Complete national overview - Austria
Legal Foundations
Early Intervention
The Austrian system for early intervention is based upon the 9 different Provincial Disability Acts. Hence, there is no uniform federal legal approach. In most Austrian provinces, children who have been classified to “present or to be in danger of developing” disabilities receive early intervention. In some provinces (e.g. Styria), early intervention can also be sought through the Youth Welfare Act, in case the family environment can harm the development of the child (e.g. drug abuse, violence, negligence). Early intervention is, apart from some exceptions, organised by the regional institutions of early intervention (NGOs).
Kindergarten
The kindergarten system is within the provinces’ jurisdiction (except for the training of kindergarten teachers). Thus, each province decides whether children with extra educational needs receive support of inclusive education in mainstream kindergartens or in remedial kindergartens. Lack of clarity in the definitions of disability and the allocation of competences concerning the inclusion of children with disabilities and in the whole kindergarten system in the individual provinces have resulted in very different implementation rules for inclusion in kindergarten. Apart from the public kindergartens, there are also several private institutions, for example, denominations, or associations, who provide kindergarten facilities. Since in Austria there is no legal right to placement in a kindergarten, there is no guarantee that children with disabilities are accepted in kindergarten either.
Detailed information on legal regulations of pre-school support can be found on the information platform of Eurybase:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/ressources/eurydice/eurybase/pdf/section/AT_EN_C3.pdf
Compulsory School
A concise overview of the Austrian educational system and its development is also provided in English by the Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture: http://www.bmukk.gv.at/enfr/school/index.xml
Compulsory School for Children with Special Educational Needs
Since 1993 children with special educational needs have been legally entitled to attend primary school. Through the 1996 amendment of the School Organisation Act, this option was also extended to lower secondary education (10 to 14-year-olds).
www.bmukk.gv.at/schulen/bw/abs/Sonderpaedagogik1612.xml
The legal encompassment of the inclusion of children and adolescents with special educational needs (SEN) has modified our school system decisively. Mainstream schools have been obliged since then to take organisational and didactical measures to meet the special needs of these children at school.
Parents have the free choice of sending their children to a special school or to a mainstream school. Based on special needs opinions, the District School Board (District School Inspector) decides whether special educational needs are allocated to a child.
Job Orientation and Preparation at the End of Compulsory Education
After eight years of compulsory school, adolescents can choose between attending a pre-vocational school or a general or technical and vocational school of higher secondary education.
The curriculum of a pre-vocational school includes aspects of general education and information on different occupations with specific contents. Pupils can also choose an area of specialisation and gain theoretical and practical experiences in workshops. To this end, co-operation with local companies is sought. As a consequence, many adolescents get an apprenticeship for the year to come already while they are still in school.
A pilot project is to be launched at pre-vocational schools for pupils with special educational needs because there is still no legal framework for inclusion for this type of school. In Vienna, many pupils who had enjoyed inclusive education in pre-vocational schools have already successfully graduated there.
http://pts.schule.at/index.php?TITEL=Lehrplan&kthid=3499
Provisions at Special Schools
Job orientation and preparation is an essential component of working with adolescents with learning disabilities or severe disabilities at the end of their compulsory schooling. For about 10 years, special schools have been providing ever more programmes for job preparation which have proved very successful. Due to this success, the subject “job orientation” has been incorporated in the curricula of special schools, and the separate curriculum “job preparation year”, which can be adapted individually to the needs of the adolescents, has been developed for the ninth grade. More information in German can be found at: http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=8 (German only)
Clearing – A Link between School and the Labour Market for Adolescents with SEN
Thanks to a national support programme provided by the Social Services Offices in co-operation with the Provincial School Boards and the School Board of Vienna, a national Clearing concept has been developed that is implemented in the provinces by private organisations. Specially trained experts closely collaborate with parents, teachers and pupils to find the best possible career for adolescents with an impairment or disability. The ‘Clearing’ process starts with the preparation of a profile of the adolescent’s strengths and weaknesses, describes his or her interests, wishes and needs for further training, and aims at a close co-operation between school and the regional labour market. An evaluation report on these measures is available on this website in German:
http://www.bmask.at/cms/site/attachments/5/4/8/CH0184/CMS1229092151364/eval_clearing_endbericht_final_060821.pdf (German only)
Vocational Training
In Austria, vocational training (apprenticeship) is provided in a dual form: adolescents work in companies and learn their occupation there practically and oriented towards a goal. In addition, they receive about 10 weeks of fundamental theoretical training at a vocational school.
