based on the consensus of all age-appropriate children and is committed to educating all children in a formal system. It involves changes and adjustments in educational content, educational pathways, educational structures and educational strategies. Inclusion involves responding appropriately to diverse learning needs in both formal and informal educational settings. Inclusive education is not a small issue about how to integrate some students into the dominant society. It is a way of examining how to reform the education system and other learning environments to accom- modate the diversity of learners. The goal is to enable both teachers and students to embrace diversity and take it as an opportunity, as a rich learning environment, rather than a problem. So, in order to compare the Western and the Chinese inclusive education concepts, the objective of this study is to identify the conception of inclusive education of primary school · 26 International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 Comparative stakeholder perspectives of inclusive education in four regions of China teachers, local or regional government officials and NGO workers from the regions of Guanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Tibet, as well as its weaknesses and strengths, while also observing its differences from the Western conception through the literature. This research was sup- ported by the Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Reference of concession: 561600-EPP-1-1-CN-EP. 2. METHOD According to the research objective, the mixed method is used in this research, so its purpose is to explain and interpret, to address a question at different levels and to explore a phenome- non related to inclusive education in China. On the other hand, the qualitative method has allowed us to analyse certain factors in depth, taking into account different points of view (primary school teachers, local govern- ment officials and NGO workers). This method is used to help explain and interpret the fin- dings of the quantitative study. A system of categories and subcategories has been created to analyse the information data. 2.1. Sample The participants in all the instruments came from four regions in China: Guanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Tibet. As for the characteristics of the primary school teachers’ sample who participated in the questionnaire (N=6432), regarding the gender variable, 26% were men and 74% were women (see table 1). Table 1. Gender of the Primary school teachers who participated in the questionnaire REGION GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET Total N % N % N % N % N % Male 287 14.5% 471 19.4% 570 47.4% 343 41.3% 1671 26.0% Female 1689 85.5% 1951 80.6% 633 52.6% 488 58.7% 4761 74.0% By age and region, we observed that the average of the primary school teachers’ sample was between 25 and 55 years (see graphic 1). International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 · 27 BADIA MARTÍN, M., FORTUNY GUASCH, R., ZHOU, H. Y GU, E. Graphic 1. Age of the Primary school teachers who participated in the questionnaire 100 80 60 Percent 40 20 0 GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET Region Age <=25 years 26-35 years 36-45 years 46-55 years >55 years Within the sample, 3.4% were graduates in secondary school, 20.4% had an associate’s degree, 70.8% had a bachelor’s degree, 5.1% had a master’s degree and 0.3% had a doctorate (see graphic 2). Graphic 2. Sample’s educational background 100 80 60 Percent 40 20 0 GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET Region Educational background (training) Graduate of a secondary normal school Associate Degree Bachelor Degree Master's Degree Doctoral Degree · 28 International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 Comparative stakeholder perspectives of inclusive education in four regions of China Only 20.1% of the sample had taken some type of inclusive education course during their initial training, while 79.9% had not had any type of inclusive education training (see table 2). Table 2. Sample’s courses on inclusive education during initial training REGION GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET Total N % N % N % N % N % Yes 345 17.5% 619 25.6% 69 5.7% 261 31.4% 1294 20.1% No 1631 82.5% 1803 74.4% 1134 94.3% 570 68.6% 5138 79.9% In addition, out of the teachers’ sample, 44.9% had had teaching experience of 6 to 20 years, while 32.9% had had less than 5 years of experience. Only 21.6% had had between 21 and 35 years (see table 3). Table 3. Teaching experience of the teachers’ sample REGION GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET Total N % N % N % N % N % <=5 years 487 24.6% 697 28.8% 758 63.0% 171 20.6% 2113 32.9% 6-20 years 832 42.1% 1146 47.3% 369 30.7% 539 64.9% 2886 44.9% 21-35 years 637 32.2% 555 22.9% 74 6.2% 121 14.6% 1387 21.6% >35 years 20 1.0% 24 1.0% 2 0.2% . . 