Behavioural Support for Students with Special Educational Needs - Trends Across the Asia-Pacific Region

This book reports on the use of behavioural support - an evidence-based approach developed in the USA to meet students' special educational needs - in Australia and selected thriving Asian countries. It brings together key issues and insights into how educational policy and practices in different societies and cultures influence the uptake of behavioural support in schools and classrooms.
The book provides a balanced and highly informative perspective on the historical paths of development and current expansion of behavioural support into regular schools in the USA. It also offers insights into the progress of its implementation outside the Western context of the USA and Europe and its influence on capacity building among professionals within various contexts across the Asia-Pacific region. Case studies from Australia demonstrate the effectiveness of multi-tiered behavioural support in a state government education system for a population of diverse students, and address the resultant adaptation of tiers when it is implemented in a nongovernment school organisation for students with autism. Case studies from Singapore, Mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan reveal the cultural practices and organisational issues that produce distinctive characteristics of behavioural support in inclusive and special education within these countries.
This book offers essential guidance to educational decision-makers in these countries and communities around diverse students in considering their next steps towards using behavioural supports proposed in the American blueprints for implementing and building capacity for use in any context.

Dr Fiona Bryer is a 40-year member of the Australian Psychological Society and a fellow of its College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists. Her university career in teacher training progressed from developmental studies, to practical applications for student behaviour, and lastly to dedicated coursework on behavioural support for the regular classroom. She maintained an early and continuing interest in cross-cultural psychology. Further, the reform of teacher practice with regard to student behaviour became a focus of her scholarly activities up until her retirement in 2013. 

She has co-authored several journal articles with colleagues, research students, and school practitioners on best practice, school-wide positive behavioural support, intensive behavioural intervention, and co-teaching. In addition, she has contributed chapters on learning, behaviour, and classroom management to Australasian editions of educational psychology textbooks. Lastly, she has participated in action research projects on recommended practice for special educators with Wendi Beamish, who has been a colleague and friend for many years.

Dr Wendi Beamish is a senior lecturer in special needs education at Griffith University, Queensland and Program Director of the Master of Special Needs and Intervention Education. A 30-year career in special education and early childhood intervention preceded her transition into the tertiary sector. Her active and continuing research interests are focused on teacher practice in the areas of educational transitions, autism, positive behavioural support, social-emotional competence, inclusive practice, and early intervention.