«Doing justice to everyone demands a lot from me»
"Together with my job partner, I teach 20 second-graders. I am also responsible for German as a second language - hardly any of our children speak German at home. In an effort to provide the best possible support for children with special educational needs, I completed a Master's programme with a focus on inclusive education and heterogeneity. As I see it, the education system has to adapt to the children, not the other way round.
But there is a catch: a child only receives special educational support if they have special school status that entitles them to it. In the case of physical or sensory impairments, the criteria for this are relatively easy to define, whereas in the case of behavioural problems, they are diffuse.
I've already had a few pupils with special school status due to a learning disability. We adapt goals and content for them, which works well. Children with poor self or social skills who are unable to put themselves aside, suppress impulses, contain frustration or stay on task for five minutes are more challenging. I try to support them and invest a lot in relationship work.
My 100 per cent workload as a lawyer, which I used to hold, never challenged me as much as the 65 per cent as a teacher.
At the same time, I have to make sure that the others in this environment learn something. For example, I make sure that the four weekly lessons that the class has for integrative support with the special needs teacher are given to children who need to deepen their academic content, not those with behavioural issues. The balancing act of doing justice to everyone demands a lot from me. My 100 per cent workload as a lawyer, which I used to hold, never challenged me as much as the 65 per cent as a teacher. But I find my work meaningful.
There are many reasons for conspicuous behaviour and children are not to blame. I have never seen behavioural problems lead to special school status. It either fails to be clarified or the parents don't allow it. It's true: In lower school, children usually don't see it as a negative thing to be assessed.
They often enjoy the tests and the attention they bring. Later, they know what it's all about: there is the possibility of labelling, which they associate negatively. I am not in favour of hasty clarifications and it makes sense to me that special school status should be granted with caution. Ultimately, it's a question of funding.
The 11 most important terms for inclusion:
Does it make sense to link resources to a status and individual children? I don't know. Perhaps we need to look at the big picture and invest in early prevention. I see a lot of children here who don't yet have the skills that are needed for what the primary school considers to be normal operation to work."