Pupils with special educational needs can take the final training exam after a longer apprenticeship (prolonged by max. 2 years) or go for a partial qualification. In the case of a partial qualification, which means one to three years of training, adolescents learn parts of a skilled trade in their training company and at vocational school. The contents, goals and time of the partial qualification are individually defined.
This form of inclusive occupational training goes hand in hand with the inclusive occupational training assistance. More detailed information in German:
http://www.bmwfj.gv.at/NR/rdonlyres/2C1A388A-D81D-478E-9441-F0558EB11609/0/Kern_BAG09.pdf (German only)
Programmes Provided by the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS), the Social Services Office, and Private Aid Organisations
Courses
In the individual provinces courses are provided for adolescents with learning and/or behavioural disabilities who are not ‘disabled’ with regard to the provincial regulations, but have problems finding work. Low school graduations, or no graduation at all, or lack of so-called ‘soft skills’ are often reasons for long-term unemployment.
Companies
Some companies provide supported employment. Despite this provision, the companies’ competitiveness has to be upheld, even if employees with disabilities are paid according to the bargained collective contracts.
Job Assistance
Adolescents who have already completed job preparation programmes can receive support from job assistants to find a job, and are provided with individual support to be integrated at their place of work if required. Adolescents are thus supported in case of problems or crisis situations directly in their company.
Work Projects
Private organisations’ work projects provide assisted employment. However, they do not have the legal status of employment (with all rights inherent to an employee). The association ‘Lebenshilfe’ (life aid, translator’s note), for example, is an organisation for people with severe disabilities who cannot find a job on the primary labour market. Even if their productivity is strongly reduced can people with disabilities make their contribution to society on the labour market, for example, by making certain products for companies in small groups and under supervision. They receive pocket money or insurance services for their performance. Occasionally, adolescents or adults even manage to find a job on the primary labour market after having gained experience through a work project. This is, however, rarely the case. The association ‘Lebenshilfe’ also provides diverse forms of assisted living, and offers training programmes for an autonomous life.
The Federal Ministry for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection and the Social Services Offices provide a database containing provisions for integration in the labour market: http://www.basb.gv.at/cms/basb/pdb_start.html (German only)
Funding
Funding of Early Intervention
In most Austrian provinces, early intervention is a free service for parents; in some provinces, parents must pay a small fee (10 to 15 euros) per unit of care. All support services complying with the Youth Welfare Act depend on the family’s income situation; in most cases parents do not have to pay anything due to their financial situation.
Funding of Kindergartens
The funding of public kindergartens is left to the municipalities and provinces.
Funding of Special Needs Support in Kindergartens
Whether a child presents special educational needs (SEN) that justify the allocation of additional resources (extra care and/or support lessons) is decided differently and by different institutions in the Austrian provinces. In public kindergartens in Salzburg, for example, the social inclusion of children with disabilities has become legally binding since an amendment to the Kindergarten Act in 1996. Since the kindergarten year 2000/2001, about 2 percent of all kindergarten children have received additional staff resources in Salzburg.
Funding of Compulsory Schools
The construction and maintenance of schools belongs principally to the competence of the municipalities and, in some cases, of the provinces. Staff resources are deployed by the federal government, and are administered by the provincial governments.
