Inclusive education focuses on the basic question of how to deal with diversity in educational contexts. Its aim is to overcome the current perception that puts the main emphasis on placement and support of students with special needs. The inclusive schooling of students with and without special needs has been discussed worldwide for a long time. The UN convention which was ratified by Germany in 2009 brought renewed attention to this topic. This article concentrates on the national and international challenges of inclusive schooling, based on relevant research results. Taking the international debate into account, the contradictions of the inclusion movement in Germany and its perspectives for inclusive schools are shown.

Keywords
inclusion, heterogeneity, co-operation