臺、美「特殊教育導論」教科書之比較探究

Comparative Study of “Introduction to Special Education” Textbooks in Taiwan and the United States

本研究的目的在分析並比較臺灣與美國兩地之「特殊教育導論」教科書，以 臺灣（十三所）與美國（十所）設有特殊教育系所開課之「特殊教育導論」指定 教科書為研究對象，選取臺灣與美國各六本教科書進行比較與分析。本研究先以 選取之教科書進行數據指標分析，接著分析各書內容之特教教師的基本能力內 涵、特殊教育重要主題的涵蓋程度及各書的特色，最後輔以教科書作者之訪談分 析。研究結果發現：一、臺灣特教導論教科書在頁數、章節數、每章之圖表數、 引用文獻量、每章引用文獻量，以及10 年內文獻比例，均低於美國特教導論教科 書。二、美國特教導論教科書能提供不只一種特教教師基本能力指標作為編寫教 科書之依據，臺灣則無。三、臺灣教科書整體而言涵蓋主題的層次較美國教科書 低，但無論臺、美特教導論教科書，其內容均能反映出當代特教議題與趨勢。 四、臺、美特教導論教科書各具特色。五、造成臺、美特殊教育導論差異之可能 原因主要有特教發展趨勢、教科書需求量及學術生態等不同。最後，提出國內在 編撰、選用及出版特教導論教科書及未來研究方向之建議。

Purpose: The course of “Introduction to Special Education” is getting more and more important for today's teacher education, and the textbooks play the critical role. This study analyzes and compares “Introduction to Special Education' textbooks in Taiwan and in the United States.
Methods: The authors focused on 6 textbooks, both in Taiwan and in the United States, chosen from “Introduction to Special Education” syllabi. These syllabi were gathered from 13 special education departments in Taiwan and the top 10 special education graduate schools or departments in the United States in 2010. The study processes are as follows: First, the authors reviewed the content of these textbooks to examine the statistical data, including the numbers of pages, chapters, tables, figures, total numbers of tables and figures, tables and figures per chapter, reference, references per chapter, and the proportion of references. Second, the authors also analyzed the contents of each textbook by the criteria of CEC's Initial Content Standards for Special Educators. The 10 standards are the foundations, development, and characteristics of learners, individual learning differences, instructional strategies, learning environments/social interactions, language, instructional planning, assessment, professional and ethical practice, and collaboration. Next, the authors analyzed the contents of each textbook by the main topics of “Issues and Trends in Special Education”. The 12 topics include related laws, classification and education, the least restricted environment and free appropriate education, inclusion, a barrier-free environment, assistant technology, early intervention, IEP, career transition, teamwork, parent involvement, and welfare. Lastly, the authors interviewed 2 textbook writers in Taiwan.
Findings: (1) Of the textbooks in Taiwan, the numbers of pages, chapters, tables, and figures per chapter, reference, references per chapter, and the proportion of references in a decade were less than in the United States. (2) Textbooks in the United States are based on more than one indicator of the basic special education teacher skills, but the textbooks in Taiwan are not. (3) The main topics of “Issues and Trends in Special Education” in Taiwanese textbooks are less completed than in U. S. textbooks; however, both reflect the issues and trends in contemporary special education. (4) Taiwanese and U.S. textbooks possess some special characteristics individually.
Conclusions: The reason for the differences between textbooks of the 2 countries may be the diverging tendency of special education in each country, different market demand amount of special education textbooks, and the diverse states of the special education academic community. Finally, the authors suggest practices for editing, composing, and using the “Introduction to Special Education” textbooks in the future.