ot enough to guarantee the appropriate specific support and development for disabled pupils. Within the compulsory school age phase, there is a differentiated system of special schools. On one hand, this has been an advantage for mainstream schools, because pupils with difficulties and learning problems had their own school to ensure their specials educational needs. On the other hand the severely and multiply disabled children had as a result of this process of differentiation the right to education in special schools.
Today there is an agreement on aims of schooling. School and any necessary special educational support have the aim of integration of disabled children and adults in professional life and society. However, there are different positions in the different Länder in terms of if the aim of integration to professional life and society should be reached via a special school or in a general school with disabled and non disabled together.
With these different meanings of the key term of integration - integration as aim, or integration as way and aim - a lot of policy discussions arises. Several Länder have begun a trial period with integration models of experiments in mainstream schools or outside special schools. Some of them give priority to integration with the same curriculum, some of them with an adapted or differentiated curriculum. Within this position a necessary framework of decisions, according to the place of special educational support, the organisation or the use of resources is connected.
Since 1960 the situation of special education has been directed by "Expert Opinion in order (Rules) to the Special Education System" by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, the KMK. Within the process and discussion about SEN, this Conference has drawn up a consequent directive of educational development (1988). The system of special education should be more flexible - it is not any longer necessary to stipulate/commit the place of SEN, the arguments are not any longer institution orientated. The way and the place of special support depends on categories with regard to personal conditions. In this case the terminology of "Needs for Special School" ("Sonderschulbedürftigkeit") has changed to "Special Educational Needs" ("sonderpädagogischer Förderbedarf").
Within the 16 Länder different times were taken to organise school projects for the integration of children with and without disabilities. It took another 15 years until the first Land (Saarland in 1988) established integration as a part of the school-law, which meant that integration had a regular status. Schleswig-Holstein followed together with Berlin in 1990. This pattern has continued during the following years.
In 1994, the KMK passed recommendations for special educational needs for all schools in Germany. Recommendations only can be passed by full agreement of all 16 Ministers. Due to this, it was a special event in the development in Germany. For the first time all Länder agreed that prevention, integration and education in special schools is a task of special needs education.
From 1996 until2000 the KMK has developed recommendations fort he following issues of special educational needs support:
- Erziehung und Unterricht von Kindern mit autistischem Verhalten
- Education of Children with autism
- Förderschwerpunkt emotionale und soziale Entwicklung
- SEN-support emitional and social developments
- Förderschwerpunkt Lernen
- SEN-support learning
- Förderschwerpunkt Sprache
- SEN Support language and speech
- Förderschwerpunkt Sehen
- SEN support vison
- Förderschwerpunkt Hören
- SEN-support hearing
- Förderschwerpunkt Unterricht kranker Schülerinnen und Schüler
- SEN support fort he sick pupils
- Förderschwerpunkt körperliche und motorische Entwicklung
- SEN support physical and motor development
- Förderschwerpunkt geistige Entwicklung.
- SEN-support mental development
- Many pupils with special educational needs are integrated in mainstream schools - especially in primary schools -