46 0.7% 2.2. Instruments Questionnaire, interviews and focus groups were the instruments used to obtain data in this research. 2.2.1. Questionnaire The questionnaire was composed of two parts: personal and professional data and items re- garding the inclusion concept. Personal and professional data comprised 11 combined closed and open questions. The second part had 40 items that had to be answered through a scale (1=Never, 2=Occasionally, 3=Usually and 4=Always). A total of 6,432 primary school teachers, 1,976 NGO workers and 4 local government officials answered the questionnaire. However, before the questionnaire was passed to the International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 · 29 BADIA MARTÍN, M., FORTUNY GUASCH, R., ZHOU, H. Y GU, E. sample, 12 experts from European and Chinese universities revised the questionnaire accor- ding to three criteria – important, relevant and univocal – and it was adapted to the Chinese context. The general reliability of the questionnaire is an Alpha of 0.952. For this article, we have only taken into account the concept of educational inclusion, although the study was much broader and took into account other types of variables (see table 4). Table 4. Relationship between parts of the questionnaire, variables and items Independent Variables Items Gender 1 Age 2 Degree/training 3, 4 PERSONAL AND Years working as a teacher 6 PROFESSIONAL DATA Teaching subject 7 Continuous training on inclusive education 5, 9 Collaboration between institutions 8 Concept on inclusive education 10, 11 Dependent Variables Items Attitudes and values toward inclusive education 1-2, 4-10, 12-14 ITEMS School management 15-18, 20-27, 29 Inclusive methodologies 28, 30-40 It is worth mentioning that due to low correlations or low discrimination power, items 3, 11 and 19 were excluded from the analysis. Items 13-14 were incorporated in the first dimen- sion and item 29 in the second dimension, after the validation process. 2.2.2. Interview Three semi-structured interviews were conducted, and references were reviewed. Some of the interview questions were: What changes are required in the current approach to increase equity and inclusion in the school? Could you identify the most important change in your local area to increase equity and inclusion? And what is the biggest barrier to that change? Before the interview was passed, 12 experts from European and Chinese universities revised it according to two criteria —important and relevant— and it was adapted to the Chinese context. In total, 20 primary school teachers (5 per region), 8 NGO workers (2 per region) and 8 local government officials (2 per region) participated in the interviews. · 30 International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 Comparative stakeholder perspectives of inclusive education in four regions of China 2.2.3. Focus group In total, 32 people of the sample participated in the focus group. A guide was prepared where the principal and initial question was: How do Chinese schools implement inclusive education? 2.3. Procedure The researchers were in charge of contacting the selected individuals and setting the day and time to respond to the questionnaire, which was done in the centres in the presence of one of the authors of this paper and in an average time of 15 minutes. The procedure for collecting data from the focus group and interviews was carried out during one month with the purpose of obtaining as much information as possible. 2.4. Data Analysis To analyse the data from the questionnaire, the statistical analysis was performed by using the software SAS v9.4. For each item, the following statistics were obtained: the percentage of response of each category (never, occasionally, usually and always); mean and standard deviation; the correla- tion between the items and the dimension; and the discrimination power. A descriptive table with the summarised statistics was obtained for quantitative variables. Box plots were used for graphical representation and frequency tables and grouped bar plots were used to summarise personal and professional data, for each university and globally. The qualitative data analysis from interviews and focus groups was conducted through a hermeneutic matrix (see table 5). Categories and sub-categories followed a mixed deductive- inductive process. The categories originated in theoretical framework and the sub-categories emerged from the field research and were incorporated into the matrix. The code of the cate- gories and sub-categories was obtained through the MAXQDA software (version 17). Table 5. Qualitative data analysis: Categories and sub-categories Gender Age PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DATA Initial training Continuous training on inclusion Collaboration with institutions related to inclusion Concept on inclusion