Physical education and sport and special needs in Germany

Abstract

Historically, in Germany individuals with special needs have been offered participation in physical education (PE) both in segregated and increasingly in integrated settings. Specific curricula for children with disabilities (physical disabilities, hearing, and visual impairments, speech and behaviour disorders as well as intellectual disabilities) were developed in the 1960s and 1970s. They all emphasized the specific importance of physical activities for people with a disability focusing not only on motor competencies but also on the psychological and social benefits of physical education. During the 1970s so‐called model schools started to include children with disabilities in mainstream schools. Unlike developments in the United States, for example, where integrated or mainstream schooling was based on legal requirements, in Germany improved integration or inclusion was not based on federal law, but on parents’ or teachers’ initiatives in different Bundesländer (states of Germany). Parallel to these developments, new approaches to PE have accentuated a positive orientation towards ‘ability’ rather than ‘disability’. Professionals in PE in universities and in schools have been challenged to develop better diagnostic skills and more individualized programmes. On the initiative of nine European universities, a European Master's degree of Adapted Physical Activity has been developed to offer advanced training on a European scale. However, despite these positive and innovative developments serious concerns remain concerning the situation of children with disabilities in the school system. This article argues that there is still a significant lack of specially trained professionals and support staff and that the ongoing process of reducing the amount of PE in schools for all children, including those with a disability, does not contribute to improved physical and social skills or increased participation in recreational and sport activities outside schools.     

Non-formal education in Cuba

Conclusion In Cuba the sixties coincided with a unique national liberation movement which, supported by such fundamental achievements as agrarian reform and nationalisation, brought about the organisation of a national effort on the part of all the social sectors anxious to play their part in these changes.These unleashed forces have been both protagonists and apprentices in the accelerated campaign against underdevelopment. The work of transformation and social and economic construction has also logically included an educational effort, the success of which can be measured by such achievements as the literacy campaign of 1961 and the doubling of school enrolment during the decade. The first fruits of this drastic educational effort were the establishment of mass education groups in 1961, since when old structures and concepts have been rejected and an action programme has been emerging with ever greater forcefulness aimed at shaping and adapting education to the characteristics and needs of a socialist society.This tremendous undertaking, with service to all society as its major principle, is the fundamental reason for the many novel experiments made at all levels of education. It forms the basis of the search for a new kind of education which will correspond to current educational trends in the world and at the same time meet the exceptional situation of Cuba, where priority is given to education as a duty and a right of all and where everyone, from the humblest worker to the Prime Minister, is aware of the vital need for education and its inseparable links with development plans.Adapted by permission of UNESCO from Innovating Experiments in Education in Cuba by Raúl Ferrer Perez. International Commission on the Development of Education, Series C: Innovations, No. 4. Paris: UNESCO, 1973 (mimeographed).     

Audio-visual media for sport education

The use of leisure-time is becoming a social problem of increasing importance. Sport activity could be of great significance in this respect. Competitive sport is a means to satisfy certain impulses, a satisfaction which everyday work cannot give.     

Career education for mentally handicapped adolescents

Conclusion Appropriate assessment, counseling and training techniques are imperative for the effective career education of MH adolescents. These techniques should be integrated and viewed as a series of student-centered developmental activities. Counselors can play an important role in the career development of MH adolescents by coordinating these activities. This requires collaboration with special education teachers, other professionals, parents and students themselves to integrate assessment, training, counseling and work experiences.     

浅谈残疾学生体育教育

本文简述了当前残疾学生 (主要是弱智、视残、听残学生 )体育教育现状 ,从体育学科角度对残疾学生运动学习进行了探讨 ,从促进残疾学生体育教育发展的角度提出了几点设想。