Challenges of inclusive education

1. Challenges of inclusive education Sarah Wieckert Institute for General Didactics and School Pedagogy (IADS) Technical University of Dortmund, Germany

2. Outline • Introduction – German School System • Theoretical Framework • Research Questions • Methodology / Research Design • First Results

3. 1.Introduction - German School System Sarah Wieckert | ICET 2011, Glasgow

4. German School System • Segregation into different school types after four to six years of primary or special school • Grammar school, secondary school, comprehensive school, special school,... • Subdivision of special schools into different kinds of special needs: • Emotional and social development • Hearing • Learning • Mental development • Physical development • Speaking • Vision

5. School System of North Rhine-Westphalia

6. Places of schooling for children with special needs • Regular school • Special classes • Special school

7. Decision about place of schooling • Expert opinions of regular school and special school teachers • Observations of school lessons, intelligence tests, school achievement tests, medical report, observations of the parents  Decision of the education authority together with the parents

8. Regular school Concerning vision: Support through a special school teacher for 2 to 3 hours per week (arrangement of the workplace, decision about aids, didactical concepts)

9. Demands on schooling children with special needsin regular schools • Development of a pedagogical culture of enhancing learning and educational guidance • Arrangement of learning and development conducive living environments in school for the students in their diversity (cf. learn-line.nrw.de)

10. Significance of the work • Inclusive schooling being the choice for the future in Germany • Heterogeneity in every school class • Lack of research in this field so far  study as a basis for further research

11. 2. Theoretical Framework Sarah Wieckert | ICET 2011, Glasgow

12. Theoretical Framework • Multidimensional self-concept model of Shavelson, Hubner und Stanton (1976) • “mathe 2000”-project (cf. Wittmann 2003) • Discourse on education (cf. Schnell/Sander 2004)

13. Self-concept • Contains the declarative knowledge about a person’s individual competences and self (cf. Helmke 1992, 20) • Self-evaluation on the other hand contains an either positive or negative estimation of the self

14. Multidimensional self-concept model of Shavelson, Hubner und Stanton (1976)

15. Current research • Encouragement of the development of a realistic self-concept of the children as one aim of teaching (cf. Beutel/Hinz 2008; Kammermeyer/Martschinke 2003; Krause/Wiesmann/Hannich 2004; Prücher 2002) • Knowing about strengths and weaknesses working on the competences, which need to be improved, more effectively

16. Instruction of Mathematics in school Leading principles • Exploratory learning • Suggestive exercises (thinking in varied ways) • Use of efficient tasks • Interconnectedness of different display formats • Practice and structure orientation (cf. Lehrplan Mathematik für die Grundschulen des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen 2006, 5)

17. Children with visual impairment Medical classification • Broader unilateral restriction of the vision (1. eye minimum 1,0; 2. eye 0,3 and less – visual acuity) • Moderate bilateral restriction of the vision (1. eye 0,7 - 0,4; 2. eye 0,7 - 0,4) • Visual impairment (1. eye 0,3 - 0,067; 2. eye: 0,3 and less) • High-grade visual impairment (1. eye: 0,05 - 0,03; 2. eye: 0,05 and less) • Blindness or blindness equally visual impairment (on the better eye 0,02 and less) (cf. Rath 1987, 19)

18. Children with visual impairment Pedagogical classification • “Children and adolescents with blindness cannot or only in a very limited way learn on the basis of visual impressions. They assimilate information of the environment especially through hearing and sense of touch as well as through the senses of the skin, smell and taste […]“ • “Children and adolescents with visual impairment can use their limited vision. They need special aids in many situations. They require specific guidance, special needs and technical aids. This may be necessary also in the context of visual impairments of minor extensity like impairments of the vision on both eyes or one-sided impairments.“ (Drave/Rumpler/Wachtel 2000, 179)

19. Children with visual impairment Central questions • Does the student work/play more with tactile or visual offered materials? • Which distance chooses the student to the material? • Does the student recognize characters? • Which kind of enlargement is necessary for the student to be able to work efficiently? • How long can the student work with tactile or visual offered materials? • Which spacial conditions must be created? • Has there been a change in vision during a certain period of time? (cf. Csocsán 2003, 10)

20. 3. Research Questions Sarah Wieckert | ICET 2011, Glasgow

21. Research Questions • Does the academic self-concept concerning mathematical competences of children with visual impairment correspond with their actual mathematical knowledge and is there a difference to the self-concept of children without visual impairment? • Which methodology of instruction does the teacher use and which subjective theories stand behind it?

22. 4.Methodology / Research Design Sarah Wieckert | ICET 2011, Glasgow

23. Sample • Participation of five first-grade classes in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (in Bonn, Dortmund, Meckenheim, Niederkassel and Siegburg) • 94 students and 5 teachers

24. Research Design • Qualitative study • Survey of the academic self-concept concerning mathematical competences of children with visual impairment, who learn in inclusive classes • Survey of the self-concept and mathematical competences of children without visual impairment, who are taught in the same class as the children with visual impairment • Survey of the teachers‘ point of view

25. Methodological Approach Three times of data collection (at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of first-grade) • Interviews with survey participants with regard to the self-concept as well as evaluation of the skill level with reference to mathematical competences • Attendance at maths lessons • Interviews with the teachers about their subjective theories concerning their professional proceeding

26. Methodological Approach • Development of field manuals as well as • Tests for the collection of the mathematical skill level for the three times of data collection

27. 5.First Results Sarah Wieckert | ICET 2011, Glasgow

28. First Results • No significant difference in the self-concept development of children with and without visual impairment • Positive effects of activities which encourage children to rate their competences on their own • Teachers focus on the individuality of each of the students in their classes more than just on the children with special needs  inclusive view as practical guidance; differentiation of exercises, learning aids, etc. as effective way of coping with heterogeneity

29. Thank you for your attention! Contact: Sarah Wieckert sarah.wieckert@tu-dortmund.de Institute for General Didactics and School Pedagogy (IADS) Technical University of Dortmund, Germany Sarah Wieckert | ICET 2011, Glasgow