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Study on the Implementation of IE in the Different German States

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Study on the Implementation of IE in the Different German States

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Die Umsetzung schulischer Inklusion nach der UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention in den deutschen Bundesländern - Nomos eLibrary

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Die Studie untersucht den derzeitigen Umsetzungsstand der UN-BRK im Bereich schulische Inklusion in den deutschen Bundesländern. Sie liefert damit eine um...

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Handbook for Inlucsion in Schools in Oldenburg

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Handbook for Inlucsion in Schools in Oldenburg

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Support Profile RSG Wiringherlant (Dutch)

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Support Profile RSG Wiringherlant (Dutch)

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How is inclusive education done in your school? Compare this to the task your government has issued to the schools.

If you currently do not work at a school, think back about your past experiences/traineeships in high school.

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Example of the method in which a support team works at a Dutch school.

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Example of the method in which a support team works at a Dutch school.

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Runia, B. (2021). 20210923  OA en PlusAtelier algemeen en werkwijze: Translated to English

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VSV Leerplicht RMC regio IJssel-Vecht. (2021). Verzuimprotocol Gemeente 2021: Translated into English

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After finishing elementary school, all children up to the age of 16 are required to go to secondary school. Children between the age of 16 and 18 need a starting qualification to be exempt from going to school.

As mentioned on the National IE padlet page, each child has the right to go to their school of choice to get the best possible education, even if they have special needs.

Since the implementation of the 'Wet Passend Onderwijs' in 2013, every school is required to draw up a support profile which shows the possibilities and facilities that they have to meet the various educational and support needs of pupils.
The schools are also required to form partnerships which also include special education.
As soon as a student has been enrolled, the support duty becomes effective. The school is then responsible for investigating wether or not they are capable of offering the necessary support the student needs to be succesful. They school can request additional information from the parents. If it turns out that the school cannot deliver the required support, the school is responsible for finding suitable education for that student. This is always done in accordance with the parents. Transferring a student is always a last resort.

The school is required to draw up a plan for the method of giving support. This can include a step by step ladder of responsibilities and tasks in accordance with the level of support needed by the student as shown in the document below.

The types of support offered by school might include the following:

Planning and conversations

Conversations about well-being

Do homework after school

Conversations at home

Extra book package

Time-Out spot

Breaks in Atelier

Tests in Atelier

Dyslexia

Balance hours

Medication

Support J.H.

Learning to learn

For which the reasoning behind the support might be the following socio-emotional factors:
- Fear of failure
- Perfectionism
- Attachment disorder
- ADHD
- PDD-NOS
- ADD
- Gifted/ highly sensitive
- Sensitive to stimuli
- ASD
- Fears/panic attacks
- Concentration problems
- Depressive symptoms

The main goal for every school is to make sure that all students enrolled in the school get the support they need to stay in school and leave with a diploma and/or start qualification to continue on to a university or vocational education.

sources:
- Dekker, R. (2022). 20220210 ONDERSTEUNINGSNIVEAUS RSG TM en SG EEK_: Translated into English.

- Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap. (2021, October 20). Zorgplicht en samenwerken scholen in passend onderwijs. Passend Onderwijs | Rijksoverheid.nl. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/passend-onderwijs/zorgplicht-en-samenwerken-scholen-passend-onderwijsverantwoordelijkheid-van-de-scholen

- Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap. (2022, September 12). Leerplicht en kwalificatieplicht. Leerplicht | Rijksoverheid.nl. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/leerplicht/leerplicht-en-kwalificatieplicht

- RSG Tromp Meesters. (2021). 20210923  Evaluatie Expertiseteam 2020-2021.

- Runia, B. (2021). 20210923  OA en PlusAtelier algemeen en werkwijze: Translated to English.

- Wetgeving Passend onderwijs | VNG. (n.d.). VNG. https://vng.nl/artikelen/wetgeving-passend-onderwijs

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RSG Tromp Meesters

This document shows which responsibilities the RSG Tromp Meesters has towards her students and how these responsibilities are distributed depending on the level of care needed per student.

We also have a place where our special needs students can go called 'Het Onderwijs Atelier' and 'Het +Atelier'. These 2 classrooms are used for chats, planning, breakroom, cool-off space, etc.,  but also for making tests and working on schoolwork if they are not able to be in the classroom.

Now looking at the requirements set by the UN and their description of Inclusive Education, I can safely conclude that both the Netherlands, and thus my school, are doing much more than required. We do not only cater to students with physical or mental disabilities, but also make sure that students who have other needs, such as anxiety, a difficult home situation, or any other problem that might prevent them from attending school. We make sure that we see them and try our utmost to keep them in school with a diploma as a result.

