Behavioural support in Hong Kong

The positive behaviour support (PBS) movement in the USA provides a framework for improvement in the interpretation and management of challenging behaviour in school students. The education system in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has some of the infrastructural features to introduce behavioural support for students with disability, for students with developmental disorders affecting classroom participation and learning, and for students with other behavioural challenges. System policies in the HKSAR provide a whole-school and multi-tier approach for mainstream education, a dual system of special schooling for students with identified disabilities, and an opportunity for ordinary mainstream schools to volunteer for inclusion. Teacher training provides a system of university education and professional development. However, the academic success of learners remains the primary concern of the current system, and this pedagogical emphasis affects teacher practices. Whereas academic and behavioural aspects of education are mutually supportive in the PBS movement in Western education, exposure to school-wide positive behaviour support in the HKSAR system is superficial. A small number of applied behaviour analysis therapists have an observation-to-treatment approach to the development and learning of child clients but reach only a small number of families with the economic resources to seek assistance outside the school systems.