Special Education in Developing Countries: The Dilemma of Public Policy Making in the Context of Cultural Exchanges and Diffusion of Innovations.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper addresses the issue of whether and to what degree developing countries should copy the models of special education delivery used in developed countries and identifies potential problems with this approach. The paper reviews the literature noting three general outlooks: the first sees special education systems of the United States and other developed countries as perfect models for developing countries; the second outlook argues that the developing countries should not adopt or duplicate the special education programs of developed countries for obvious financial reasons; and the third outlook emphasizes that all countries, developed and developing, have something to learn form one another. The paper then encourages a critical appraisal of the usage by developing countries of special education concepts (such as "transition" and "integration") from developed countries. It presents 14 recommendations for developing countries, which include extension of educational rights to the handicapped, increased emphasis on prevention of disabilities, improvement of teacher education programs, encouragement of parental involvement, development of appropriate school curriculums, improvement in data collection, and decreased class sizes. (Contains 13 references.) (DB)