Implementing Inclusion In The German School System – Effects On The Structures And Contents Of Teacher Education

Author(s):

Christiane Ruberg(presenting / submitting)Melanie Radhoff(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 05 A, Preparing Teachers to Teach in Diverse Classrooms

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-24

13:30-15:00

Room:

NM-G107

Chair:

Ingrid Helleve

Contribution

As part of the declaration of the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, inclusive education has become a compulsory component at all German schools. The legal claim on Inclusion implies the challenge to approach Inclusion as an interdisciplinary topic which in consequence leads to changes in the organization of teacher education at university. Concerning the definition of Inclusion, Education Policy on the one hand often promotes a narrow understanding of the term, referring exclusively to the requirements for and location of fostering students with special educational needs. School Education on the other hand, being influenced by international discussions, defines Inclusion as social participation for all people considering civil rights in terms of a democratic constitution without social marginalization (Prengel 1995; Hinz 2009; Werning 2014). This often stated discrepancy between the political and academic approach gives automatically rise to one question: What kind of definition or understanding of Inclusion is actually being established at universities in Germany and is there any common understanding between the institutions? Since universities are supposed to provide future teachers with the basic knowledge about Inclusion and to allow experiences in the field of “inclusive teaching”, this is an important point. The high relevance for framing the idea of Inclusion in the context of teacher education is also confirmed by a number of studies, indicating for example that students need to be prepared for their practical phases at school and therefore need to have a common basis for reflecting their experiences in terms of inclusive teaching (Amrhein 2011; KMK 2015). In this context the practical phases in all Teacher Education programs are seen as an area of and possibility for professionalization (Weyland 2012; Arnold 2014).

Based on the question, how universities prepare future teachers in Germany for working in an inclusive classroom, the present study aims at documenting the structural modifications that can be detected in teacher education. At the moment there are far-reaching changes in the current structure of the German school system (Tillmann 2012) - such as the reduction of special schools and lower secondary schools for the benefit of longer periods of learning without selection in favor of supposedly homogenous groups of students. Therefore, the initial interest of this study is to document whether the actual changing of the school system has any impact on the structure or the variants of teacher education. Next to possible general changes one special focus lies on the design of and the requirement for the practical phases, asking if there is a recommendation to complete at least one of the practical phases in an ‘inclusive school’. Furthermore, it will be clarified if there are particular changes to the teaching profession for special education, as this profession maintains a long tradition in the German system. On a micro-level, the curriculum of teacher education will be analyzed with regard to contents of inclusive education.

For every state signing the UN Convention implies great responsibilities especially for those professions being involved in education. In particular it is challenging universities with teacher training programs, since they have to convey a common basis for the way children should be educated. The development on that level will give insights into where the path of Inclusion is heading to for society as a whole and as such is not just an issue of the German system.

Method

This qualitative research is based on all sources in the field of educational science that were available and provided by the universities. For this, all courses of study that have been disclosed by the universities until July 2015 and the ones allowing registration of students in the winter term 2015/2016 have been considered for research. All teacher training universities in Germany have been analyzed, especially the homepages, module manuals of educational science, examination regulations and other recommendations that were procurable. Furthermore for each of the sixteen states the Teacher Training laws, as legal requirements for teacher education, have been reviewed in terms of guidelines concerning inclusive education and also selected module manuals have been analyzed in this context. The data generated this way was analyzed with the methodology of content analysis, using a conventional mixture of inductive and deductive approach (Cropley 2011). Based on the inductive approach a variety of different course catalogues has been analyzed in respect of a study program offering courses with the topic of Inclusion and related subjects, such as dealing with heterogeneity or German as a second/foreign language (Sawalies et al. 2013).

Expected Outcomes

Teacher Education in Germany still proves itself to be highly heterogeneous which confirms results of previous studies (Thole & Hascher 2011). Since the declaration of the UN Convention, degree courses for special education have increased tremendously which leads to the conclusion that the idea of Inclusion is seen in a narrow framework of special education. Furthermore, the concept of special education is even narrowed down to a light version of itself, with universities representing special education mainly in the context of learning and language difficulties as well as emotional and social development. Other domains, such as mental disabilities are only represented at very few universities. Some institutions (six universities) have established new degree courses, as a type of integrated teacher education. The concept refers to a combination of a regular teaching profession, such as primary school teaching and the teaching profession of special education. All six universities offering these options have a different content design though and offer different types of degrees. Professional networking between various disciplines at the institutions, including Social Education, Political Science or Urban Development and Planning cannot be determined. Also no attempt of framing a (common) definition of Inclusion from universities’ perspective can be determined so far, though this would be essential to reflect upon the organization of the teacher education program. For the moment the contents of courses and modules entitled as ‘Inclusion’ are rather lacking in transparency and are differing a lot between the institutions. The presentation aims at discussing the implications of these findings, not only for the German system but also in terms of an international perspective, bearing the idea in mind that different systems should learn from each other. It will be discussed how Inclusive Teacher Education could be like and where possibilities seem to be limited because of system-related restrictions.

