Enculturation Readiness of Foreign Educational Therapists Working with Children with Special Educational Needs in China: A Cultural-Responsive Practice Framework
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajhp.v4i3.8615Keywords:
China, Cultural Competence, Educational Therapy, Enculturation, Special Educational NeedsAbstract
The increasing role of foreign educational therapists in the service of children with special educational needs (SEN) in international settings highlights the need for cultural sensitivity in educational therapy. Enculturation, which is the process through which people learn, absorb and participate in the cultural system in which they are brought up, provides a framework for understanding culturally appropriate professional practice. In this review, the author considers the relevance of enculturation to foreign educational therapists who are interested in caring for SEN children and their primary caregivers in China. The literature indicates that children’s development, behavior, communication, family relationships, educational expectations and responses to intervention are rooted in cultural and ecological contexts. In this way, foreign educators need to be more than just familiarized with disability and interventions. They also need to be aware of Chinese family and educational contexts, culturally responsive communication, assessment sensitivity, adaptation of interventions to situations, ecological understanding and cultural humility. Based on these considerations, the Foreign Educational Therapist Enculturation Readiness Scale (FET-ERS) is proposed as a 50-item self-report instrument consisting of seven domains of enculturation readiness. The scale is for training, pre-deployment screening and research and not diagnostic purposes. Formal psychometric validation, including content validation, factor analysis, reliability assessment and criterion-related validation, should be done prior to its use.
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