«In everyday life, the classmates contribute a lot to inclusion»

On a short tour of the Unterstrass school building in Zurich, Dieter Rüttimann meets children he is seeing for the first time that day: «We haven't even said hello to each other today!» The headmaster greets them warmly in return. Everyone here is on first-name terms as a matter of course.

Mr Rüttimann, «inclusion» means that all people should be able to participate in society. What does this mean for schools?

This means that children who are systematically disadvantaged and those who we label as «impaired» or «disabled» can also attend mainstream schools. Scientific evidence shows that these children then perform significantly better than if they attended a special school. The idea of inclusion is that everyone can participate in everything at school - whatever they bring with them.

You speak of being «systematically disadvantaged». What do you mean by that?

That children from unfavourable socio-economic backgrounds - i.e. from educationally disadvantaged, low-income groups - have far fewer opportunities to achieve a high level of education. They are the educational losers because, unfortunately, social background still determines educational success in Switzerland. In the context of inclusion, it is essential that we also talk about these children. Inclusion means that we can realise somewhat more equal opportunities in the next ten to twenty years.

You said that at least 25 per cent of the children at the comprehensive school you manage have so-called «special needs».

This refers to children with a disability, those affected by ADHD, behavioural problems or a disorder from the autism spectrum. Until recently, these children were taught in special schools and classes in the canton of Zurich. This means that children with physical disabilities or those with behavioural problems were kept entirely to themselves. However, it is not expedient to teach only children with autism, i.e. children who have difficulty forming relationships, together. These children belong to society and should have the same educational opportunities.

Children with disabilities often learn better in inclusive classes than in special schools.

The mother of a child with Down's syndrome said that her child felt lonely at the mainstream school, so she sent him to a special school.

It can actually be problematic if, for example, only one child with Down's syndrome attends a mainstream school , as an example. We currently have two children with Down's syndrome at our comprehensive school. The two boys get on very well, they seek each other out at break time and it's touching to see how much they like each other. Especially with children with Down's syndrome, we often don't realise what they are capable of.

One of these boys has very good spatial awareness. If he didn't take part in geometry lessons with everyone else, this would probably never have been discovered. And we once had a child with Down's syndrome who was very good at theatre. The whole class enjoyed it with him. In special schools, on the other hand, such children are in very specialised environments and cannot really participate in society.

What is important for the successful inclusion of children with disabilities?

A very important criterion is that these children are invited to birthday parties by their classmates, that they are not alone on the playground and that they are not excluded from group work. This means that their classmates contribute a great deal to inclusion in everyday life. However, teachers must give the class the opportunity to integrate this child.

How the teacher treats the child is crucial - they are also a role model in this respect. If a teacher doesn't accept a child for who they are, their classmates often don't either. However, if the teacher stands behind the weakest child, this child is naturally included in the class. Children generally deal well with diversity. However, if we adults pass on exclusion, the children also adopt it.

Open tasks must be set that allow different children different approaches.

How are lessons organised when children with Down's syndrome, normally gifted and high-achieving pupils are in the same class?

Among other things, teaching on a common subject is central to this. For example: If sentence structure is taught in grammar, then everyone can take part - but at different levels. And everyone realises that the boy with Down's syndrome, for example, is also involved.

And then sceptical parents argue that their high-achieving child is getting a raw deal, receiving less support and attention than their weaker classmates ...

This is precisely why the quality of teaching and, above all, the quality of the tasks play a decisive role. Open, interesting, challenging tasks must be set that allow different children different approaches so that the high achievers have the opportunity to achieve a different depth of understanding.

Can you give us an example of such a task?

When fifth or sixth graders have to introduce themselves to eight football teams and each team has to play against each other. This task can be solved through action. With figures, different arrows. Or you can do it mathematically: Then the aim is to work out how to proceed, how many games there are for one team, for two teams. An initial table is created.

The stronger ones can then try to visualise a graph: on one axis the number of teams, on the other the number of matches. What does the curve look like? And at an even higher level, the pupils can then try to recognise connections, recurring patterns, so that they finally see a principle, i.e. a function, behind it. When the children then present their results to the others, everyone benefits from each other. Inclusion happens when they discuss the task together.

The relationship between pupil and teacher is crucial for successful inclusion.

If a key factor for successful inclusive learning is the relationship between teacher and pupil, what does this mean for teacher training?

I consider it a basic requirement for the teaching profession to love all living things and to have a deep interest in the individual. It is important to approach children with a positive attitude. This goes beyond sympathy. Teachers should convey that the children are «right» as they are. But it also means that teachers are sensitised in their training to the importance of their expectations of the pupils.

What else is important in an inclusive classroom?

The quality of the relationship between teacher and pupil. It is absolutely crucial. We must always ask ourselves how we can create an environment in which we can develop the potential of all children on the basis of very good and sustainable relationships. Good quality relationships have an impact on the whole school.

What does that mean?

If a child is always asked simple questions or tasks, it adopts this external image of the teacher - and becomes its own image. They then achieve less. A pupil recently told me that I often praised him for things that were very easy for him. This gives him the feeling that I don't trust him with more difficult tasks. Such differentiated judgement from a pupil is worth its weight in gold for the teacher - but it can only be expressed on the basis of a sustainable relationship. And it also means that teachers are always prepared to scrutinise themselves critically.

How can feedback from pupils about the lessons and the teacher be collected in a targeted manner?

There are various methods. At our comprehensive school, we hold a kind of assessment meeting with each child four times a year to discuss their learning process. The focus is on how the child is doing and what they need. This is already possible with first-graders, even if they don't have to assess themselves yet, as it is still completely normal for them to tend to overestimate themselves at this age.

This gives them the freedom to learn something of their own accord: even if they fall off the unicycle a hundred times, they keep practising until they can do it, whereas adults would have given up long ago. So the main thing is to ask the children what else they would like to learn, what they would like to do. Inclusive schools usually have more teachers per class.

There are still too many children who are intelligent but have little chance of succeeding due to their educationally disadvantaged background.

This also generates costs.

Yes, but if children are taught in small classes at special schools, this costs much more! In any case, it is important that teachers at inclusive schools have appropriate further training. However, key principles could also be taught in teacher training programmes for prospective teachers. Today, it is essential for teachers to undergo further training anyway.

A study by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows that parents who have experience with inclusive schools rate them more favourably than mothers and fathers whose children do not attend such schools. The latter are often more sceptical about inclusion. How do you explain this?

It's like the issue of migration: at schools that have had a high proportion of children with a migration background for many years, integration is usually hardly a problem. But I also notice that parents change when their child is in an inclusive school. Parents who had reservations about a child with Down's syndrome changed their attitude after they came along to the school camp. The child spent a lot of time in the kitchen, praised the cooking skills and they realised that the boy is a real ray of sunshine!

So inclusive teaching does better justice to both the whole class and the individual?

Yes - because nobody is excluded and a lot of unused potential is utilised. Everyone benefits from this. Our dual vocational training system in this country makes up for a lot of what schools have missed out on. That is a big plus. However, there are still too many children who are intelligent but have little chance of succeeding due to their educationally disadvantaged background.

Dealing with diversity at school means ...

... to show the children that we are all different. But that this is also very interesting. How boring if everyone was the same! Or as a former pupil and member of the HORA theatre (a theatre ensemble with actors with intellectual disabilities, editor's note) aptly put it in an interview when asked what it was like for him to be different as a child: «Yes, I was different. But so were the others.»