Integration class
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The document discusses the integration class program at a primary school in Greece that aims to support students with special educational needs. It provides an overview of the program's history, goals of supporting student development and inclusion, teaching approaches, and collaboration with teachers and parents. However, it notes that Greece faces challenges in fully supporting special education due to decreased funding, lack of public support services, and school infrastructure issues that limit inclusion for all students.
Integration class
- 1. Integration Class 2nd Primary School of Sykies A structure of special education in the general classic school which aims to give place and the same opportunities to all students.
- 2. Institutionalization • 1984 special classes were founded in General School with the trend to include children with learning difficulties or special educational needs. • The evolution of these classes is the Integration Class at the most schools in the towns and less in small places of our country.
- 3. Other accession structures in the general school • Since 2004 there are programs of Simultaneous or Parallel Support (inclusive) in class mainly for autistic students. There is such a case in our school. • Since 2013 for students with s.e.n. who cannot be served by themselves there is the opportunity to attend a typical class with the help of Special Staff. • Teaching at home because of health problems for a particular time.
- 4. Scientific direction-diagnosis • The scientific, pedagogical and teaching directions are given to the S. E. teachers by the School Advisor of Special Education. • Students attend the I. C. either after they have been diagnosed by the State Diagnostic Entity service or • without diagnosis, just with reference of the typical class teacher, • parents’ request and • the Special Education School Advisor’s agreement.
- 5. The Integration Class aims • the support to develop all the abilities of their personality • the attendance and adaptation to the curriculum of their class according to their capabilities, skills and personalized learning needs. • the acceptance and respect of students with learning difficulties • their accession - integration into the class level and the group of their classmates • The development of learning incentives, • The development of communication skills, • feelings conception, • self-confidence and acceptance, • solidarity, • social interaction of students with the aim of equitable social development and co-existence.
- 6. Aattendance - number of Pupils In the I.C. attend: • pupils with disabilities mental disability, physical disabilities, disorders in Speech, specific learning difficulties, dyslexia, attention deficit with or without hyperactivity, autism, • only for some hours (up to 15 hours) per week. • up to 12 students. The number is not stable. • The attendance is organized in small groups of 2-3 pupils with similar difficulties and nearby age. • Otherwise, we work with each student separately depending on the difficulty and disability of each one.
- 7. Attendance • In this class attend students with autism, Asperger, speech problems, learning disabilities and of low school record. • During the school year the hours of attendance and the program of educational intervention are redefined, for the release of the students from the I. C. and their complete training and attendance in typical class. • When they graduate we cooperate with the teachers in the secondary school and inform them about their specific learning needs.
- 8. Informal-educational evaluationtraining program • The teacher of I.C. makes an informal educational assessment taking into account both the suggestions of the typical class teacher and the diagnosis by the state diagnostic • In cooperation with the typical class teacher, according to the educational evaluation and the suggestion of the Diagnostic Services (KEDDY) are defined and planned the Educational targets and the specialized program for the student.
- 9. Teaching Interventions • The educational intervention refers to the specific difficulties of students, reading or spelling difficulties, grammar difficulties or difficulties in writing skills and mathematics. • The Special teacher teaches: • Cognitive and metacognitive strategies of knowledge management and problem solving. • Social skills: Development of communication skills, cooperation and play in team games, dialogue and a topic analysis. • Organizing emotions: • Acceptance of difficulties and development of positive attitude about school and classmates. • Growth of intensives for learning and working in peers. • Development of self-confidence and autonomy. • Management of emotions through social stories. • makes and uses visual material such as sticks, cubes, flashcards, magnetic material, plasticine, books, computer, software, coins, banknotes. e.t.c.
- 10. Collaboration with teachers • The special teacher in cooperation with the typical class teachers, • we modify and differentiate or individualize our teaching activities and school subjects in order to be accessible and not tiring to students with disabilities and in also our teaching intervential to be efficient. • As teachers we aim the use of ecosystemic approach in relation both to the group of the class and the families of our students.
- 11. "A school for all children" ....in action • We give emphasis on programmes and activities that highlight the principles of acceptance, diversity, antiracism education and eliminate discrimination. • For example, last year we worked on an annual program in classes which was attended by students with autism and other difficulties. The title of the project was “The difference through Tales and the Aesop’s Fables”. • The special teacher accompanies the student and supports him to educational visits, teaching and group activities, to the theatre and others.
- 12. Interventions during the break Depending on the difficulty of each case we modify the conditions of the surroundings where students with autism mainly when they are especially sensitive, play in a quiet place and be able to cooperate and play in a small group of classmates, for example in a quiet corner of the ground floor under the supervision of the special teacher or the teacher on duty.
