After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• apply professional knowledge and skills from the field of special education and special adult education
• use appropriate communication strategies with adults according to their abilities and needs
• choose and apply suitable approaches to people with disabilities and disadvantages
• have an orientation in current approaches to counselling and the support of people with special needs
• analyse the life situations of people with special needs and choose appropriate intervention strategies
• provide special needs and counselling activities
• design and implement applied research with a focus on adults with disabilities and disadvantages

Graduates will find employment in the area of school education, work and social affairs, justice, non-governmental organizations and government. They will provide special education and adult education assessment, intervention, counselling and planning with people with disabilities, difficulties in adaptation, behaviour and emotional disorders in adulthood and old age. The graduates will have the skills to provide educational work according to the act on educational professionals nr. 379/2015 Sb., as amended 563/2004 Sb., and 108/2006 Sb., on social services as amended.

The students choose one out of two specializations, either Special adult education of people with disabilities or Special adult education of people with socially pathological behaviour. The subjects are stratified into modules of common core subjects (pedagogy and psychology) including a foreign language, research methods, statistics, internationalization of the field, theories of special adult education - education of adults and the elderly, social work and social policy, sociology of disability, medical subjects - psychopathology, ophthalmology, neurology, special needs subjects - one of the two specializations mentioned above, applied subjects - counselling and intervention, crisis intervention, behavioural approaches to learning, support of people with sensory disabilities, penology, prevention of substance abuse, professional practice and reflective seminars.

The programme has been created in order to comprise social scientific and university foundation: 20%. Special educational foundation: 30%. Medical propaedeutics: 5%. Specialized practical training: 30%. Practical skills depending on the study field: 15%.

The standard length of the degree programme is 2 years (4 semesters). To be admitted to the state final examinations, the students have to gain a total of 120 credits for required, selective and elective courses (see the standards of the Special Education study field). Students follow their studies in accordance with the study catalogue of their matriculation year. Access to the study catalogues of the respective matriculation years can be found on the websites of the faculty.

Teaching practice 1- 3 weeks

Teaching practice 2- 3 weeks

Teaching practice 3- 4 weeks

All teaching practice is accompanied by reflective seminars.

All practice is administered according to the Manual for educational practice (Bartoňová, M., Pipeková, J. Brno: MU, 2011). See http://www.ped.muni.cz/wsedu.

The study programme graduation requirements are as follows: State final examinations: Pedagogy and psychology (the common foundation is guaranteed by the Department of Education and the Department of Psychology).

The thesis defence (if it is assigned at the department or even if it is assigned at a different department, e.g. psychology, the topic will always be special education). See the Special Standards of Special Education for the Final Thesis (http://www.ped.muni.cz/wsedu).

Compulsory part: Special Adult Education and one of two specializations: A) Adults with Disabilities and B) Adults with Social Pathological Behaviour.

4 year Ph.D. study programme in Special Education.