The 11 most important terms relating to inclusion
1. special educational needs
Special educational needs or, as a synonym for special educational needs, exist when a child requires additional support in order to be able to follow lessons at a mainstream school. This may be because the child has a disability, chronic illness, behavioural problems or mild learning difficulties, or because of socio-economic disadvantage due to nationality, social status or language. A special educational need also exists if above-average talent means that a child is underchallenged and needs additional support.
2. inclusion
The term inclusion has no standardised definition. It is often equated with integration. For the sake of simplicity, this dossier does the same, as the terms cannot be clearly distinguished from one another. However, those in favour of a strict interpretation would say that integration is merely an intermediate step on the way to inclusion. The latter therefore stands for an overarching vision in which children with special educational needs do not play a special role.
In an inclusive school based on this model, there would be no coexistence of mainstream and special schools, as is the case in Switzerland, and no special status for children with disabilities, as diversity would be seen as the norm.
3. integrative promotion
Integrative support (IF), also known in some cantons as integrative special support, integrated curative education or integrative schooling, is the basic special educational programme offered by primary schools in the form of low-threshold measures. This is offered at all school levels, but mainly in kindergarten and primary school. The target group are children who have difficulties achieving the classroom learning objectives, for example due to a reading and spelling difficulty or minor learning problems in the main subjects.
Integrative support is offered at all school levels, but mainly in kindergarten and primary school.
IF is also used when pupils need additional support with their work and social behaviour. IF does not require a diagnosis and includes therapy programmes such as psychomotor skills or speech therapy, as well as school support integrated into classroom lessons by a special needs teacher. How much time this special needs teacher has for a class depends on the location and varies depending on the canton, but also at local authority level.
4. integrated special education
In the past, children and young people with disabilities attended specialised special schools. Today, integrated special education is used instead where possible: the children go to mainstream school - but they have special school status, which entitles them to enhanced measures, i.e. special educational support.
5. adjustments to learning objectives
Children who do not achieve the learning and support targets for their school level and class can be exempted from these temporarily or in the long term under certain circumstances. In this case, individualised learning objectives are agreed in one or more school subjects. This adjustment of learning objectives is noted in the school report and, depending on its duration and scope, has far-reaching consequences for the child's educational career, particularly with regard to career choices.
In many cantons, adapted learning objectives are considered an enhanced special educational measure and can therefore only be ordered with the involvement of specialists or the school psychology service. Other cantons regard them as a low-threshold measure that does not necessarily require an assessment by specialists. This means that children with learning goal adjustments in three or more school subjects may sit in a mainstream class - and receive no special educational support.
6. compensation for disadvantages
Compensation for disadvantages is intended to contribute to equal opportunities for pupils with and without disabilities. The target group are children and young people whose performance is limited due to an impairment, but who still have the potential to achieve the class objectives according to the curriculum. Compensation for disadvantages adapts their framework conditions in examination situations - in what form depends on the child. This consideration for impairments is intended to ensure that pupils are assessed fairly. However, the class learning objectives continue to apply to children with compensation for disadvantages.
The prerequisite for compensation for disadvantages is a diagnosed impairment that has an impact on school performance. This could be a speech, visual or hearing impairment, a physical disability, a reading or spelling disability or an autism spectrum disorder. Compensation for disadvantages is not noted on the school report.
Our main dossier article on inclusion:
7 Low-threshold measures
See integrative promotion.
8 Separate special education
If it is not possible to support a child with integrated special education due to their impairment, there is the option of separate special education. In this case, children attend specialised special schools or, in rare cases, special school homes that are tailored to their special needs. Based on the school psychologist's assessment and after consulting the parents, in most cantons the school administration or a comparable authority decides whether separate special education is the right solution.
9th special class
Special classes have nothing to do with a special school: they are a regular school offer that is traditionally aimed at children with behavioural problems, learning difficulties or foreign languages. Such small classes, as special classes are called in many cantons, have been abolished in many places in recent years - the target group is now integrated into mainstream classes wherever possible, which are provided with more resources.
Interactive map
The interactive map «Integrative and Separative School Measures» from the Bern University of Teacher Education provides a national overview of the various special educational measures at primary school and their implementation, funding and designation in the individual cantons.
10. special education
The field of special education deals with the development, education and participation of children with special educational needs. Special needs education therefore deals with what is needed in addition to mainstream education in order to adequately support, educate and raise these children.
11 Reinforced measures
Intensified special educational measures are support, counselling and guidance services that pupils with a disability or significant impairment are entitled to. They require a medical diagnosis or a multi-stage assessment procedure by the cantonal school psychology services. They are generally designed for the long term, are resource-intensive and require a high degree of specialisation on the part of the support staff involved. Intensified measures are implemented in specialised special schools or in mainstream schools, where special education specialists and assistants such as classroom assistants support children with disabilities so that they can participate in lessons at mainstream schools.
