Certificate Course in Inclusion
Inclusion work in daycare centers, schools, and open all-day programs places high demands on everyone involved.

With the ratification of the UN Convention on Human Rights (known as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), discussion has also begun over the past decade in the field of childhood education, and specifically kindergarten education, about how inclusion can be given space in this educational field as well. Very soon, it became clear to all parties involved in the discussion (daycare centers, training institutions, regional associations, ministry) that specially trained staff are needed for professionally and child-appropriate inclusion work, for example in daycare centers and open all-day programs (OGS). The Association of Waldorf Kindergartens has also advocated at its conferences and in its publications for such additional professional expertise among its staff. The Institute of Childhood Education has responded to these professional requirements and developed a special certificate course in inclusion support for daycare centers, primary schools, and OGS.

The certificate course focuses on tasks in inclusion support in the fields of education, care, and upbringing in childhood education. By earning the university certificate in inclusion support, students will be able to

• recognize the limits and opportunities of inclusion in their specific institution and develop ways to optimize it;
• familiarize families with the requirements of inclusive coexistence and advise them;
• trace the historical development of inclusion and explain its current relevance;
• present existing concepts for implementing inclusion from education and special needs education;
• develop and implement new concepts for putting inclusion approaches into practice

• Two core courses
• Four additional courses
• One evaluation or reflection meeting
• 20 practical days in an institution with children/adolescents with special support needs
• Written case presentation

The curriculum comprises a workload of 30 credit points.

• Theory of inclusion and integration
• Practice of inclusion and integration in childhood education institutions
• Children/adolescents with behavioral difficulties (incl. ADHD)
• Children/adolescents with trauma-related disorders
• Children/adolescents with intellectual disabilities (especially Down syndrome)
• Children/adolescents with learning disabilities or learning disorders
• Children/adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder
• Children/adolescents with a sensory disability
• Children with difficult life circumstances (e.g. as a child of parents with mental illness, or as someone with a sibling with a disability, or as someone living in a separated or divorced family)

You can find further information in our brochure on the Certificate Course in Inclusion.

All students in the Bachelor of Arts in Childhood Education (full-time and part-time) can participate in the Certificate Course in Inclusion. Former graduates of this degree program are also welcome. The Certificate Course in Inclusion Support can also be opened to interested professionals (on a self-funded basis).

From the Fall Semester 2022, the costs for external participants on Saturdays are €40 per individual session.

For students in the Master’s degree program in Education and the part-time Bachelor’s degree program in Childhood Education at Alanus University, the courses are free of charge as part of the main study phase.