As for me personally, I am coach to 17 students, most of them without any 'bagage', but I have one-on-one conversations with all of them to check their well-being in addition to how they are doing in school.
I also take time to see my students who cannot always make it to my class because of their problems, even though I am not their coach. I believe it is important for all my students to feel seen and heard despite what they are dealing with.

Bad Zwischenahn observations

I visited 2 lessons, an English class grade 5 and a music lesson grade 11.
The teacher had a varied lesson with different teaching styles, but no differentiation for students who had already finished before the others. We were told that there are 2 Ukrainian students in that class who don't always follow along with the lesson due to a language barrier, but there wasn't any visible extra support for them available in the classroom.

The music lesson was a very small group, only 13 students, who knew what was expected of them and worked quite self-sufficiently without needing much input from the teacher who had a very frontal approach to his lesson. We did not see any signs that there were any students with special needs in this class.

When asked, we were informed that there are not many students at this Gymnasium who require special needs, maybe one per class. This might be due to the type of education that Bad Zwischenahn offers and the type of students that go to this school. I assume that this will be different for a gesamtschule or Hauptschule, but also for a city-school in comparison to a village school like BZ. However, I doubt these schools already offer the same level of inclusive education as my school does.

source:
Dekker, R. (2022). 20220210 ONDERSTEUNINGSNIVEAUS RSG TM en SG EEK_: Translated into English.

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Therefore all grades in public secondary schools are inclusive. Students with a need for special education receive fitting support."

This is the official wording from the ministry for education in Lower Saxony which basically says that all (public) schools in this state are inclusive schools.
In the following posts we will take a closer look at how truthful this statement is and what remains to be done to achieve this.

Source
https://www.mk.niedersachsen.de/startseite/schule/inklusive_schule/stand-der-einfuehrung-175285.html, Access: 23.03.2023

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Evaluate the implementation of Inclusive Education whilst keeping the government task in mind.

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To give a concise overview of one way to implement inclusive education, we would like to present to you the concept put forward by the city of Oldenburg.

Concept of Inclusion
"The public schools enable all people an equal and accessible participation in education, culture and public discourses."
Additionally, inclusion is not just a process focussed on the children but instead should entail parents, teachers and the surrounding community.
(Lindemann 17)

Process in the Schools
Starting in the Elementary Schools, parents and the school can decide whether they want to check if special education support is available and appilcable in their case. This can happen before starting the first grade or throughout the four years in the school. (Ibid. 20)

Generally the concept states that the children should visit the school closest to their home. If a school, for any reason, is not fit for the needs of a specific child, then other, more fitting schools can be looked at. This is meant to prevent the formation of overly specialized schools. (Ibid. 22f)

Generally, all elementary schools in Oldenburg are supposed to have special education teachers (a distinct, individual line of study next to regular teachers). These teachers provide two hours of special education per class per week. This preventive method is aimed at helping with the special ed foci of learning, language and emotional and social development. In secondary education these general special education hours do not exist but rather rely on the individual support of students with need for special ed. (Ibid. 38f)

Schulbegleitung
If a student is in need of special support during the school day, they can file an application with the office for pariticipation and social matters. Only after a long process of evaluating the specific case, receiving reports from the school, visiting the child's house, discussing options with the parents and - most importantly - determining the level of disability with medical professionals can a child receive a Schulbegleitung. This is not necessarily a special ed teacher, since they are not meant for teaching, but rather supporting the individual student in their learning process. In Oldenburg, this is being paid by the city and is therefore free for the families. (Stadt Oldenburg 10f)

What needs to be mentioned regarding the school assistants is that they often have an unclear and varying job description. In addition to that, there is no fixed education standard for the assistants, which leads to a wide array of backgrounds helping students in school. A local study in Oldenburg has shown that from their sample of 55 school assistants, more than 40 did not have a qualification to work in the social field (Lindemann/Schlarmann 268).

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RSG Wiringherlant

At RSG Wiringherlant, we have quite an extensive support system for students who need it.

Level 1
Our basic support in the classroom is of course the teacher. I know which students have dyslexia, ADHD, ASS or other challenges that I need to take into account while designing my lessons. I differentiate my instruction in a way that gives me the time and space to support students who need further assistance.
In addition, each class has a mentor who is a sort of spider in the web for the student. If the student needs help in any area, they will be the ones to arrange the extra support for the student.

Level 2
As for support outside of the classroom, we have four different areas in which support is provided:

1.    Behavioural regulation

2.    Social-emotional well-being

3.    Study & work behaviour

4.    Teaching-learning process

These areas are provided by our support-team, “Pluspunt”. This is supposed to be a temporary solution for students who need it, but in practice it appears to be more permanent support for most students using it.

Level 3
Some students need more support than our Pluspunt can offer, this support can be provided in an individual arrangement or placement in Special Education. The types of support needed here are not provided by school, but are all external within the partnership schools.

