Two new teacher training subjects will start at the University of Paderborn in the winter semester 2020/21. From now on, students will have the opportunity to choose the special subject "language" for the Bachelor of Education in special needs education and the vocational specialisation "social pedagogy" for the teaching profession at vocational colleges. From the winter semester 2023/24, it will also be possible to transfer to the corresponding Master's degree programmes.
The new subjects are an expression of the future- and society-oriented teacher training at the University of Paderborn, because social pedagogues, educators and support teachers are urgently needed specialists in our schools. In order to be able to carry out these activities professionally, specific and high-quality training is required. This is where the university comes in with its new offer.
A teacher training course that is almost unique in Germany
Paderborn is one of only a few locations in Germany where the teaching profession at vocational colleges can be studied with the vocational specialisation of social pedagogy. The Bachelor's programme lays the subject-specific and subject-didactic foundations for teaching in the social education-oriented programmes at vocational colleges. "The training for the teaching profession at vocational colleges at the University of Paderborn thus experiences a new and profile-forming expansion. At the same time, we are responding to an urgent social and educational policy need," emphasises Prof. Dr. Christine Freitag, Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Cultural Studies for the teacher training programmes.
Profile of the special needs education programme is being expanded
The training of special needs teachers is also an important part of Paderborn's teacher training programmes. Taking this into account, from the winter semester 2020/21, it will now also be possible to study the special focus "language". Prof. Dr. Katharina Rohlfing, the contact person for the programme, is particularly pleased about this: "With the new specialisation, we are helping to ensure that children with language impairments do not have fewer opportunities to participate in society, which is organised precisely through language and linguistically mediated media. The teaching programme for basic language education at the University of Paderborn already has an inclusive profile. Thus, the teaching and research profiles of several already established professorships for the new special focus represent special interfaces, Rohlfing emphasises.
The new special focus complements the special education programme, which can also be studied in Paderborn with the specialisations "Learning" and "Emotional and Social Development". The close interlocking of the individual sub-areas ensures that students are enabled to view and support pupils in a multi-professional manner.
Click here for the examination regulations for the special focus on language and the vocational specialisation in social pedagogy.
As a further innovation, from the winter semester 2020/21 it will also be possible to study the learning specialisation as the first special educational subject in the Bachelor's degree programme in Special Needs Education. You can find the corresponding examination regulations here.