Co-educational learning in RLP: A mere 25% of teachers presently advocate for mixed-gender education settings.
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While it's generally agreed that children with disabilities should be educational equals, a recent survey in Rhineland-Palatinate reveals a chasm between claim and reality in inclusive education.
According to a survey by Forsa, commissioned by the Association of Education and Education (VBE), only 24 percent of teachers in Rhineland-Palatinate consider teaching integrated classes practical under the current conditions. This underscores a significant unhappiness with the Rhineland-Palatinate's inclusion policy.
Although 58 percent of all teachers voiced support for inclusive education in principle, they require financial and personnel resources to ensure its success. However, it seems these resources are not always available.
Pros and Cons of Inclusive Education
When asked about the benefits of inclusive education, teachers most frequently cited learning from and with one another (31%). The promotion of tolerance (26%) and integration (23%) of students with disabilities were also commonly mentioned as benefits. One-fifth of teachers highlighted the reduction of fears and prejudices and the promotion of social skills.
The primary argument against inclusive education in Rhineland-Palatinate is the insufficient framework conditions: The lack of specialist staff (39%) and inadequate material equipment (22%) are the top concerns.
Teachers express concerns that general schools cannot meet the increased support needs of children with disabilities (18%) and that non-disabled students might be disadvantaged (16%). About one in ten teachers believe that both groups cannot be individually supported (13%), and that children with disabilities may be overwhelmed in regular school and experience frustration (11%).
Few New Inclusive Learning Groups Being Created
Only half of schools have inclusive learning groups, with most having been in place for more than six years. Sadly, only 4% of new inclusive learning groups have been established in the past two years.
Inclusive classes in Rhineland-Palatinate typically have an average of 21 children, with 3.5 children on average having special educational needs. This means that, for the most part, inclusive classes are the same size as non-inclusive classes according to the teachers.
Teachers leading inclusive classes feel largely unprepared for their teaching role, with 73% stating they had only a few weeks to prepare for inclusive teaching – 27% had just one week or less. Moreover, over half of these teachers had limited or no experience in co-teaching.
The lack of preparation for inclusive teaching in schools in Rhineland-Palatinate is also reflected in the participation in further training, with 76% of teachers with students with and without disabilities stating that inclusion was not part of their training.
From the perspective of the surveyed teachers, over half of those leading inclusive classes are not knowledgeable about special education. 42% say that this is at least partially the case.
Support from specialist staff may not always be available for teachers. Double staffing with special education teachers is only guaranteed in five percent of schools. Support from specialist staff is at least possible at 72% of schools, but in a quarter of cases, teachers of inclusive classes do not receive any support from their special education counterparts.
Rhineland-Palatinate schools lack multiprofessional teams, with 64% reporting that there is no such team at their school (compared to the national average of 49%). Around two-thirds of teachers state that at least one social pedagogical specialist is available at their school. However, support is usually only available on selected days.
When asked about their assessment of the inclusion policy of the Rhineland-Palatinate government, 80% of teachers are overall dissatisfied.
Despite the school law stating that inclusive teaching is a general educational task, schools in Rhineland-Palatinate seem far from successfully implementing this task.
Lars Lamowski, state chairman of the VBE Rhineland-Palatinate, comments on the results: "We see that teachers want to facilitate inclusion, but the conditions are not right. Classes are too large, the time for preparation is too short, and for 75% of teachers, inclusion was not part of their training. Urgently, catch-up measures are needed."
Structural changes in the education system are necessary to deploy multiprofessional teams on a large scale, as well as more qualified specialist personnel, double staffing of teachers and special education teachers in inclusive classes as the norm, and appropriate class sizes to ensure individual support. Improvements to the Inclusion Regulation and preserving special education schools are also suggested by the VBE, along with including inclusion as a central component of the training and further education of teachers.
- Teachers emphasize the benefits of inclusive education, including learning from and with one another (31%), promotion of tolerance (26%), and integration (23%) of students with disabilities, reduction of fears and prejudices, and promotion of social skills (20%).
- A lack of financial and personnel resources, not getting the required support from specialist staff, and insufficient training for teachers leading inclusive classes are major concerns hindering career development and personal growth through skills training in inclusive education.