Level 4
If support is more important than education, and can not be provided in levels 1, 2 or 3, support will be provided in external organisations. This is always done with organisations outside of our partnership school. Both daytime activities and intensive support will be offered through youth services.

Bad Zwischenahn observations

Due to circumstances, I have only managed to observe one lesson in Bad Zwischenahn. During this lesson, I have paid special attention to support within the classroom setting. Afterwards, I briefly spoke to the teacher to ask some questions. I noticed that there is nothing happening in the classroom to support children who need the extra support. There was no differentiation, and upon asking the teacher, she indicated that she simply did not have the time to prepare differentiated lessons. Furthermore, she informed me that some students do have extra support, but this is done through student assistants, who are merely in the classroom to support the individual student. I found it quite interesting to see that the education seemed so non-inclusive. It left me with more questions, and I would be interested to see the differences with for example a gesamtschule or Hauptschule.

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Steinmetz et. al. categorize Lower Saxony as a "developmentally ambivalent" state, and more specifically as a state with a moderate exclusion rate and a positive dynamic. Since Lower Saxony is in the process of closing all Special Needs schools with the learning focus, the authors attest the state a positive development towards the implementation of the UN-CRPD. Lower Saxony is still in the upper half of German states in this study, however on the bottom end (208).

The authors have distinguished between different factors that add to the exclusion rate to gain a better picture. The availability for inclusive education is deemed to be very high, since in the schoolyear of 2016/17more than 90% of schools have taught at least one student in need of special education (221). Legally, the school system in Lower Saxony prefers combined education of all students, however the option of sending children to Förderschulen is still very much an option, which is why in this regard the state is lagging behind the requirements of the UN convention (222). Structurally, due to the closing of the learning-special needs schools, Lower Saxony is moving in a good direction. They still have segregation in the system since the other foci of support schools are being continued, however the group of the children with learning difficulties is the biggest of the seven (223f).

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Observations in the Netherlands
My experience in the school in Steenwijk already offered some insights into the differences between the Dutch and the German way of doing IE. One thing that already stood out to me that the teachers have a mentor-role when it comes to a specific group of students. This, to me, is a first step towards successful influsive education because the hierarchy between students and teachers is not as high and allows for students to open up to teachers about their problems.
It also became aparent that the school had personel specifically employed to help those students in need of further assistance. This way, there is no long bureaucratic process involved in helping students in need of special education. The concept the school put out for the students also allows for certain measures within the school to be taken, before the help from outside or even referral to special schools becomes necessary.

What I found very interesting is that the concept of IE was not only applied to those challenged in their learning by disabilities, but also to those who were struggling  momentarily. This concept goes even further than the UN-CRPD asks for. I really liked this approach since it includes even more students and does not only focus on medically attested disabilities but different forms of learning hinderances. however, it needs to be pointed out that the Netherlands also still have schools for special edcuation, therefore they are also still some ways away from fully implementing an inclusive school system as called for in the UN-Convention.

Observations in Germany
The Gymnasium in Bad Zwischenahn did not allow us to observe a lot in terms of IE, simply because the classes we visited did not have students in need of special education. As Daniel Gogolka mentioned during his little tour, the school does teach students with special needs, but only up to one per class. This example shows how many school in Niedersachsen actively fulfill the directive that "every school is an inclusive school", but only to fairly low extent. Especially the Gymnasien tend to have a focus on performance and results, which sometimes hinders them in their progress with inclusion.

Since I am not currently teaching and my experience in my first traineeship (ASP) was in a religious private school, I can only draw from my own time as a student for reference.

I visited the Hoelty-Gymnasium Wunstorf from 2010 to 2018 and in my grade when we started the 5th grade there was a so called "I-Klasse". This was a class which had five children who before then were taught in a Förderschule and who visitied out school along with 20-25 other students from grade 5 until grade 9 or 10. Each of them was supported by one special education teacher who was responsible for them throughout the day. This project came into being two years after the UN-CRPD was ratified in Germany and was still a very new thing at the time.

What became apparent quickly was that the students in the I-Klasse not in need of special education became much better aware of the difficulties their fellow classmates had with learning. They quickly adapted to the new situation and formed ways of helping and supporting each other. Nontheless, the new students were also often victims of teasing and harassment in the new school environment, since they were seen as different and sometimes even inferior.

This shows one major issue with this top-down approach of legislation: The law mandates school to change the way its being run, but still offers the school the autonomy to realize it in a way it sees fit. And it often takes time for students, teachers and parents to adapt to a new situation, which does sometimes entail difficulties. One thing that I have learned from this is that school development (Schulentwicklung) takes a long time, especially when the general concept of what the school is about is altered in such a fundamental way.