Funding of Special Needs Support at Compulsory Schools
The federal government provides the provinces with funding for additional staff resources for special needs education (for 2.7 percent of all pupils aged between 6 and 15). The municipalities are responsible for additional equipment required for children and adolescents with special educational needs. Special measures, such as therapeutic support and devices, are funded by the provinces on the basis of the Provincial Disability Acts.
Financial Aid for Families who have Children with Disabilities
Families who have children with disabilities are supported through the following allowances, benefits and tax reliefs:
The increased family allowance and the nursing allowance depend on the child’s age and disability.
Furthermore, a tax reduction is possible when there are extraordinary expenses (hospital costs, therapeutic care etc.) In addition, families who have children with disabilities are granted an income tax allowance.
Financial aid for families also covers additional costs such as technical aids, therapy, early intervention, travel expenses, and additional costs for day care institutions. These costs are borne by the health authorities, disabled relief associations and insurance companies. Further financial support is provided, for example, in the form of fare reductions in public transport, or benefits for extraordinary expenses (rents, insurance, heating costs etc.). Since January 1, 2007 persons older than 18 have received a monthly social benefit pension in case they have no income of their own. The amount of this pension does not depend on their parents' income.
Source:
http://www.dielebenshilfe.at/Finanzielle-Hilfen.18.0.html
Identification of Special Educational Needs
Early Intervention
Hospitals and general practitioners - in the framework of the mother-child examinations (Mother-Child-Booklet) – independent paediatricians, and a fairly well-organised network of counselling offices, try to provide help to the child and his or her family as early as possible.
Early intervention is a provision especially for children during the first months of their life, and their families, which comprises medical, psychological and pedagogic aspects. It deals with family assistance and comprehensive fostering of the child who presents or is in danger of developing a disability. To this end, an interdisciplinary co-operation of experts from the fields of psychology, medicine, social work, psychotherapy, speech therapy, music therapy, early remedial intervention, and strong involvement of the parents, is vital.
Early intervention regards the child not only as an individual, but also as part of a system, a group – his or her family. Persons engaged in early intervention have the task of assisting the family of the child with disabilities or delayed development.
Kindergarten
There is no uniform concept of disability in the individual provincial laws; instead, different terms such as ‘increased need for support’ or ‘children with special educational needs’ are used. Accordingly, the diagnostic procedure is also not uniform. In several provinces, a multidisciplinary team decides whether special needs are identified due to a disability. Furthermore, all provincial regulations contain preconditions for exclusion from kindergarten. In some provinces, separate preconditions are required which make it difficult to exclude children with increased educational needs. In most provinces, however, the decision on exclusion is made solely by the sponsoring institution, and does not require a medical or psychological statement.
Compulsory Schools
Definition of Special Educational Need
Special educational needs in the spirit of school law is defined according to Article 8 of the Compulsory School Act (SchPflG)and states; if a child cannot follow instruction at a primary or secondary school or at pre-vocational school (one-year interface between school and vocational training) without receiving special support due to a physical or mental disability, but is nevertheless capable of attending school. Unsatisfactory achievements at school without the qualifying characteristic of a disability do not constitute SEN.
The identification of special educational needs requires a painstaking diagnostic analysis by means of which the current inability to follow instruction at school can be clarified. Only then can it be decided which measures can be taken, and whether a specific allocation of resources is required and sensible.
Source: Circular letter of the Ministry for Education, 2008: http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=319 (German only)
The District School Board
According to Article 8 (1) of the Compulsory Education Act, the district school board must issue a SEN statement for a child provided that due to physical or psychological disabilities this child is not capable of following instruction in primary or lower secondary school or in pre-vocational school without receiving special educational support, but is nevertheless capable of attending school. The Special Education Centres issue opinions which form the basis for decision-making by the District School Board on whether a child presents special educational needs. In addition, expert opinions can be used which have been issued by public health officers or school psychologists, or persons who hitherto have cared for the child in education or therapy.
