Department of Special Needs Education Holds Meeting at HSZG

On May 2 and 3, 2018, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences hosted the Departmental Conference on Special Needs Education. The Departmental Conference on Special Needs Education is a voluntary association of the 13 member universities in Germany that have departments of Special Needs Education or offer Bachelor’s and/or Master's degree programmes in this field. In total, we welcomed 10 representatives from the university campuses in Berlin, Bochum, Bonn, Darmstadt, Freiburg, Münster, Ludwigsburg, and Nordhausen. Also in attendance were representatives from the German Rectors' Conference, the Standing Conference of Training Institutions for Special Needs Education in Germany, and the Professional Association for Special Needs Education.The conference focused on the Federal Participation Act (BTHG), which represents an important milestone in the process of implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Germany.

The BTHG not only defines the future framework for professional Special Needs Education practice but also calls on Special Needs Education to effectively shape the realization of the guaranteed rights to participation and entitlement to services. In this regard, it is necessary to examine existing training concepts to determine what contribution they are already making to this process and what contribution they should make in the future.Accordingly, the discussions in various working groups on the central concepts of the BTHG (self-determination and person-centeredness, disability and participation, assistance, and social space orientation/deinstitutionalization) was followed by an intensive exchange of experiences regarding the current implementation of the BTHG at the respective universities.The next departmental conference will take place during the 2018–19 winter semester at the Evangelical University of Ludwigsburg and will focus on the specific curricular implications resulting from the BTHG and the further development of the professional qualification framework for Special Needs Education.

The Special Needs Education/Inclusion Studies degree programme would like to thank the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Social Sciences for its support and extend our heartfelt thanks to all the students who helped us with the preparation and follow-up for the Departmental Day, especially with the drafting of the minutes.