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SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION WITHIN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
Mainstream System
The document attached below contains a diagram and notes outlining the different structures of mainstream educational provision in Germany.
For more information regarding the organisation of mainstream educational services in Germany, please visit the Eurydice information service at:
http://www.eurydice.org/Eurybase/Application/frameset.asp?country=DE&language=EN
for information in English.
Information in German is available at:
http://www.eurydice.org/Eurybase/Application/frameset.asp?country=DE&language=VO
Organisation of mainstream education services
Early Years Education includes all institutions run by the non-public and public youth welfare services which cater for Children from the time they reach the age of three until they start school. The Kindergarten is the traditional form of institutionalised early years education for thee to six year olds in Germany. Some Länder have care facilities for children between the ages of four month and six years.
Besides the Kindergarten other forms of institution and care facilities exist in this sector.
Some Länder have established pre-school classes (Vorklassen) for five-year children who have not yet reached compulsory age but whose parents wish them to achieve assistance with their preparation for primary school. Attendance is voluntary.
In case of SNE exist: Special Kindergarten (Sonderkindergarten) or Support Kindergarten (Förderkinderkarten), which care for and support children with disabilities only or integrations- Kindergärten which accept disabled and non disabled children.
In the transition period the aim for disabled pupils is to be trained in a recognized occupation under the dual system, in so far as their learning abilities allow. The school part of vocational training takes place at general vocational schools Berufsschulen or at establishments for the disabled.
If training in a recognised occupation is not possible, disabled young people receive a preparatory training geared to their individual capabilities and skills either for an occupation that will enable them to lead to an independent life or for employment in a workshop for the disabled .
Special System
The development and organisation of special education in the Länder was harmonised by several decisions adopted by the KMK, particularly by the "Recommendations on the Organisation of Special Education" (Empfehlung zur Ordnung des Sonderschulwesens; Decision of March 1972) and recommendations for all types of special schools, Sonderschulen. The current situation is documented in the "Recommendation on Special Education in the Schools of the Federal Republic of Germany" (Empfehlungen zur sonderpädagogischen Förderung in den Schulen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Decision of 6. May 1994).
Definitions of Special Needs
Since the school year 1999/2000 all Länder agreed in a joint definition of SNE. Due to the different situations and laws in the Länder, this joint definition has to be broader. Special educational needs means specific support for disabled pupils. The area of responsibility of special needs education in the Federal Republic of Germany with respect to all organisational aspects refers to the special needs within the context of disability exclusively.
Pupils experiencing problems as a result of certain handicaps and/or in need of additional educational support because of problematic situations, as well as pupils with temporary learning difficulties (e.g. slow learners, reading and writing difficulties) are supported by a combination of measures of differentiation within the structure of the general system of support.
Remedial or individual educational programmes based on the general structure, offer and give support for problem situations during the learning process. The Federal Republic of Germany has a comprehensive framework of special measures targeted to additional advice and support for all kinds of situations that might occur in daily school life.
Special education is classified with regard to pupils' special educational requirements into the following categories:
- blind
- visually impaired
- deaf
- hearing impaired
- mental disabled
- physically disabled
- pupils with learning difficulties
- students with behavioural problems
- students with impaired speech
- sick pupils
It is necessary to mention that there has been a noticeable trend: in practise, there are many problems in dealing with these categories, as a lot of disabled children cannot be clearly classified. It must be considered that there is an increasing number of multiply handicapped children. Thus the Federal Republic of Germany came to an agreement using the term "pupil with needs for special education or special educational needs relating to development" Schüler mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf. The definition is explained by the recommendation of the KMK in 1994:
"Special needs education relating to development is to presume for children and adults who are disabled or who have limited possibilities for education, development and learning. Therapy and social aids from additional external school services could be necessarily included."
In this definition, the ability of each school to promote pupils' development by meeting the necessary special education tasks and requirements is an important key-element. This is the key for all didactic and methodical measures as well as the framework of conditions for each individual pupil inside school.
