Inclusive education seems further away than ever
The number of pupils in special education is now higher than before the introduction of appropriate education. And that while the teacher shortage is highest and teacher training programs often fall short in their offer of special education.
“What is the most expensive dish?”, teacher Marion van der Burg asks her students at De Brug, school for secondary special education (VSO), in Rotterdam, while showing pictures of dishes. “Ew, kidney beans!” a girl responds. A boy slowly points to the salad. "Yes very good. Mixed salad is the most expensive, because vegetables are much more expensive than brown beans.”
'Learning to live as independently as possible' is the motto of the VSO Practical department, aimed at pupils aged twelve to eighteen with a physical and/or mental disability or a chronic illness. There are nine groups of a maximum of twelve students and in principle they move on to sheltered work, daytime activities or further education after six years.
Education in the group is provided by a team of teachers and teaching assistants.
The number of students and the problems are increasing, says teacher Van der Burg, who has enjoyed working there for over 25 years now. “There are also students here with a visual impairment, language development disorder or autism. Actually, we now serve cluster 1, 2 and 3.” At the same time, the staff shortage is increasingly felt, she notes. “Because many colleagues are retiring, a lot of knowledge is lost. And new people are hard to find. We have been without a team leader for some time, there is a long waiting list for the psychologist and now our remedial educationalist is also leaving.”
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Marion van der Burg has been working in VSO for more than 25 years, where the staff shortage is increasing. “Internships in special education are discouraged.”
Worrying
The number of students in the (secondary special education*(Secondary) special education is divided into four clusters: - Cluster 1: blind or visually impaired children - Cluster 2: deaf or hard of hearing children or with a language-speech development disorder - Cluster 3: physically and/or mentally handicapped and long-term ill children - Cluster 4: children with mental disorders and behavioral problems Cluster 3 or 4 are part of the appropriate education partnerships. Clusters 1 and 2 are organized nationally. has been growing for years. For the first time, there are even more pupils in special education than before the introduction of appropriate education in 2014, the Inspectorate noted in its latest annual report. The VSO is still below that, but is showing an upward trend.
Too many schools are still not accessible to students with a physical disability
The Inspectorate is conducting further investigation into the cause of the grow*Special education has 33.608 pupils at 318 schools and VSO 37.998 pupils at 335 schools. In the 2013/2014 school year, there were 31.800 and 39.300 students respectively. Source: Inspectorate, State of Education, school year 2013/14 and 2021/22, but the fact is that this occurs mainly in clusters 3 and 4 and that pupils with extra support needs drop out 'significantly more often' in regular education. The number of (V)SO pupils entering regular education during or at the end of their training also continues to fall. In addition, too many schools are still not accessible to students with a physical disability and the vast majority of schools lack spaces for medical care or for students who want to withdraw for a while. The Inspectorate calls all this 'worrying in the light of the development towards more inclusive education'.
Because inclusive education is what Minister Dennis Wiersma and the House have in mind within fifteen years. The ambition goes further than appropriate education, although the difference is nowhere clearly defined. Eight years after its introduction, there are still many questions about the effect of appropriate education.
The evaluation in 2020 shows that it is impossible to determine whether support for pupils has improved and whether the money is actually going to the right place. There is not even evidence that the number of pupils with extra support needs in mainstream schools has increased. On the other hand, the number of people sitting at home has increased, as has the number of pupils in secondary and secondary education. The minister now wants to speed up the improvement approach and hopes to present a 'roadmap' to inclusive education by the end of this year.
questioned
Meanwhile, teachers have been feeling overwhelmed for years. Time and again they indicate that they do not feel sufficiently equipped to provide appropriate education. “Developing and discussing care plans, meeting the support needs of different students are tasks that many teachers are not trained for. This is not offered on the standard teacher training course, while you will have to deal with it as soon as you start working or do an internship,” says Lucelle Comvalius, teacher trainer at Teachers College at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences.
It is therefore not without reason that the Master's program in Special Educational Needs has been at the top of the most followed courses of teachers who use the Lerarenbeurs for years. Comvalius: “But the teacher training courses themselves should also prepare students better. Inclusive education is a great ideal, but in practice there is still a long way to go.”
Inclusive education is a nice ideal, but in practice there is still a long way to go
The Teachers College where Comvalius teaches takes a different approach and is a combination of teacher training courses in primary and secondary education. Students try both courses, can choose whether to obtain both diplomas. Freshman Mark Hillegers deliberately chose this course because he lost his heart to practical education, where he previously worked as a teaching assistant. “Practical education is on the edge of special education. It is mainly about the personal development of the child instead of the focus on numbers, which appeals to me very much.”
At the Teachers College he gets to know both primary and secondary education. “We also have a say in what we want to learn,” he says enthusiastically. “I think, for example, that appropriate education is not covered enough. I would like to know how you deal with students with special needs and what effect certain medication can have. I have indicated that and now we are going to investigate how we can shape this in the training.”