Special Education Centres
According to Article 27a of the School Organisation Act, Special Education Centres are special schools that have the task to provide and co-ordinate measures of special education using other methods to ensure that children with special educational needs can also be educated in the best possible way at mainstream schools.
If there is no appropriate special school in a school district, the District School Board takes charge of the tasks of the Special Education Centre.
Transition from School to Employment
Job Orientation and Job Preparation Year at Special Schools, Pilot Projects on Inclusion
In the school year 1998/99 the obligatory course ‘job orientation’ was introduced to support young people in finding a job. This course, however, is not only obligatory at special schools, but also at lower secondary school and in the lower grades of schools in general secondary education (AHS). This obligatory course is designed to help the pupils’ to independently decide on an occupation.
Since the school year 2000/01, job preparation classes can be established in the 9th grade of special school where pupils are educated according to the curriculum of the ‘job preparation year’. There, the adolescents’ already acquired skills are to be broadened to promote their personal development and their theoretical and practical skills in order to facilitate their access to the labour market and increase their chances of finding appropriate employment and living up to the challenges encountered there.
Another possibility is the launching of pilot projects for inclusive education at pre-vocational school. Pupils with special educational needs can be educated completely, or to a certain degree, according to the curriculum of the job preparation year.
Source: http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=81 (German) and
http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=81&L=1 (English)
Clearing: Profiling and Career Planning
‘Clearing’ is a measure of the Federal Ministry for Work, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, implemented by the Social Services Office of the federal counties aiming at strengthening the career opportunities of students with disabilities and difficulties. Clearing includes counselling, mentoring and assistance for adolescents from 13 up to 24 years of age at the interface between school and the labour market. This provision can be taken voluntarily, free of charge, and is basically available to all young people with disabilities. Its aim is to give adolescents opportunities for a future occupation, and to help them decide how to proceed to be integrated in the labour market. Together with the adolescents, analyses of their interests and capabilities are carried out, and an individual education plan is drafted. To this end, intensive co-operation with schools, Special Education Centres, parents/legal guardians, and the adolescents is paramount.
Source:
http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=108 (EN) and
http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=81&L=de (German)
Further information:
http://www.european-agency.org/transit/
Special Needs Education within the Austrian Education System
Early Intervention
Above all, early intervention aims at fostering the child, supporting his or her family, and establishing interdisciplinary collaboration. What kind of support is given depends mainly on the child’s and his or her family’s needs, and is based upon individual, holistic approaches which take into account especially the family's and the child's resources.
Interdisciplinary work fosters the teamwork of all family members who help to rear a child with a disability. Early intervention also includes mediation and assistance services for families to provide adequate help, information and financial support.
All supportive measures shall aim at giving children who present or are in danger of developing a disability the highest possible degree of autonomy. Another aim of early intervention is to enable parents to help themselves, so that in the long run they can organise those supportive provisions that they need for themselves. This means that early intervention, above all, builds on the capabilities, skills and resources of the child and the family, and not on the deficits.
Kindergarten
The Kindergarten Acts of the provinces (i.a. the Day Care Act and the Children’s Day Care Centre Act) distinguish between mainstream kindergartens, inclusive kindergartens (inclusive groups) and special kindergartens. These types coincide in their definition of kindergarten and the definition of the tasks of kindergarten. In some provinces, they also refer to inclusion. There are differences in the provinces’ legal regulations for kindergartens as to the maximum number of children in a group (which is, in most provinces, approximately 25 children per group). There are also differences in the minimum number of children in a group, the number of pedagogically trained staff and assistants per group, the hourly quota devoted to further training, preparation etc. - in case these items are referred to at all in the individual provincial legislation.
Models for InclusionInclusiveInclusive groups in mainstream kindergarten
Individual inclusion in mainstream kindergartens
Inclusive groups in remedial kindergartens
Special Needs Support at Compulsory School
Special Needs Support in Schools of General Education / Inclusion
Inclusive education for pupils with special educational needs is currently legally regulated in primary, lower secondary school, and in the lower grades of schools in general secondary education. Three models of joint education are applied:
Inclusive classes: Pupils with and without special educational needs are instructed in all lessons by a team of teachers.
Classes with support teachers: Mainstream classes where one or two pupils with SEN receive extra support by a special school teacher for a few hours per week (depending on their disability).
Co-operation classes: Primary, lower secondary and pre-vocational school classes are generally separated from special school classes in terms of organisation. The teachers involved agree upon a plan according to which pupils are instructed together, either some of the time, or all the time.
The Co-ordinative Tasks of Special Education Centres
Special Education Centres have the task of providing and co-ordinating all measures of special needs education to ensure through inclusive education that children with special educational needs can be educated at mainstream schools in the best possible way. These tasks include:
- The issuing of expert opinions to identify special educational needs (special needs opinion)
- Co-operation with regional schools of compulsory education, other Special Education Centres, school authorities, the district school inspector, the special school inspector, regional non-school institutions etc.
- Support of inclusive education through educational and organisational counselling, assistance for the setup of teacher teams
- Information for parents, public relations, exchange of experience and further training
- Administration
The Special Education Centres are responsible for co-operation with other institutions to support children and their parents in the best possible way. For example, if other institutions require additional assistance, therapy, training programmes, diagnoses, or the like, the Special Education Centre establishes contact with the competent bodies and procures the respective provisions.
Source:
http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=37&L=de (German) and
http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=37&L=1 (English)
Please also take note of the chapters ‘Development of Integration/Inclusive Education’ and ‘Quality Indicators of Special Needs Support’ for more information on measures of inclusive education.
Special Needs Support at Special School
Special schools have the task of fostering children with physical or psychological disabilities according to their type of disability, and to give them – as far as possible – a degree of education which corresponds to primary school, lower secondary school or pre-vocational school, and – in the case of the job preparation year - to make them ready for integration into the labour market.
There are 10 different types of special schools with a focus on different types of disabilities (for example, special school for children with learning disabilities, visual or physical disabilities etc.) Specially trained teachers instruct their pupils in smaller classes; the curriculum, and the methods and materials are adapted to the abilities of the children.
In these schools, pupils are either educated according to the curriculum of primary or lower secondary school, or to a curriculum of the respective special school type.
Special schools that are conducted according to the curriculum of primary or lower secondary school have to enable children – depending on their interests, orientations, talents and abilities – to carry on in schools of higher secondary education.
The curricula and further information on special schools can be found in German at: www.cisonline.at
Education at special schools comprises compulsory schooling (9 years of school attendance). However, if necessary, it is possible to prolong attendance at a special school to max. 12 years.
The maximum number of pupils per class is between 8 (for example, in a special school for children with hearing disabilities) and 13 (general special school).
Career Planning and Pre-Vocational Year at Special Schools
Career planning is incorporated in the curriculum for students' grade 7 and 8. Key elements of career planning are offering crucial information and developing the students' individual, social, theoretical and practical competencies regarding their future integration into employment. Co-operation with parents, external agencies and employers is regarded to be taken highly into account.
Career planning is an overall principal in secondary education and it can be carried out by offering separate lectures or integrated into different appropriate lectures.
Another possible way to prepare young people for the labour market is the “Pre-Vocational Year at Special Schools".
More information on http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=81&L=1 (English)
Mobile Special Education Service
The mobile special education service provides support for children and adolescents with diverse disabilities through advisory and support teachers for pupils with visual and hearing disabilities, behavioural difficulties, speech disabilities, and for children in hospital. This additional service is provided outside the classroom depending on the child’s needs.
Teacher Training
Training of Early Intervention
The training of early intervention teachers is provided in most Austrian provinces by NGOs in the form of further training. Two of these associations offer this training as a university course.
The training is based on a uniform curriculum (about 1,440 lessons), and has to be financed privately in most cases. Some provinces provide co-financing for this training. Some types of disabilities (e.g. sensory disabilities) also require specific training in addition to the general training of early intervention, for example, in the field of pedagogies for visually disabled persons.
