Overview

How can J.C.DISI’s “urban hiking” experience empower Special Educational Needs (SEN) students to build empathy and discover vocational paths? In 2021, the HK Association for Transport Education (HKATE) launched the “GO Planners” programme with support from the Education Bureau. This programme uses transport planning to foster a strengths-based approach, helping SEN students learn from one another, build confidence, and develop communication skills. Since 2023, HKATE has partnered with J.C.DISI to enhance the programme with design thinking and empathy, evolving it into “GO Planners 2.0.” By applying J.C.DISI’s “Assessment Indicators for Elderly-friendly Community,” students are invited to walk in the shoes of an ageing resident through J.C.DISI’s “urban hiking” exercise to understand how transport planning and urban design would affect their daily living, and, thus, their sense of autonomy.

Outcomes:

In the collaboration between HKATE and J.C.DISI, around 60 SEN students were guided by the team to visit ageing districts like Sau Mau Ping and Hung Hom to observe how older adults navigate in their local community. For many, it was their first time in these areas, helping them step out of the classroom to understand urban planning in real life. They experienced community challenges firsthand, fostering a “human-oriented” approach to problem-solving. Importantly, students were encouraged to share their views in class and discuss their insights with peers and urban planners to enhance their communication, teamwork and interpersonal skills. Their passion for transport, combined with new insights, empowers them to contribute to the community through their interest and build their sense of self-efficacy.

Process:  

Inspiration

According to certain Hong Kong studies (see reference item 2), the number of students identified as SEN is on the rise as schools and parents become more aware of special educational needs, and as identification mechanisms become comprehensive. During 2021-2022, SEN students made up 11% of all public primary and secondary school students.  Among them, those with “special learning difficulties”, attention deficiency / hyperactivity and autism are more common, with the latter evidently increasing.

The programme is tailored for autistic students. As their communication, attention and concentration skills differ significantly from those of other students, they may not be able to tolerate extended lectures. Given these characteristics of their service targets, the programme team specifically strengthened the interactive communication and “urban hiking” experience elements in the programme. The team made use of empathy mapping and stakeholder engagement to help participants consider from different angles. Their goal was to look through the lens of planning an age-friendly community, as well as to more systematically express what they think could be done through transport planning to address the identified issues.

Ideation

To fully unlock the potential of SEN students, the program was developed using a strengths-based approach. Recognising that the service targets may not be comfortable with lengthy lectures, the team prioritised field visits over theoretical instruction, believing that these experiences would leave a more lasting impact. Participants had the opportunity to engage in the daily tasks of an urban planner, allowing them to identify and appreciate their existing skills and competencies while enhancing their teamwork and communication abilities. These experiences serve as valuable tools for life planning and improve their sense of self-attainment.

Implementation

To maintain student engagement, the programme moved away from traditional instruction methods. Instead, it make uses of the “urban hiking” experience as an empathy building process to help students observe and experience first-hand how transport decisions affect different groups, including the older adults and people with disabilities, to equip them with a  basic understanding of how to design transport solutions that address specific community needs. Using this shared experience, the students can also more effectively communicate their observations and point of view to agree, as a group, what should be done to address the issues they observed to develop their team project for their Showcase Day.   

One learning outcome is to help students with SEN understand the complexities and social implications of transport planning beyond efficiency. The programme utilised J.C.DISI’s “Assessment Indicators for Elderly-friendly Community,” which assesses age-friendliness from the user’s perspective. After their trip, participants complete a worksheet to reflect on their observations and consider what they would need if they lived in the district, such as adequate amenities and services, safety, accessibility and environmental impact, to reinforce their learnings. Through clever strength-based curriculum design which blends experience learning with learning tools to reinforce the learnings, J.C.DISI’s “urban hiking” proves to be an effective exercise to enhance their understanding on how to appreciate various perspectives and articulate their thoughts in a more structured, focused manner.

References & Further Reading:

1. Excerpt from an interview with the “GO Planners” programme team
2. Research Office, Legislative Council Secretariat (30 December 2022). “Special Educational Needs” (Chinese only). Data from the Data Sheet ISSH36/2022. Retrieved from https: //app7.legco.gov.hk/rpdb/tc/uploads/2022/ISSH/ISSH36_2022_20 pdf

Copyright notice: The original content of this case study is consolidated and written by the J.C. DISI team and authorised for publication by the “GO Planners” programme team.