On Friday, December 31st, we have the opportunity to see "the ball drop" in every time zone around the world. Perhaps at no other time except during the Olympics is there such a feeling of global unity and camaraderie as on New Year's Eve. In honor of this collective experience, I decided to take some time to research how four other countries are working with special needs kids.Australia
According to the Aussie Educator website, it sounds like their approach to special education is remarkably similar to the U.S. approach. They even have contractual documents called Individual Education Plans (IEPs) like we do, and offer the same range of educational placements--from accommodation within a regular ed classroom to specialized schools with small class sizes.
Mexico
Special education wasn't codified into law until 1993 in Mexico, which considers mainstreaming to be the preferred approach to educating students with special needs. If students do not succeed in the regular ed classroom, even with the help of a special education assistant, then they are sometimes moved to an alternative environment. One interesting difference is that Mexican educational law does not yet recognize learning or reading disabilities.
Japan
Currently, Japan seems to be calling their special education program "special supportive education" instead. They utilize Individual Teaching Plans, similar to our IEPs, and similar to Mexico they have had a big push toward inclusion in regular education classrooms, against the advisement of some of the higher-ups in the educational ministry, who feel that providing special schools is still necessary for some students. The Japanese government funds a significant amount of research and teacher training in the area of special education.
Germany
In Germany, schools for students with special needs are called Sonderschulen. The general focus, like in so many countries, is to mitigate the child's challenges sufficiently to be able to return them to the regular ed program. The EU system of extra support for special needs students is quite extensive, beginning in pre-school. One distinction of note is that they categorize dyslexia and other learning disabilities related to reading and writing as "temporary learning difficulties."
I will refrain from randomly choosing more countries to research because it appears we have established the general trends, but if I have piqued your interest in this subject it is very easy for you to continue your own exploration. Please let me know if there are any other specific special education-related topics that you want me to cover.
Some books you may want to check out:
