Studying Special Needs Education: How Inclusion Changes Our Perspective

What does it mean to study Special Needs Education? And what does it take for people to be able to participate in social life as a matter of course? Dr. Anne Goldbach and student Anna discuss this in the new episode of the hi@hszg podcast. It becomes clear that the bachelor’s program in Special Needs Education/Inclusion Studies is not just about supporting individual people, but also about the conditions under which participation succeeds—or is prevented.

People with disabilities are at the heart of the degree programme. At the same time, students learn to examine social disadvantages and societal structures: What barriers do people face in their daily lives? What role do their environment or societal attitudes play? And what can be changed to enable greater participation?

“What are this person’s conditions for participation? How can these be optimized, or what adjustments need to be made?” Anne Goldbachdescribes this as a central question of the program.

Student Anna already brings practical experience from her previous training as an occupational therapist. During her studies, her perspective has shifted: It’s not about changing the person so that they fit better into their environment.

“It’s more about adapting the environment so that everyone can function well within it,”, says Anna.

As early as the first semester, students are encouraged to question assumptions that are often taken for granted. Why do we use certain terms? Why are structures the way they are? And do we simply have to accept them?

In addition to academic and disciplinary foundations, practical experience therefore plays an important role. Through several practical study phases, students learn to analyze a person’s living conditions and environment and to develop strategies for good inclusion based on that analysis. For her next internship, for example, Anna will return to a shared living community for people with disabilities that she is already familiar with from a previous practical study phase.

Dr. Anne Goldbach and Anna also talk about what it’s like to study in Görlitz on the podcast. Numerous seminars, manageable class sizes, and interactions with students from other fields of study shape everyday life as a student. Anna, who moved to Görlitz for her studies, describes the city as her “perfect middle ground” between a big city and her smaller hometown in the Spreewald.

Her advice to anyone still looking for the right degree program: don’t put pressure on yourself, gain practical experience, and take your time to figure out what really suits you.

In the new episode of the hi@hszg podcast, they explain exactly how the program is structured, what experiences Anna has had during her practical study phases, and what makes studying in Görlitz so special.