Dyslexia in Germany—An Educational Policy for Meeting Dyslexic Children’s Needs in the German School System
Dyslexia in Germany—An
Educational Policy for Meeting
Dyslexic Children’s Needs in the
German School System
Lisa Dummer-Smoch
Hannover, Germany
A brief account is given of the German educational system. This is followed by a section entitled ‘Research findings as the basis for an overall picture’. Four measures aimed at helping dyslexic and other pupils are then advocated, viz.: (i) diagnostic procedures; (ii) specialized help for those who are failing; (iii) the waiving of penalties for poor spelling in written school work; (iv) the inclusion of dyslexia as a subject in the training and advanced training of teachers. These ideas are already put into practice in some parts of
Germany, but need to be adopted more widely. 1998 John Wiley
& Sons, Ltd.
Dyslexia 4: 63–72 (1998)
Keywords: reading; spelling; early recognition; special methods; finger signs (Lautgebarden); teacher training
INTRODUCTION: AN OUTLINE OF THE GERMAN EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM
C
hildren in Germany enter school at about 6 years of age. The primary school runs from the first to the fourth grade. All children attend primary schools except learning disabled children (IQ 80 or lower), who go to schools for the learning disabled. Secondary schools begin with the fifth grade. There are three different streams. They are: (i) Hauptschule, a type of secondary school, level I (grades
5–9), which pupils leave at the age of 15 to go into apprenticeships and practical jobs;
(ii) Realschule, a type of secondary school, level I (grades 5–10), which pupils leave at the age of 16 to enter better paid jobs such as clerks, technicians or skilled workers;
(iii) Gymnasium, a type of secondary school, levels I (grades 5–10) and II (grades
11–13), which pupils leave after grade 13, at the age of 19 or 20, qualified by the
Abitur (the final examination in the gymnasium) to go to university. There are also comprehensive schools, where the pupils can attend one of the three streams
References: Biscaldi, M. and Fischer, B. (1993) Saccadic eye movements of dyslexic children in non-cognitive tasks Breuer, H. and Weuffen, M. (1993) Lernschwierigkeiten am Schulanfang. Weinheim: Beltz Verlag. Dummer-Smoch, L. (1993) Diagnostische Bilderliste-F. Kiel: Veris Verlag. Esser, G. and Wurm-Dinse, U. (1994) Fehlhörigkeit, Sprachwahrnehmungsstörungen und LRS—Zusammenhänge? In Bundesverband Legasthenie (Ed.), Legasthenie Galaburda, A.M. (1983) Developmental dyslexia: current anatomical research. Annals of Dyslexia, 33, 41–53. Galaburda, A.M. (1985) Dyslexia—a review of biological functions. Annals of Dyslexia, 35, 21–33. Linder, M. and Grissemann, H. (1986) Zürcher Lesetest. Bern: Verlag Hans Huber. Dyslexia 4: 63–72 (1998)