SHP, ISS or RLP - what does that have to do with school?

The new school year has just started. Perhaps you are one of the mums and dads who ask your child after school what they have experienced at school. Perhaps you are one of the mums and dads who are already familiar with stories about everyday school life. Regardless of which group you feel you belong to, you all have one challenge in common: like your child, you have to familiarise yourself with the names and roles of a whole host of professionals at school. In your own school days, you may have known your child as a lower school teacher or upper school teacher, but today, job titles such as SHP, KLP and RLP and terms such as heterogeneity and integration are the order of the day. But why do these terms belong to schools today and what do they stand for?

The learners

Since the 1960s, legal foundations have been created at international and national level to ensure that no child is discriminated against on the basis of physical, mental or psychological disabilities. Schools are also obliged to offer all children, including children with special needs, an adapted basic education. As far as possible and in the best interests of the child, this should be done in an inclusive manner. This means that, as far as possible, all learners should be able to participate in joint lessons in a mainstream school class according to their abilities.

This development has sharpened the focus on the different prerequisites of children for whom an «adapted primary education» needs to be created: differences are evident in behaviour, development, learning, character, talents, but also in the languages and cultural backgrounds of children. This results in a lively composition in most classes, for which the term heterogeneity is used in technical jargon. It should be possible for all these children in a heterogeneous class to learn together according to their abilities. What does this look like in your child's class? And above all: What does your child contribute to heterogeneity in their class?

The specialists

Many parents like the idea of ONE school for ALL children. Research shows that teachers feel the same way. However, the more concrete it becomes in terms of implementation, the more sceptical teachers become - do you? For this reason, many things have been reorganised in schools in recent years, but above all a great deal has been achieved by all those involved. In the canton of Zurich, for example, around 2,000 of the almost 140,000 pupils in 2015 who had previously attended a special class or school were taught in mainstream classes (IS = integrated special education). In addition, a good ten per cent of learners received temporary support in specific areas as part of the mainstream class (IF = integrated support). Another ten per cent of pupils attended therapy. 2,800 children were able to further develop their particularly strong talents as part of the gifted and talented programme. All this with the aim of providing all learners with an adapted basic education, preferably together with other children. So if you take a longer look into your child's classroom, it could look like this, as recorded in a report on a classroom visit by a student:

«While the class teacher (KLP) or regular teacher (RLP) is at their desk counselling children and correcting work, the special needs teacher (SHP) is out and about in the room. She helps individual children who need support, explains and encourages them.» Or: «For instructions, the teacher and the SHP stand together in front of the class and complement each other. The SHP takes over individual sequences such as the movement break or the repetition of the rules of three-sentence stories.»

In this case, a KLP and a SHP teach together in the same class and complement each other well. The SHP is primarily responsible for pupils with learning difficulties. She is specially trained for this. The amount of teaching and support they provide in the class depends on which and how many children they accompany. Their tasks also include support planning for individual children. Sometimes a school assistant (SA) is also present in the classroom. This person supports the success of everyday classroom life in various areas without having any teaching responsibility. This means that there may well be three people working in a class, but they also liaise with other teachers or therapists in relation to a child, such as speech therapists or teachers of German as a second language (GSL).

School social workers also carry out projects with classes or school teams on topics such as bullying and conflicts.

Practice and research show that this cooperation is important, but also that it does not succeed «just like that». It requires time, commitment and clear agreements on questions such as: Who is responsible for which children? How is support planning documented? How is learning progress recorded? How can a classroom be set up so that joint lessons are possible? Which forms of learning are suitable for joint lessons and which for a specific child? These are questions that can only be answered together! In addition, specialists in school social work (SSA) often play a major role, especially with older children. They are usually sought out voluntarily by students with school or personal problems. School social workers also carry out projects with classes or school teams on topics such as bullying and conflicts. It is therefore easy to understand that collaboration between all the professionals involved initially means additional work. However, successful collaboration also offers many advantages for the specialists. They can share responsibility, benefit from the knowledge of other professionals, recognise new approaches to pupils and also receive collegial feedback on their own work. For the children, this means in the best case that they also have better opportunities to develop their learning and can recognise their strengths earlier in a heterogeneous environment.

The parents

Abbreviations and their meaning

Cooperation does not stop at the schoolhouse door - children bring information from home to school, but also from school to home to a third group of people: to you as parents! By asking questions and listening, you help your child to process what they have experienced and learnt and integrate it into their everyday life. You may also play a very specific role in school matters by supporting your child with homework and taking part in school progress meetings and events. This means that you are also one of the most important groups of people in everyday school life. Has our report given you a broader perspective on your child's everyday school life? Or are you curious to find out which specialists work together at your child's school and how they do this? Ask them about it!

• IS Integrated special education under the responsibility of the special school
• ISR Integrated special education under the responsibility of the mainstream school
• IF Integrated promotion
• KLP Class teacher
• RLP regular class teacher
• SHP Special school teacher
• SA School assistance
• DaZ German as a second language SSA School social work

Useful information on the topic

The «Rezeptbuch schulische Integration» offers teachers in particular a practical and informative insight into how inclusive schools can be implemented. By Peter Lienhard-Tuggener, Klaus Joller-Graf and Belinda Mettauer Szaday.

The picture book «When the goat learns to swim» is suitable for home and school - it impressively shows what happens when everyone should be able to do the same. By Nele Moost and Pieter Kunstreich.

The KoKa cooperation cards support teachers and special needs teachers in the concrete implementation of inclusive teaching. By Esther Brenzikofer, Michaela Studer and Meike Wolters.

In the 3sat media library(www.3sat.de) you will find the film «Searching for a way to learn together». It briefly and clearly explains the various school models relating to the topic of «School for all».