Training of Kindergarten Teachers
After the eighth grade, those who wish to become kindergarten teachers can study at special schools of kindergarten education for five years, after which they graduate with a high school diploma and the kindergarten teacher qualification. Colleges at institutions of kindergarten education provide a 4-semester course for graduates of schools of higher education who also graduate with the kindergarten teacher qualification.
Apart from the training as a kindergarten teacher, a qualification as an educator in nurseries, or – as a pilot project since 1999 – a profound training of early intervention (which especially prepares graduates for working with under-three-year-olds) can also be acquired.
The four-semester course of kindergarten education at schools of kindergarten education comprises up to 24 lessons per week; students graduate after a diploma exam for kindergarten teachers in special needs education and early intervention. There are courses of study for persons who work in the last five to six semesters. In some provinces, training courses on special needs education in kindergarten are provided every two years.
Teacher Training and In-service Training of Teachers for Compulsory Schools University Reform 2007
Starting in October 2007, the training of teachers for compulsory schools of general education and occupational schools is to be provided at teacher training colleges. Study programmes for teachers at primary, lower secondary, pre-vocational and special schools, and vocational schools provide scholarly well-founded and job and practice-oriented training.
In the framework of initial and in-service training, teachers can gain additional qualifications and attend subject and topic-specific courses to gain more insight into an area of speciality.
Moreover, teacher training colleges have the task of pursuing occupational and application-oriented research.
Apart from research and training, teacher training colleges also have the opportunity to co-operate with other institutions of research and education, such as universities and universities of applied sciences at home or abroad in order to create the appropriate curricula and courses to provide the best possible offer for students.
Source:
http://www.bmukk.gv.at/schulen/bw/bbs/ba_kindergartenpaedagogik.xml
Teacher Training and In-service Training of Compulsory School Teachers
The six-semester university study courses comprise a workload of 180 ECTS; students graduate as teachers for one of the four types of compulsory schools in the area of general education (primary school, lower secondary school, special school, and pre-vocational school). Students graduate with the degree ‘Bachelor of Education’.
Since 2001, teachers have been required to accomplish further training of 15 lessons per year. Courses can be provided by the teacher training colleges, in-school, regionally or supra regionally. Teachers can attend further training free of charge. It is funded by the federal government and the provinces.
Initial and Further Training of Special School Teachers
a) Training at teacher training colleges to obtain the special school teacher qualification: the studies for special school teachers comprise the field of special education with the focus on inclusive education. Apart from courses dealing with aspects of human sciences, didactics, school-related and complementary studies, modular courses with a focus on disabilities are provided.
b) Training programmes provided across provinces for teachers are in-service programmes to convey methodical and special educational competences (for example, for children with hearing disabilities or deaf children, children with physical, visual or behavioural disabilities).
During further training, the teacher training colleges provide regional and supra- regional seminars and courses with different disability-related or topical focuses.
In 2006 the Ministry of Education drafted a position paper on the training of special school teachers which can be downloaded in German and English from http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=36&L=1 (English) or
The Development of Integration/Inclusive Education
Preamble
Living and learning in society are the fundaments of human coexistence. Inclusion is not just an act of humaneness, but also an integral component of an open and equal society.
Inclusive education means that children with and without disabilities learn together in a class. Inclusive education also makes possible mutual experiences to promote mutual understanding, and to remove potential barriers.
Inclusive education requires forms of learning from which all children can benefit. Children learn best through their own experience – a fact that has also been acknowledged by the school system. Thus, traditional education has become ever more replaced by open forms of learning – especially in primary school.
The acquisition of knowledge and skills is not being neglected. Only the mode of teaching has changed. First of all, children should acquire knowledge in a playful way, learn from each other and work together. Step by step, they should be directed to a conscious, autonomous and goal-oriented learning.
