Curriculum adaptation in special schools for students with intellectual disabilities (SID): A case study of project learning in one SID school in Hong Kong

Abstract

Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors analyzed the curriculum adaptation process for one project learning activity in School K, which is a SID school in the context of school-university collaboration. Multiple sources of data were collected for triangulation, including interviews, documents and observations. Curriculum adaptation strategies in this study were analyzed from five perspectives: instructional goals, instructional content, instructional strategies, instructional settings, and student behavioral needs. It was found that curriculum adaptation efforts could help students with ID develop potential at their own level through project learning activates and teachers could also gain professional development during the university-school collaboration process. As for future studies, enlarging the sample size, involving teachers' past orientations and motivations in the project learning process, and collecting quantitative data could all be taken into account. © Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.