- 13. Cooperation with parents • On appointments with parents we talk about the special characteristics and the personality of each student or about children’s problems that occur at home and cannot be recorded on the informal assessment in the Integration Class. • Also, parents are informed about the learning assessment in special class. • We explain to their parents that the main objective of support in special class is to follow the typical class curriculum, differentiated, modified and personalized. • We work teachers and parents together to help students at home in simple ways, with social development activities outside school, for independence, a common strategy against negative behaviour, choice of the current learning goals and choice of educational activities so to avoid pressure and to have effective results from the educational intervention.
- 14. Parents' Expectations The problem we often face is the importance the parents give to respond their child to the demands of the curriculum of school subjects underestimating the very individual needs of the disabled children.
- 15. General Observations - Suggestions • Our country having signed all the international declarations and conventions on the rights of children with s.e.n., unfortunately, neither in the past nor in the present the appropriate importance is given to special education and training of students with s.e.n., nor they are treated in a similar way with general class.
- 16. NSRF and education • In recent years, special education and public education as a whole is reconfigured under the orders of the EU. The state is reducing public funding to schools and almost entirely special education passes on funding from European programs (National Strategic Reference Framework). • The right of children with difficulties for stable public education stops being right and converted into service-commodity. Their training is implemented without continuity, duration and stability. It starts in the middle of October and ends with the end of the school year. • The parallel support (inclusion) and many integration classes have not started yet although the school year began on September 11, while supporting our school started on 7 October.
- 17. Financial crisis and education • The current economic crisis experienced by the Greek society affects the public health, the education and special education because of the steadily funding decrease from the state. • As a result public school is not supported any longer or the school structures and infrastructures based on modern educational needs of our students are not developed.
- 18. The "right to education" does not apply to all children • Neither in the past nor today, unfortunately, all students with s.e.n. cannot be educated in public schools. • Many students are in structures of the Ministry of Health or • various private institutions.
- 19. Lack of public support services • In the public school there are not support services and staff that our students need, such as school psychologists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, etc. • Their families also need additional psychological or counselling and psycho-educational support on a systematic and consistent basis but these services are not offered enough or are not offered at all by a public entity. • Parents look for a private sector with a minimum coverage from their insurance fund, if they work, and if they are unemployed then there is no provision for the child with s.e.n.
- 20. KEDDY .... eliminated with staff shortage • KEDDY, the public educational institution responsible for diagnosing and supporting pupils with s.e.n. today is understaffed and it can not respond in time to parents and teachers requests to collaborate and support the students.
- 21. Inclusion, yes! But what about structure? • Facilities in our schools are not appropriate or adapted to respond to longstanding demand for a school that stands for all children, without discrimination. e.g. • the Class of Integration, in many cases is a very small space, there are no libraries, event rooms, utility rooms, didactic material, etc.).
- 22. Fusions and abolitions • The class fusion and abolition at schools lead to an increase of students in classrooms (25 to 27 students for a teacher) and the needs of students become more, especially for students with learning difficulties, for foreign students, students with widely different educational and social cultural origin, etc. • So the class teacher can not devote extra time for these students.
- 23. Chasing … the syllabus! • The curriculum is given by the Ministry of Education without taking in account the suggestion teachers make. • They do not correspond to the perceptiveness of the average student and besides students are getting tired and they are discouraged by the learning process. • Teachers feel stressful by the present time and it is like the syllabus is “chasing” them.
- 24. Pupil ... the hardest worker • Teaching schedule from 8:00 am – 2:00 pm with 7 educational hours a day, every day and • 9 up to 13 different subjects a week it is exhausting especially for the students with difficulties.
- 25. Competition…and “marks hunt” • Greek school is competitive and getting good marks is of great importance. • The school program is constructed by consecutive testing. • This causes stress and feelings of disadvantage and low self-esteem to our students. • Students come to a point of a classification and marginalization or exclusion. • The proclamation “a school for all children” has no meaning in a competitive and intensive environment, especially for disabled students.
- 26. The future of education is precarious work? • The increase in elastic and insecure or precarious work for new teachers causes serious survival problems.
- 27. Educational policy ... fragmented, without continuity, duration, stability • There is really a long way to make “a school for all children” but the policy applied in education is not successive and it has no duration and stability. • On the contrary, teachers and parents will not quit struggling together for our students’ rights.
- 28. I was left Again with no bus Again with no teacher Again with no school 04/10/2013, Demonstration for the deficiencies in special education in Athens
- 29. Much more to be done • We have tried to give you a spherical idea about the evolutions and the targets for “A school for all children and teachers” in public school. • We know that in practice there is need of much more to be done.
- 30. Symbolic play
- 31. Games during the break
- 32. Education in the Integration class
- 33. Multiplication
- 34. Maths games
- 35. We decorate and this class
- 36. All together ... against any kind of violence
- 37. I, you, we ... for all children • We believe that the experiences of teachers from different countries, cooperation and exchange of ideas among them are all necessary in order to build a school together that will be democratic, inclusive, collaborative and supportive for the educational rights of all our children.