In inclusive classes, attention must be paid to each individual child. This is because children differ, for example, in their development, their previous knowledge and their learning aptitude, more than in any other kind of learning environment. These differences are taken into account, and form the basis for different learning provisions and requirements. This is the only way to avoid challenging individual children too much or too little, and to establish the basis for successful learning.
Source:
‘Learning from One Another, A Guide on Integration’, http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=288&L=1 (English) or ‘Integrationsratgeber’ http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=179&L=de (German)
Kindergarten
In autumn 1978 the first Austrian ‘Kindergarten with inclusive education’ was founded in Innsbruck as a model kindergarten without a corresponding legal basis. The legal encompassment of inclusion, however, was not first established for kindergarten, but in 1993 in primary school. This is why the kindergarten system has lagged behind the quantitative and qualitative developments of inclusion in school for years. Meanwhile, children with disabilities can gain experiences together with children without special needs in almost all Austrian provinces.
Inclusive education is based on working with very different children in a group, and thus rejects any differentiation in ‘children who can and cannot be included’. A non-segregating pedagogy shall renounce any labelling, which is often in contrast to what the law states.
Inclusive education is not confined to getting together children with and without disabilities at places of common play and learning, but includes provisions of joint care and support to be able to cater to the individual needs of all children.
In order to optimise the practice of inclusion, it must be ensured that the favourable conditions for learning and socialisation of the pilot projects can be provided and expanded for all children. (Table 2. Comparison of the practice of integration and inclusion. According to Zettl & Wetzel 2001)
Practice of Integration |
Practice of Inclusion |
| Integration in mainstream kindergartens, admission of children with disabilities | Living and learning in the general kindergarten |
| Diagnosis and appraisal by experts | Cooperative problem-solving by the kindergarten teacher team |
| Two-group-theory (children with and without disabilities) | Theory of the heterogeneous group (many minorities and majorities) |
| Resources for children with labelling | Resources for systems |
| Individual curricula for individual children | Individualised curricula for all children |
| Focus on the “labelled” child | Focus on the heterogeneous group |
| Special education teachers as support for children with disabilities | Special education teachers as support for groups and kindergarten teachers |
Source:
Zettl Michaela, Wetzel Gottfried, Schlipfinger 2001: "Qualität der Integration von Kindern mit erhöhtem Förderbedarf in Kindergärten des Bundeslandes Salzburg - eine empirische Studie". In: Behinderte in Familie, Schule und Gesellschaft, Nr. 3/4, 63-72 and www.kindergartenpaedagogik.de/830.html
Compulsory Schools
In the 1980s a parents’ movement emerged in Austria whose objective was the inclusion of children with disabilities and severe learning difficulties into mainstream school. Committed parents have been co-operating with teachers and educationalists for many years to grant children and adolescents with special educational needs access to primary school and schools of lower secondary education. Several education models for children and adolescents with and without disabilities were tested in pilot projects. The School Acts of 1993 brought about a significant change in the situation: from then on, parents have been able to decide whether their child attends primary school or special school. Since 1997/98 pupils with special educational needs have been entitled to attend lower secondary school and the lower grades of schools in general secondary education (AHS).
During the time when children with special educational needs were explicitly educated in special schools, the regions supported them via mobile support provisions for children with disabilities, such as behavioural or speech disorders. With the legal encompassment of inclusion, the Special Education Centres were also established, which are responsible for the implementation of the provisions of regional special educational support.
Detailed information on the legal basis and framework for inclusive measures can be found in http://www.bmukk.gv.at/schulen/bw/abs/sp.xml (German only) and http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=9&L=1
Quality Indicators of Special Needs Support
Kindergarten
Comparative studies carried out in the western industrialised countries over many years have shown coinciding beneficial factors for the positive development of children. For example, criteria developed in the USA (Harms & Clifford 1997) correspond to the views of process qualities of the EU and the WHO (Tieze, Schuster & Rossbach).
