Inclusion of Ukrainian children with special needs in Germany

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Ivan Franko National University of Lviv,

Leibniz University of Hannover

Inclusion of Ukrainian children with special needs in Germany

Olha Fert

Lviv

Hannover, Germany

Abstract

Today, in the context of the war in Ukraine, more and more Ukrainian refugees are seeking refuge in European countries, and a significant number of Ukrainians are temporarily staying in Germany. As of April 2023, 205,000 children and young people from Ukraine are integrated into the German education system. The purpose of the article is to explore the main difficulties associated with the inclusion of children with special needs in the German education system. For coping with this huge and complicated problem, we should develop some strategies for teachers and parents to make them understand the causes of the main difficulties; also we should give them instruments to improve current situation and minimize maladaptation in the future. The first step for all these purposes is to analyze the near future: explore the main challenges for Ukrainian refugees in the German education system and analyze the prospects for efficient inclusion of this group of students into German education institutions. In the course of the study, based on the results of a survey of parents of children with special needs, the main challenges for children with special needs and their parents when integrating into German society were recognized. They are conditions of chronic stress, language barrier, and difficulties with integration into peer groups. As for the school environment, the main problems are the lack of Ukrainian-speaking teachers and insufficient attention of the teaching staff. Strengthening special support for children in the educational environment is also desirable. The processes of comprehensive integration of Ukrainian refugees into both educational and social environments require further study, because most of the problems faced by children with disabilities and their parents in Germany are also characteristic of the wider refugee population from Ukraine in Europe.

Keywords: Ukrainian refugees, inclusion, children with special needs, German education system.

Introduction

According to the current geopolitical situation there are a lot of new refugees in Europe because of the war in Ukraine. This is the newest challenge in the modern history. According to the Ministry of Education, by mid-May 2022, about 11.0 students who had fled from Ukraine were admitted to schools in Lower Saxony (NDR, 2022). By the beginning of September, 172.787 children and youth from Ukraine were admitted to general education and vocational schools in Germany (Das Deutsche Schulportal, 2022) in April 2023 this figure reached 205,0 students.

Presenting main material

The educational system in Ukraine has its own peculiarities, the structure of the educational process is different in Ukraine on the level of organization of the education, programs, and legislation, that is because Ukraine has the heritage from the former Soviet educational system, an impossibility of enough free and flexible planning. One of the problems of inclusive education is the establishment of relationships between children with psycho-physical disabilities and peers with typical development in the inclusive class (Siniov, Fert, 2021).

From the other side, due to the reforms in the sphere of the educational policy there are positive changes in the organization of inclusive education during the last decade. One of the most difficult aspects of this problem is finding ways and means to overcome obstacles in the student's interaction with the class. The work of many scientists is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of mutual relations in the team (Vettese, Dyer, Li, Wekerle, 2011).

Furthermore, Ukrainian refugees are psychologically traumatized, many of them were witnesses of military actions, also, they have stress because of the different social environment and difficulties associated with a language barrier. Positive relationships are also an important part of successful interventions targeting social-emotional behaviors at school (Taal, Ekels, van der Valk, van der Molen, 2017). It is important to avoid physical and mental health impairment caused by stress (S0rlie, Hagen, Nordahl, 2020).

In this context very important is to explore the main challenges and causes of them for Ukrainian refugees in the German educational system on psychological, social, and educational levels, because these spheres are very closely related: to analyze the prospective of the efficient inclusion of Ukrainian refugee students into the German educational system.

Method. In our research we used the method of Face-to-face interviews: synchronous communication of time and place. Due to this synchronous communication, as no other interview method FtF interviews can take its advantage of social cues. Social cues, such as voice, intonation, body language etc. of the interviewee can give the interviewer a lot of extra information that can be added to the verbal answer of the interviewee on a question (Opdenakker, 2006). Also we used the two section questionnaire to recognize the main general needs in inclusion of children with disabilities and psychological and academic needs of children. ukrainian refuge germany special children

Participants. The most complex problem is the integration of children with special needs into the German educational system. We found out the main difficulties faced by parents of children with disabilities when moving to Germany. For this purpose, we surveyed a group of parents of 3-6 years children with neurodevelopmental disorders - autism spectrum disorders, intellectual and behavioral disorders (12 respondents). All the children attend kindergartens and schools in Germany, Lower Saxony.

Data Collection Tool

* The following questions were asked during the interview:

1. How do you evaluate your psychological state?

2. What main difficulties of adaptation do you and your child experience?

3. How does the process of socialization of the child go on in the conditions of the educational environment?

4. Is there enough correctional support for the child in the educational environment and outside of school hours?

• Questionary for the parents consisted of two sections and 8 indicators.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Table

The results of parents questionnaire

The results have also shown that a great proportion of the participants (93,33 %) thinks that teachers should note the importance of socialization, communication and language, and behavioral needs for children in the classroom.

Conclusions

It goes without saying, that each refugee is an object of inclusion in the present circumstances. The psychological well-being of refugee children is also low compared to other children living in Germany (Ifo-institute, 2022). Especially the process of inclusion is difficult for children and the most difficult for children with disabilities and special educational needs.