References

Amrhein, B.: Inklusive LehrerInnenbildung – Chancen universitärer Praxisphasen nutzen. Zeitschrift für Inklusion. Online-net. Ausgabe 3/2011. http://www.inklusion-online.net/index.php/inklusion-online/article/view/84/84, 14.06.2015. Arnold, K.-H. (2014): Unterrichtsversuche als allgemeindidaktische Lerngelegenheit: Eine vergleichende Curriculumanalyse. In: Arnold, K.-H./Gröschner, A./Hascher, T. (Hrsg.): Schulpraktika in der Lehrerbildung. Theoretische Grundlagen, Konzeptionen, Prozesse und Effekte. Münster, New York: Waxmann, 63-86. Cropley, Arthur J. (2011): Qualitative Forschungsmethoden: Eine praxisnahe Einführung. Frankfurt am Main: Klotz. Hinz, Andreas (2009): Aktuelle Erträge der Debatte um Inklusion – worin besteht der ‚Mehrwert’ gegenüber Integration? Vortrag auf dem Kongress „Enabling Community“ am 18.- 20.05.2009 in Hamburg. (veranstaltet durch die Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf und die Katholische Fachhochschule für Soziale Arbeit Berlin). http://www.nrw-eineschule.de/sites/default/files/Hinz%20Aktuelle%20Ertraege%20der%20Debatte%20um%20Inklusion.pdf, 10.08.2015. KMK = Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (2015): Lehrerbildung für eine Schule der Vielfalt. Gemeinsame Empfehlung von Hochschulrektorenkonferenz und Kultusministerkonferenz. (Beschluss der Kultusministerkonferenz vom 12.03.2015/ Beschluss der Hochschulrektorenkonferenz vom 18.03.2015). http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/veroeffentlichungen_beschluesse/2015/2015_03_12-Schule-der-Vielfalt.pdf, 16.10.2015. Prengel, Annedore (1995): Pädagogik der Vielfalt. 2. Auflage. Opladen: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Sawalies, J./Veber, M./Rott, D./Fischer, C. (2013): Inklusionspädagogik in der ersten Phase der Lehrerbildung. Eine explorative Studie zu Stand und Unterschieden universitärer Lehrangebote für die Regelschullehrämter. Schulpädagogik heute, 4(8). http://www.schulpaedagogik-heute.de/conimg/SH8_21b.pdf, 10.08.2015. Thole, W./Hascher, T. (2011): Organisationsstrukturen und Kulturen der Lehrer- und Lehrerinnenbildung – Workshop der DGfE zum Stand und zur Zukunft der Lehrerbildung. Erziehungswissenschaft, 22(43), S. 9-12. http://www.pedocs.de/volltexte/2012/5423/pdf/ErzWiss_43_2011_Thole_Hascher_Organisationsstrukturen_Kulturen_D_A.pdf, 16.10.2015. Tillmann, K-.J. (2012). Das Sekundarschulsystem auf dem Weg in die Zweigliedrigkeit. Historische Linien und aktuelle Verwirrungen. PÄDAGOGIK (02.05.2012). http://www.redaktion-paedagogik.de/2012/05/das-sekundarschulsystem-auf-dem-weg-in-die-zweigliedrigkeit/, 10.08.2015. Werning, Rolf (2014): Stichwort: Schulische Inklusion. In: Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, Jg. 17, H. 4, S. 601-623. http://springer.com/home?SGWID=o-0-10030-0-0&agld=2731279&download=1&checkval=5b6423b7b5145e14a93ce09422d844f8, 10.08.2015. Weyland, U. (2012): Expertise zu den Praxisphasen in der Lehrerbildung in den Bundesländern. Hrsg. von Landesinstitut für Lehrerbildung und Schulentwicklung. Hamburg.

Author Information

Christiane Ruberg (presenting / submitting)

TU Dortmund

Dortmund

Melanie Radhoff (presenting)

TU Dortmund, Germany

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