Forms of Special Education
Since 1975 disabled pupils have been increasingly integrated into mainstream schools by school pilot projects. In addition, various forms of co-operation between general schools and special schools have emerged and approaches to integrated teaching have been developed in educational science. A focus on the institution, has given way to a focus upon the needs of the individual.
Formerly, the prevailing concept when making choices for a child's school career (i.e. the decision in favour of a general school or a special school) was the need for education at a special school. This has since been superseded by the concept of Sonderpädagogischer Förderbedarf, special educational needs, meaning education, instruction, therapy and care requirements depending on an individual's physical disabilities and social disadvantages as far as the institutional setting allows. This development has been influenced by a new understanding of disabilities and educational needs, improved diagnostic techniques, more effective early detection and prevention as well as better overall conditions at general schools (e.g. improved pupil-teacher ratios), more open approaches to instruction and education and, finally, a greater appreciation of the benefits to children of attending a school close to their home.
Though it is not possible to dispense with Sonderschulen altogether, they should not be the only place of learning available to disabled pupils. The following forms of special education exist today alongside each other:
- Special educational support through preventive measures:
Preventive measures and interdisciplinary co-operation in early intervention are becoming more and more important. Pupils facing the threat of disability receive preventive assistance to help counteract the emergence of disability. Preventive measures include co-operative advice to teachers, parents and other professionals. Particular importance is attached to interdisciplinary co-operation in the early stages of assistance.
- Special educational support in joint education / lessons:
The possibility of education with special support in mainstream schools, as mentioned before in co-operation or with assistance and practical support of a special teacher or other professionals or in some cases social-worker. Special support is provided inside the classroom, during the class lessons or, if necessary, outside classroom teaching; part-time or full-time depending on the individual, organisational, personal or institutional situation. This form guarantees the right of a local school environment.
- Special educational support in special schools:
Children and young people whose special educational needs cannot be met within a
general school receive instruction either at special schools Sonderschulen, at vocational schools Berufsschulen with special emphasis on different types of special education or at comparable institutions. These institutions must be able to provide the required technical equipment and special teaching aids. They may turn to external organisations to obtain assistance such as therapy, care and social support. Sonderschulen vary according to the type of special education on which they focus and the educational courses they offer. They provide support to pupils in any developments which may lead to their possible transfer to a general school and to training. Multiply handicapped students attend the school with the best possibility of support according to the student's particular needs (supra-regional institutions and boarding-schools).
- Types of special schools:
Under the Hamburg Agreement between the Länder of 14th October 1971 on harmonisation in the school system, the basic school structure which applies to all Länder is such that a clear distinction is made between general schools and special schools (usually known as Sonderschulen but also called Förderschulen in some Länder). According to the Recommendations on the Organisation of Special Education (Empfehlung zur Ordnung des Sonderschulwesens, Resolution by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder dated 16 March 1972), there are ten different types of special schools:
- schools for the blind
- schools for the deaf
- schools for the visually impaired
- schools for the hearing impaired
- schools for the mentally handicapped
- schools for the physically disabled
- schools for the sick
- schools for children with learning difficulties
- schools for children with speech defects
- schools for children with behavioural problems
- and Institutions which cannot be assigned to individual disability categories. Some special schools work as all-day schools (Ganztagsschule) others as boarding schools.
- Special educational support in co-operative forms:
Many special schools and mainstream schools are in the process of developing close pedagogical co-operation. They offer opportunities for joint activities between disabled and non-disabled pupils. The co-operative opportunities may enrich school lessons and school life for all participating institutions and people involved. The method of putting together classes of special schools and mainstream schools could be an appropriate framework of conditions to create future co-operation. In addition, this trend expands opportunities for change and transfer between school types and educational courses, increases the proportion of joint lessons and encourages the transfer of pupils from special schools to mainstream schools.
- Special education within special units:
The aim of special education units (sonderpädagogische Förderzentren), either as regional or supra regional institutions, is to meet individual special needs or a range of different needs (e.g. physical and motor development, hearing and sight, and so on) and to guarantee special education in preventive, integrative, in-patient and cooperative forms. This form of education is based as near to the home as possible and provided by specialists.