For coping with this huge and complicated problem, we should develop some strategies for teachers and parents to make them understand the reasons of the main difficulties, also we should give them instruments to improve current situation and minimize inadaptation in the future, The first step for all these purposes is analyzing the nearest prospective. exploring the main challenges for Ukrainian refugees in the German educational system and analyze the prospective of efficient inclusion these group of children into German educational institutions.

In conclusion, the main challenges for children with special needs and their parents when integrating into German society are conditions of chronic stress, language barriers, and difficulties with integration into peer groups. As for the school environment, the main challenges are the lack of Ukrainian-speaking teachers and insufficient attention of the teaching staff to the processes of socialization, integration and behavioral characteristics of children. Strengthening special support for children in the educational environment is also desirable.

The processes of comprehensive integration of Ukrainian refugees into both educational and social environments require further study, most of the problems faced by children with disabilities and their parents are also characteristic of the wider refugee population from Ukraine in Europe.

References

1. Das Deutsche Schulportal. (2022). https://deutsches- schulportal.de/ bildungswesen/ukraine-wie-schulen-gefluechtete-kinder-aufnehmen/

2. German Commission for UNESCO. (2022). https://www.unesco.de/en/education/inclusive-education

3. Ifo-Institut. (2022). News4Teachers. Das Bildungmagazin https://www.news4teachers.de/2022/08/ifo-institut-ukrainische-kinder-haben-gute- chancen-im-deutschen-schulsystem-aber/

4. Opdenakker, R. (2006). Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research. Forum: Qualitative Social Research Sozialforschung, Vol. 7, (4).

5. S0rlie, M., Hagen, K., Nordahl, K. (2020). Development of social skills during middle childhood: Growth trajectories and school-related predictors. Intern. Jour. of School & Educational Psychology . DOI: 10.1080/ 21683603. 2020. 1744492

6. Siniov, V., Fert, O. (2021). Influence of Self-Esteem on Relationships in Inclusive Educational Environment. Koninskie Studia Spoleczno-Ekonomiczne/ Konin. Poland, (7)2.

7. Taal, M., Ekels, E., van der Valk, C., van der Molen, M. (2017). Intervention integrity in the Low Countries: Interventions targeting social- emotional behaviors in the school, International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 5(2), 88-99. DOI: 10.1080/21683603.2016.1191399

8. Vettese, L. C., Dyer, C. E., Li, W. L., Wekerle, C. (2011). Does selfcompassion mitigate the association between childhood maltreatment and later emotion regulation difficulties? A preliminary investigation. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, 9, 480-491.

9. Werning, R. (2014). Stichwort: Schulische Inklusion. Z Erziehungswiss, (17), 601-623. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-014-0581-7

Анотація

Інклюзія українських дітей з особливими потребами у Німеччині

Ольга Ферт

Львівський національний університет імені Івана Франка, Львів,

Університет Ляйбніца в Ганновері, Ганновер, Німеччина,

Сьогодні в умовах війни в Україні все більше українських біженців знаходять прихисток у країнах Європи, значна кількість українців тимчасово перебуває у Німеччині. За даними на квітень 2023 р., 205 тис. дітей та молоді з України інтегрують у німецьку систему освіти. Особливим викликом є інклюзія дітей з особливими освітніми потребами у Німеччині та в інших країнах Європи. У статті проаналізовано актуальний стан та основні виклики, повязані з інтеграцією українців у Німеччині.

Для того, щоб впоратися з цією величезною і складною проблемою, ми повинні розробити певні стратегії для вчителів і батьків, щоб допомогти їм зрозуміти причини основних труднощів, а також дати їм інструменти для поліпшення поточної ситуації і мінімізації дезадаптації у майбутньому. Першим кроком для всіх цих цілей є аналіз найближчої перспективи, дослідження головних проблем українських біженців у німецькій освітній системі та аналіз перспектив ефективного включення цієї групи дітей до німецьких освітніх установ.

Мета статті - дослідити основні труднощі в інклюзії дітей з особливими потребами в німецькій системі освіти. Під час дослідження (за результатами опитування батьків дітей з особливими потребами) було виявлено, що основними викликами для дітей та їхніх батьків при інтеграції в німецьке суспільство є умови хронічного стресу, мовний бар'єр та труднощі з інтеграцією в групі однолітків. Що стосується шкільного середовища, то головними проблемами є брак україномовних учителів та недостатня увага педагогічного колективу до процесів соціалізації, інтеграції та поведінкових особливостей дітей. Також бажаним є посилення спеціальної підтримки дітей у освітньому середовищі. Подальшого вивчення потребують процеси комплексної інтеграції українських біженців як в освітнє, так і в соціальне середовище, оскільки більшість проблем, з якими стикаються діти з інвалідністю та їхні батьки у Німеччині, характерні й для ширшого контингенту біженців з України у Європі.

Ключові слова: українські біженці, інклюзія, діти з особливими потребами, німецька система освіти.

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