CONCEPT Weakness and strong on inclusion International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 · 31 BADIA MARTÍN, M., FORTUNY GUASCH, R., ZHOU, H. Y GU, E. 3. RESULTS It is interesting to note that 63% of primary school teachers are willing to attend courses on inclusive education. The courses, as proposed by the teachers, that they would be willing to attend concern: acquisition of skills 15.2%, curricular content 11.4%, methodologies 9.1%, plan- ning at 6.5% and concept of inclusion in education 6%, intervention on the group class 4.7%, specific characteristics 4.4%, psychology 4%, and management 3.4% (see table 6 and graphic 3). Table 6. Primary school teachers of the sample willing to attend a course on inclusive education REGION GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET ALL N % N % N % N % N % Yes 986 49.9% 1510 62.3% 931 77.4% 643 77.4% 4070 63.3% No 990 50.1% 912 37.7% 272 22.6% 188 22.6% 2362 36.7% Graphic 3. Sample’s educational background 50 40 Percent 30 20 10 0 C C In M M Pl Ps Sk Sp O N on ur an et th /A te a i yc ec ll nn ho e ri c r ce ag ve h ac rs ifi in ul do ol pt n em c qu g ar tio og ua ch lo is en n co gy y ar liz iti w t nt ac at on ith en io te n th r ts is of e tic cl in s as cl us s gr io ou n p Topics you’d like to attend Region GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET Regarding the teachers’ conception of inclusive education, it is interesting to mention that 30% speak of philosophy, 29.2% of justice, respect and equity, 14.5% of general education, 9.1% of improving the quality of education, 7.1% of learning throughout life, 6.5% of acceptan- ce, 3.7% of promotion, 3.4% of barriers, 2.6% of special education needs (SEN), 2.4% of change and innovation and 2% of care (see table 7). · 32 International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 Comparative stakeholder perspectives of inclusive education in four regions of China Table 7. Conception of inclusive education from regions REGION GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET ALL N % N % N % N % N % Acceptance 90 6.9% 145 7.6% 3 1.9% 12 2.5% 250 6.5% Barriers 51 3.9% 61 3.2% 1 0.6% 19 4.0% 132 3.4% Caring 21 1.6% 52 2.7% 3 1.9% 0 0.0% 76 2.0% Change and innovation 60 4.6% 20 1.0% 2 1.2% 10 2.1% 92 2.4% Fair, respect, equity 342 26.0% 528 27.5% 74 45.7% 188 39.2% 1132 29.2% General education 154 11.7% 252 13.1% 24 14.8% 130 27.1% 560 14.5% Improving quality of education 130 9.9% 142 7.4% 14 8.6% 65 13.5% 351 9.1% Lifelong learning 143 10.9% 80 4.2% 5 3.1% 46 9.6% 274 7.1% Philosophy 401 30.5% 648 33.8% 37 22.8% 76 15.8% 1162 30.0% Promotion 74 5.6% 57 3.0% 3 1.9% 9 1.9% 143 3.7% Special educational needs 35 2.7% 47 2.5% 1 0.6% 17 3.5% 100 2.6% The aspects that teachers consider weaker in inclusive education are: 13.5% equipment, funds and resources, 13.2% difficulties to assist students with different personalities, 12.5% poor teacher training, 12% the education system does not facilitate inclusion, 10.7% teachers as professionals, 8.7% difficulties in classroom management, 6.8% non-efficiency, 6.3% lack of time, 5.8% not too adequate teaching methodologies, 5.6% size of a very large class, 5.5% unclear inclusion concept, 4.5% not applicable for all, 4.4% lack of collaboration with families, 4.2% evaluation focused on the final exam and 0.6% do not see disadvantages (see table 8). Table 8. Inclusive education’s weaknesses REGION GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET ALL N % N % N % N % N % Big class size 71 13.6% 78 4.7% 2 1.8% 1 0.3% 152 5.6% Classroom management difficulties 61 11.7% 117 7.0% 9 8.3% 47 11.8% 234 8.7% Difficulty to attend students with different perso- 115 22.0% 198 11.8% 12 11.0% 31 7.8% 356 13.2% nalities Educational system does not facilitate inclusion 91 17.4% 173 10.3% 15 13.8% 44 11.1% 323 12.0% Evaluation methodologies focused on final exam 38 7.3% 59 3.5% 4 3.7% 12 3.0% 113 4.2% Inclusion concept is not clear 27 5.2% 115 6.9% 7 6.4% 0 0.0% 149 5.5% International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 · 33 BADIA MARTÍN, M., FORTUNY GUASCH, R., ZHOU, H. Y GU, E. REGION GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET ALL N % N % N % N % N % Lack of collaboration with families 22 4.2% 88 5.3% 5 4.6% 5 1.3% 120 4.4% Lack of time 37 7.1% 122 7.3% 4 3.7% 7 1.8% 170 6.3% No equipment/funding/resources 113 21.6% 213 12.7% 6 5.5% 32 8.0% 364 13.5% Not applicable for all 19 3.6% 74 4.4% 3 2.8% 26 6.5% 122 4.5% Not efficiency 43 8.2% 119 7.1% 8 7.3% 13 3.3% 183 6.8% Teachers as professional 79 15.1% 171 10.2% 10 9.2% 28 7.0% 288 10.7% Teacher’s training is poor 80 15.3% 210 12.6% 9 8.3% 38 9.5% 337 12.5% Teaching methodologies not appropriate 50 9.6% 71 4.2% 3 2.8% 32 8.0% 156 5.8% No disadvantage 11 2.1% 4 0.2% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 15 0.6% Regarding the aspects that teachers consider stronger