- Special educational support in frame of special pedagogical support centres (Förderzentren):
In the Federal Republic of Germany there is an increasing development of special pedagogical support centres. Several Länder use the resource of special pedagogical know-how by developing special schools into support centres and giving them an enlarged area of exercise and responsibility. These centres work as regional or supra-regional institutions with one or several key points of support.
The main task of a Förderzentrum is the further development of professionalism and institutional organisation, specifically, how to reconsider conceptions of the traditional special school in order to develop working co-operation between special and the mainstream schools.
The term Förderzentrum has different meanings depending upon the Land it is in. This is due to the Sovereignty of Culture of the German Länder. There are differences in conceptions and aims of a Förderzentrum. Referring to this, the KMK - in their recommendation about Conditions and Locality of Special Educational Support - made proposals concerning prevention measures, joint education in mainstream schools, special schools and inter-school co-operation.
In general, Förderzentren develop out of the traditional special schools. Some of them are responsible for a special district or a town (e.g. schools for learning, behaviour, speech and intellectual impairment). Others are responsible for the whole of the Land (e.g. schools for deaf and hearing impaired, for blind and vision-impaired, for physically handicapped students or students with behavioural difficulties) or even for other Länder.
Most of the Länder agree, that in the long term integration only can succeed if the Förderzentren process expands into more integrative co-operation. This could be the key for overcoming traditional relations between the special schools and mainstream schools.
- Special education in the vocational training sector and during the transition to a work environment:
Young people with special educational needs should be given the opportunity to receive vocational training in a recognised occupation requiring formal training (anerkannter Ausbildungsberuf). Where this does not appear feasible they should be enabled to take up an occupation which is specially designed for the disabled, with the aim of facilitating future permanent integration into a work environment. If this is not practicable either, the young person must be prepared for an occupation that has been adapted to his individual capabilities and skills and will enable him to lead an independent life or be prepared for employment in a workshop for the disabled.
- Infrequent special educational support in special classes:
Infrequent special educational classes are established in specific subject areas of special education and likewise for the educational support of students exhibiting temporary difficulties. These learning groups are taught, supported, and cared for by special educationalists. Some of these classes are organisationally tied to primary or secondary schools. Such classes could be, for example: classes for emotionally disturbed students, called "observation classes", Kleinklassen, Beobachtungsklassen, "classes for diagnosis and promotion", Diagnose-Förderklassen, "classes for pupils with reading and writing disabilities", Lese-Rechtschreibklassen, "Combined classes"; pupils with speech disabilities and pupils from primary school, Kombi-Klassen, "long-term-classes"; a small group of students with delays in their development have the possibility to learn the subjects of one year in one and a half or two years, Langzeitklassen.
These infrequent classes had more importance during the transitional period in the further development of special education. Today in some Länder there is a critical discussion concerning those forms of special education.
Curriculum and Teaching
Due to the existing Sovereignty of Culture of each Land, every Land has their own legislation and their own Curriculum. The material, which is important to the educational process, is laid down in syllabuses or framework plans which may be subject-related, area-related or interdisciplinary. Syllabi for all types of school are the responsibility of the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs in the Länder. They are published as regulations of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs.
They take the form of instructions from a higher authority and, as such, are binding teachers. At the same time, syllabuses are formulated in such a general way as to leave teachers the freedom of teaching methods in practice. The syllabuses not only deal with content, but also the course objectives and teaching methods. Nevertheless all the teachers of a specific subject or for special educational support at one school hold conferences to reach a degree of consensus on methods, special aids and assessment criteria.
At the level of special education in some Länder, a process of reflection relating to the modification of syllabi has begun. Some Länder have passed a recommendation for "Balance of Disadvantage", Nachteilsausgleich. Pupils with special educational needs, taught by general curriculum (e.g. those with sensory impairments), who don't have intellectual impairment, but difficulties because of their handicap, have a right to Nachteilsausgleich. In practice this could be for example. a reduction of exercises in a special subject or in a test, more time for working, technical aids and so on.