Creative
At VSO school De Brug, a tall boy is standing on the threshold of the classroom, watching. “Let's take a step back”, says educational supporter Lieke Frederiks cheerfully from the hallway. “Yes, yes, and one more.” “I think these students are fantastic,” she says. “Physically they are teenagers, but mentally they are sometimes just toddlers. This guy prefers to follow me all day if I don't say anything."
If they can't manage inclusive education at primary school, how can they do it at the schools themselves?
She does the teacher training college and she would have given a lot to get the teaching material a little more tailor-made. “For example, I am not allowed to perform a math assignment with my students, because according to the study program that is too difficult. But I don't have students with only a math problem in the class, so I have to be very creative myself to make the assignment fit. I don't learn anything from that. When I hear that we have to move towards inclusive education, I always have to laugh about it. If they can't do that at the teacher training college, how can that be done at the schools themselves?"
Serving PABO students who want to work in special education is indeed complex, acknowledges Rob Baltink, teacher trainer at the academy of pedagogy and education at Saxion. After all, with a PABO diploma, students are authorized to teach in regular education. “The question is whether that will still be possible if we focus the training even more on special education.”
Prospective teachers are insufficiently prepared to deal with students with support needs
Saxion offers various internships in special education and in the fourth year students can opt for a minor Orthopedagogics in behavior and learning with an internship in special education and a lio in special primary education. Saxion Social Work students with the youth profile can also take a minor on education and do an internship in (special) education. After obtaining their bachelor's degree, they can then obtain the PABO in one year. Baltink: “We are also looking into whether it is possible for PABO students to do their secondary education in special education. All in all, I think we offer students plenty of opportunities to prepare for teaching in secondary or secondary education.”
Saxion thus appears to be a forerunner. The assessment of appropriate education from 2020 shows that school leaders consider prospective teachers not yet sufficiently prepared to deal with students with support needs. Adjusting teacher training programs proves difficult. The programs point to overcrowded curricula and limited opportunities for gaining practical experience with appropriate education, such as in special education.
There is no student left who dares to do an internship here
'In the program the focus is mainly on knowledge and attitude; pedagogical and didactic skills must then be further acquired by teachers in practice', the evaluation states. Measure 17 of the improvement approach is aimed at better preparing teachers. The ministry is in talks with the study programs and wants to involve the profession better. There is therefore still no concrete approach and inclusive education seems further away than ever.
Shoulder
While not so long ago an internship in special education was simply compulsory, teacher Van der Burg, who also provides information to teacher training students about, for example, dealing with behaviour. “So it is possible, but doing an internship in special education is even discouraged, I hear from students. There is no more student who dares here. But if you don't know what something is, how can you start serving it in the mainstream? It's like in a bakery. If you only bake bread and you suddenly have to start selling pastries, you will only succeed if you have learned to bake them too. That starts with training. So we have to go back to an all-round teacher who can specialize further if he wants to. How else do we get staff?”
Teacher Lisan Jensma accidentally ended up as a substitute at VSO de Brug. "Inclusive education starts at teacher training."
The teacher shortage is a problem everywhere, according to figures from Centerdata this spring, but in special primary education (13 percent) and (secondary) special education (11 percent) the shortages are greater than in regular primary education (9 percent). Unknown makes unloved, Lisan Jensma knows. She did an academic teacher training course, a master's degree in educational sciences and accidentally ended up as a substitute at vso de Brug. “I was allowed to come and see if it suited me first. "Maybe it scares you a bit," I was told. I didn't really know anything about it, but there was an immediate click."
Students with a manual are great fun, but you have to have time for it
“At the training I did learn about teaching preschoolers and older students,” she continues, “but now I saw for the first time that there can be a difference between cognitive level and age. For example, I was allowed to try the math level of groups 1 and 2 with them, but absolutely not treat them like small children. I learned all about this in practice here.”
“What makes it fun? Do you have a minute?” asks the teacher who teaches English, among other things. “I get to bake cupcakes here, play games and joke around like a stand-up comedian all day and they're all laughing too. How delicious is that?! But I think the best thing is that you see them blossom as soon as you take them seriously and give them responsibility. That makes them happy and so do I.”
She welcomes inclusive education. “It is really nice to have students with a manual in the classroom, but you have to have all the time and space for it. Inclusive education also starts with teacher training. If you pretend these children don't exist by not paying attention to them, they become even more alienated from society. Special education has a negative image because people do not know it. While everyone who works here never wants to leave.”
AOb: 'It will never work without support'
De AOb fears that the improvement approach will not change anything substantial in the classroom and does not think the minister's inclusion ambition is realistic. “Due to the shortages and high work pressure, teachers are in survival mode,” says AOb- director Thijs Roovers. “First the basics must be in order: smaller classes, sufficiently qualified colleagues, extra hands in the classroom and expertise at school level. The minister completely ignores the problems and concerns of the teachers, while he will never achieve that ambition without support.”
Also read: Minister wants to speed up appropriate education
