Following the demand for inclusive education and the need for learning opportunities that are suitable for each and every learner, inclusive diagnostic becomes increasingly relevant (Simon, 2015). Currently, there are several research projects which tackle questions related to inclusive diagnostics, especially on a national (e.g., BMBF funding line 2021-2026) and European level (e.g., I AM project 2021-2024). While some of them emphasize the necessity of an analysis of the environmental and cross-subject diagnosis, most projects focus on certain special educational needs and/ or certain subjects (e.g., Schäfer & Rittmeyer, 2015). As approaches that focus on the needs of the student bear the risk to apply a deficit-oriented perspective, they can be hardly reconciled with the overall target of inclusive education. Therefore, two shifts are suggested. (1) Firstly, a shift of diagnostic focus is needed. In order to go along with key aspects of inclusive education, a shift away from students’ skills and towards the analysis of learning environments is needed (Florian et al., 2006). Nevertheless, solely focusing on this shift might not yet lead to an easier and more comprehensive implementation of inclusive education. Therefore, a second shift is necessary. (2) The second shift must be implemented in research. As mentioned before, various current research projects emphasize the need for inclusive diagnostic tools but the interconnection with inclusive practice in the classroom is largely omitted. However, research on inclusive diagnostics can only support the development of inclusive education if it is directly linked to suitable and applicable inclusive approaches. Building on these two areas, several conceptual considerations are necessary to further develop inclusive diagnostics. The paper identifies key challenges of current discourses in the field and explores possibilities to constructively engage with these. This way, it is aimed to provide a consistent and applicable concept of inclusive diagnostics. As there are several ambiguities in the field at the moment, this is highly relevant in order to foster inclusive education. Both shifts of focus will be exemplified by referring to an ongoing PhD project that engages with this challenge in a transcultural and comparative perspective (Artiles & Dyson 2005). The project focuses on approaches to inclusive education by teachers from different global contexts. Thereby it aims at interlinking inclusive practices and diagnostic categories in a cross-contextual way, so that it “can be implemented with fidelity and adapted for various cultural contexts” (Amor et al. 2018).

Amor, Antonio M./Hagiwara, Mayumi/Shogren, Karrie A./Thompson, James R./Verdugo, Miguel Ángel/Burke, Kathryn M./Aguayo, Virginia (2018). International perspectives and trends in research on inclusive education: a systematic review. In: International Journal of Inclusive Education 12/2018. Artiles, Alfredo/Dyson, Alan (2005). Inclusive education in the globalization age. The promise of comparative cultural-historical analysis. In: Mitchell, David (Hrsg.) (2005). Contextualizing inclusive education: Evaluating old and new international perspectives. London/New York, NY: Routledge. Florian, Lani/Hollenweger, Judith/Simeonsson, Rune J./Wedell, Klaus/Riddell, Sheila/Terzi, Lorella/Holland, Anthony (2006). Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Classification of Children With Disabilities. In: The Journal of Special Education 1/2006. Schäfer, Holger & Rittmeyer, Christel (Hrsg.). (2015). Handbuch Inklusive Diagnostik (Pädagogik). Weinheim: Beltz. Available at: http://content-select.com/index.php?id=bib_view&ean=9783407294029. Simon, Toni (2015). Die Suche nach dem Wesen einer Diagnostik zur Unterstützung schulischer Inklusion. In: Zeitschrift Für Inklusion 2015. Available at: https://www.inklusion-online.net/index.php/inklusion-online/article/view/304/268.