in inclusive education, 62.7% think that the values, 22.5% the improvements and innovation in education, 19.9% the improvement of the professional development of the teacher, 16.5% the cooperation, participation and mutual help, and finally 1.6% do not seem to understand the inclusive education concept (see table 9). Table 9. Inclusive education’s strengths REGION GUANGXI SICHUAN CHONGQING TIBET ALL N % N % N % N % N % Cooperation, participation, mutual aid 144 16.8% 234 17.3% 4 6.5% 47 14.1% 429 16.5% Improvement of teacher professional 195 22.7% 242 17.9% 13 21.0% 69 20.7% 519 19.9% development Improvement and innovation 212 24.7% 304 22.5% 19 30.6% 51 15.3% 586 22.5% in education Values 532 62.0% 841 62.3% 31 50.0% 227 68.2% 1631 62.7% Does not understand the concept of Inclusive Education 16 1.9% 25 1.9% 1 1.6% 0 0.0% 42 1.6% 4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS As we have seen in the results section, 63% of the teachers of our sample see the need and would be willing to take courses on inclusive education, because, to date, only 20% of the sample has received some training. It should be noted that most of the Chinese individuals of · 34 International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 Comparative stakeholder perspectives of inclusive education in four regions of China the sample agree to acquiring new skills, not only methodological skills, but concerning how to treat students with disabilities. However, the Chinese conception of inclusive education is far from the Western concep- tion (for instance: European Commission, 2021; UNESCO, 2005 or SEND Code of Practice, 2015). In fact, positive values were consolidated in 62.7% of the interviewees, but without de- tailing the values on which they were based. Therefore, the Chinese people perceive inclusive education as a philosophical idea of justice, respect and fairness. Along these lines, we find a very philosophical but, at the same time, unclear idea of the concept of inclusion. While it is true that a part of the teachers considers that inclusive education brings improvements and innovation to education and improves the teachers’ professional development (although there is still a long way to go in these aspects), less than 17% mention the concepts of cooperation, participation and mutual aid. They are thus limiting the inclusion education concept only to teachers and equipment, and forgetting the fundamental role played by both students and families. Furthermore, some of the weaknesses do not only concern methodology or equip- ment, but collaboration between the whole educational community (including the families, students with or without SEN, Government workers and the community, that is, neighbours and services as police officers or firefighters, to name a few). In addition, only 3.4% mention the need to eliminate barriers (note the importance of removing both physical and psycholo- gical barriers) and only 2.6% mention individuals with SEN. These findings demonstrate the imperative need to train Chinese teachers in inclusive education and the need to expand the inclusive education concept beyond Confucius’s teaching because “teaching without discri- mination” excludes the poorest and most marginalised members of society, whereas inclusive education means education for all, regardless of social class, and with the aim of creating a school for all. In fact, China’s LRC is a product of combining Western inclusive education and China’s special education, and an important way for China to promote inclusive education. Nevertheless, the inclusive education concept is clear in the literature review, mainly in political implications: it does not reach school culture and practice. For this reason, active participation of the educational community is required, focusing on collective cooperation and high-quality education which affects an inclusive society at the same time. Of course, the implementation of inclusive education has become effective over the years. For instance, LRC has been implemented in all general education institutions (Li, 2015), not only with the pur- pose of “having a chance to learn”, but “learning well” (Jia, 2018). In fact, this point is reflec- ted in an orientation to humanistic care, social cooperation and professional support (Zhang & Zhu, 2018). Therefore, it is clearly observed that Chinese teachers need training that does not only work on the concept of inclusive education. Instead, it should also focus on providing International Journal of New Education | Núm. 10 · 35 BADIA MARTÍN, M., FORTUNY GUASCH, R., ZHOU, H. Y GU, E. them with new skills, new methodologies, teaching them how to use and take advantage of the resources at their disposal, favour an active role of students and their families, and focus on all students, with or without SEN. 5. 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