Views of parents on a career and life planning program for junior secondary students with special educational needs: A qualitative study in Hong Kong

Abstract

Career and life planning is extremely important for all adolescents in order to enhance transition outcomes, but to date, little attention has been paid to its role in education for students with special educational needs (SENs). There is no specific model in Hong Kong for supporting career and life planning for SEN students, nor has there been any research on the topic. As a result, their needs are easily overlooked and they have had fewer opportunities to explore and develop their vocational interests. To address this problem, a charitable organization in Hong Kong initiated in 2016 a two-year program for junior secondary students with SEN. The program aimed to develop a service model for supporting career and life planning for these students in Grades 7–9. Evaluation of the program included obtaining views from different stakeholders, including parents of the SEN students. In this chapter, we discuss findings from the evaluation study using a qualitative approach with data from parent interviews.