Apart from Sonderschulen for children with learning difficulties and the mentally handicapped, all special schools work on the basis of curricula which in terms of educational goals, lesson content and performance requirements match those of general schools (Grundschule and the educational courses offered by the Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium). However, the methods used must take into account the special learning requirements and impairments relating to individual types of disability. The volume of lessons stipulated in the timetables of general schools is supplemented by special education lessons. Some educational courses at Sonderschulen also last a year longer than those at general schools. Schools for children with learning difficulties and for the mentally handicapped work according to their own guidelines which, like all other curricula, are issued by the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of the relevant Land.
Sonderschulen are often all-day schools or boarding schools. Comprehensive assistance for the disabled pupil is part of the teaching concept and instruction and education complement each other.
Instruction is designed to meet individual needs and some lessons are held in small groups or on an individual basis. In addition, the class sizes at Sonderschulen are particularly small. Depending on the type of disability, therapeutic measures such as physiotherapy, behavioural therapy, speech therapy, and so on, are integrated into lessons. Technical and disability related aids and devices are used where necessary.
The 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany developed at their plenary session in May 1994 the recommendations on special Needs education, replacing earlier guidelines of March 1972. This basic paper documents (reveals) the SEN development of all German Bundesländer. The Ministers were in agreement with the current trend to focus on the support of the individual child rather than on its deficits, on the type of school or institution.
The recommendations aim at maintaining and developing the present variety and level of special education facilities, and at encouraging efforts to educate disabled and non disabled students together. The Ministers recommended that any changes should guarantee the necessary amount and quality of special support, allow for flexibility in a system combining different degrees of special support, ensure students with SEN - as far as possible - the same possibilities and opportunities all over Germany regardless the place and nature of special support given.
Great importance should be attached a variety of provision as measures preventing disabilities, mainstreaming, and co-operation within the different systems. The traditional special school should develop themselves into support centres for prevention and integration in mainstream schools.
In the following years until 1999 the KMK enacted recommendations for the "emphasis of individual education support" (Förderschwerpunkte) on the level of: learning, speech, emotional and social development, mental development, physical development, hearing, vision, autism, chronic sickness.
Each of these Förderschwerpunkte provides information about the education starting point and condition on this level of SEN, the phenomenon of the individual special needs and its diagnosis, the provision of SNE and possible placements. The user gets an indication to co-operation and collaboration as well as to the qualification of the staff. With regard to the Förderschwerpunkte, all Länder are in the process of revising their Curriculum. In Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein the implementation of the IEPs (individual education plan) is regulated in the Curriculum.
Co-operation with other Services/ Networking
The most important form of co-operative arrangement within the German education system is that between the 16 different Länder. This is an important and necessary situation due to the sovereignty of each of the Länder.
The instrument for co-operation between the Land governments in education is the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK). The KMK is based on an agreement between the Länder and deals with cultural policy matters of supra-regional importance, with the aim of forming a common viewpoint and a common will as well as representing common interests. Resolutions of the KMK have the status of recommendations. It is the political commitment of the competent Ministers to transform recommendations into law, until they are enacted as binding legislation by the parliaments in the 16 Länder. Most of the Länder have established educational networks around their systems of school, in a community, or Länd-wide. The aim is to ensure the best benefits for the pupil with SEN. There is a close co-operation with social services, therapists, institutions for children’s’ development, associations etc..
In the last years, on the level of social and emotional problems, there has been established a close co-operation between education and the youth and welfare services. Main emphasis is the unification of recourses to guarantee a better benefit of the existing resources.
Alongside training within the dual system training opportunities are also available at full-time vocational schools. Pupils with appropriate school-leaving qualifications are also offered the opportunity to continue their education ( at the Fachoberschule or Fachschule). These institutions providing vocational training for the disabled usually have a large catchment area and offer student accommodation. If training in a recognised occupation requiring formal training is not possible, disabled young people receive a preparatory training geared to their individual capabilities and skills either for an occupation that will enable them to lead an independent life or for employment in a workshop for the disabled.
Alternative structures in special education
The private sector plays quite an appreciable role in special education. Churches, welfare organisations and other non-public bodies run Sonderschulen, often in conjunction with residential homes. These schools are also subject to state supervision. In their teaching methods, rehabilitation measures and child care and supervision they sometimes pursue their own special education methods.
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