A special honor for Dr. Daniela Schwarz and Elke Langbein: On invitation by the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, these staff members of the Department of Sport and Health Sciences participated in September at the town feast held in Bellevue Castle. With this event, the Federal President honors individuals in Germany who have contributed with their endeavors to form a strong civil society. The invitation of these faculty staff members took place in acknowledgment for their activities in the course of the "Special Olympics Germany" project. "We were very pleased with this invitation to the town feast which represents a great deal of appreciation for our work," explains Dr. Schwarz.
Training courses, advanced training and inclusive training meetings
Special Olympics is the largest sport movement for people with mental and multiple handicaps. World-wide, the organization is officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has more than 5 million members, approximately 40,000 in Germany alone. Already since the summer semester of 2012, where the German Federal Games took place on the TUM Campus in the Olympiapark (TUM CiO), Schwarz and Langbein have engaged themselves in various projects for the Special Olympics.
"Our work includes, among other things, training courses and advanced training with the background of inclusion - where we also include humans both with and without limitations in common settings," explains Schwarz. In this way, students training to enter into the teaching profession can select an elective module in which they learn to train groups, made up of persons both with and without physical and intellectual limitations. "In the training meetings it can be seen that the students quickly lose their reservations, and recognize how they can master and lead these groups. At the same time they get a feeling for how contents can be converted together with an inclusive group," describes the teacher with a doctorate degree.
Training aids in simple language
For their module, Schwarz and Langbein received support in 2016 from the TUM teachers' foundation. These staff members of the faculty have already been approached repeatedly by universities and other educational institutions throughout Germany in order to report on their experiences and to design appropriate training meetings. The teaching materials, which are provided in simple language, are meanwhile even used in handling groups of refugees.
Further measures include the attendance at the national and international Special Olympics competitions, for instance their participation this year at the Olympic Winter Games in Austria with over 2,700 athletes from 107 nations. The members of the faculty also help to support Bavarian or other German athletes. Since 2015, Schwarz has also been a member of the scientific advisory board of the Special Olympics.
Further Information on the Special Olympics of Germany
Contact:
Dr. Daniela Schwarz
Department of Sport and Health Management
Uptown Munich, Campus D
Georg-Brauchle Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
Telephone: 089 289 24537
Email: Daniela.Schwarz(at)tum.de
Text: Fabian Kautz
Photos: Jochen Langbein & Karina Burger