Experts from the pre-school field have regarded the following core elements to be fundamental for the children’s development process:
- care tailored to age and developmental stage under supervision of adults, safe toys, equipment and furniture;
- education beneficial for health which offers children the opportunity to be physically active and rest, provides hygiene education and also complies with their alimentary needs;
- appropriate encouragement of children, giving them the opportunity to play and learn in diverse fields, such as language, arts, music, role playing, fine motor and gross motor skills, pre-school mathematics and the combined subject of science, local geography and history;
- positive interactions with adults whom the children trust and from whom they can learn in a manifold of ways;
- fostering the individual emotional development, which permits children to learn independently and autonomously, safely and competently; and
- promotion of the relationship with other children, which permits the children to interact with other peers in a supportive environment and under the supervision of adults.
Children with special needs are specially promoted as soon as their educators have appraised the degree of their needs (physiotherapy, speech therapy etc.) and modified the equipment, the educational programme and the daily schedule.
Source:
Harms, Clifford: ‘Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale’. Luchterhand. Neuwied 1997
Tieze, Schuster, Rossbach: ‚Kindergarten - Einschätz- Skala – KES’
Compulsory Schools
Project: Quality in Special Needs Education
From 2004 to 2007 a team of researchers, teacher trainers and experts carried out the project ‘Quality in Special Needs Education’. The overall aim of this project was to develop evidence based proposals for policy makers in order to improve quality in special needs education and inclusive education.
On the basis of the experience of experts from various practical fields of special needs education the following tasks should be pursued:
1. Denominate problems areas where more precise legal and financial frame-work conditions are needed to better guarantee the quality of all SNE offers.
2. Formulate guidelines for the organisational management of SNE offers in the frame-work of existing legal regulations in the regions and at the school locations and thus put an emphasis on the schools’ obligations which proceed from the general SNE objectives.
3. Define pedagogic requirements and preconditions for instruction more explicitly, which can be regarded as minimum standards taking into account the individual promotion of all pupils and the achievement of inclusion targets.
A number of areas for further improvement which policy makers should focus on were identified by the QSP Core Team:
- Inclusive Education as the Standard Alternative of Special Needs Support
- Making Resource Allocation for Special Needs Support More Flexible
- Special Education Centres as Hubs for Resource Distribution and Quality Agencies
- Objective Procedure to Identify Special Educational Needs
- Individual Education Plans - Process Standards for Special Needs Support
- Optimal Usage of Resources and Support Potentials in Fully Adapted Inclusive
- Minimum Standards for Material Equipment and Personnel Resources)
- The current outcomes of the project suggest further efforts specifically on improving the following areas:
- Quality Standards for Education in Inclusive Classes
- Individual Education Plans as Instruments of Education Planning, Evaluation and Quality Assurance
- Reorganisation of the SEN Procedure Towards a Better Consideration of the Principles of Provision Diagnosis, Participation and Transparency
- More Flexible Resource Allocation – Preventive Support Provisions
- Measures to Change the Professional Self-Conception of (Special Needs) Teachers
Further information on the QSP – project access http://qsp.or.at/index_a.html and
New Curricula, Circular Letters of the Ministry
Revised curricula for students with learning disabilities, for blind students and for deaf students were brought into force at the beginning of the academic year 2008/09.
All curricula can be downloaded in German language from
http://www.cisonline.at/index.php?id=8
According to some of the outcomes of the QSP – project the ministry provided the regional and district school boards with circular letters in order to set up more standardised procedures concerning the basic assessment of SEN – students, the use of Individual Education Plans and quality standards in inclusive settings.
The circular letters are available in the German language:
Transition from School to the Labour Market
Further information on appropriate measures on the transition from school to the labour market and the inclusion of adolescents with disabilities in the primary labour market can be found in the publications of the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture, the related brochures of the European Agency at ‘Recommendations’, and on the website of the Federal Ministry for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection:
Last modified Oct 01, 2009
