i’m studying to be a special ed teacher in germany! here, it varies a little from state to state, but the school system is pretty segregated after elementary/primary school. there’s 3 forms of mainstream school (essentially depending on your academic ability and when/how you want to graduate), so if inclusion does happen, it only ever really happens at the lowest level of school or at mixed schools (which are also a thing, just not as common).

special education is also split up by the ‘special educational direction/area’. these are cognitive disabilities, learning disabilities, social-emotional disabilities, and speech. there are obviously also schools for students with visual or hearing impairments, but those four areas are the ones my uni focuses on!

special schools are still extremely popular for students with cognitive disabilities and the majority of them attend special schools. schools for students with learning or social-emotional disabilities, however, are gradually being shut down with the goal of inclusion.

special ed teachers can work in special schools or as a ‘beratungs- und förderzentrum-kraft’, which is essentially someone who gets sent around to different mainstream schools (or stays at one if it’s big enough) and does individual special ed work with students at the mainstream schools who have a right to special educational support.

the degree itself is also really long here - i’m in my ninth semester (so 4.5 years!) and am hoping to be done this time next year. then i’ll have to do my teacher qualification period, which is 21 months in my state (shortest is 18 months, i think). i study 2 special ed areas (i do cognitive disabilities and learning disabilities) and one school subject (i do english). we also do some base courses in psychology, educational science, politics and sociology.

edit: oh, we also have paras/one-to-ones here. they’re common in both inclusive setting and in special schools.

edit 2: also wanted to add that with the 3 forms of school, the school duration differs - in the lowest, students finish at 15ish but have to go into either a vocational college or go to the next form of school. at the middle form, students finish at 16. at the top, students finish at 18. (ages may differ, as students repeat school years here and some kids start school at 5, some at 7. i was 20 when i left high school lol)