Höchstetter Foundation Prize: Talents in the Focus of Pedagogy Awarded!

Höchstetter Foundation Prize: Talents in the Focus of Pedagogy Awarded!

In the summer semester of 2025, the Heidelberg University of Education, together with the Klaus Höchstetter Foundation, honored four graduates with the coveted Höchstetter Foundation Prize. The prize is endowed with 500 euros each and honors outstanding theses in the field of special education. The award winners Judith Hartmann, Alina Holzer, Robert Stumpf and Luisa-Marie Wäsch impressed with their scientific work, which sheds light on various aspects of special education.

Judith Hartmann received the award for her work entitled “Between ‘normality task’ and ‘normality as a task’ – a qualitative, meaning-reconstructive exploration of special education students’ processing of normality”. This study examines the implicit knowledge and attitudes of special education students and is based on narrative guided interviews and grounded theory.

Trend-setting topics of the award winners

Alina Holzer was honored for her study of “experiential education in the training of special education teachers”, in which she analyzes the offers, needs and potential of experiential education and offers well-founded recommendations for action. Robert Stumpf, on the other hand, dealt with the “sociological discourse analysis of the public media representation of teachers leaving the profession”, in which he applied discourse analysis and knowledge sociological approaches.

Luisa-Marie Wäsch completes the list of winners with a work on the “across-grade comparison of the attractiveness of teaching content and methods in biology lessons”. Their results are based on a large sample and provide significant insights into teaching design in the STEM area. The laudatory speech was given by Professor Dr. Karl-Heinz Dammer, Vice Rector for Studies, Teaching and Internationalization.

The Heidelberg University of Education and the Klaus Höchstetter Foundation congratulate the award winners and wish them all the best for their professional future.

Studied special education

The bachelor's degree in special education at the Heidelberg University of Education aims to prepare students to support children, adolescents and young adults with special educational, counseling and support needs. The training prepares you for a career in education as well as for a teaching-related master's degree, which enables you to qualify as a teacher in the special education sector.

The course usually lasts 6 semesters and requires 180 credit points. Students receive in-depth training in educational sciences as well as in two special education disciplines such as learning or language. There are also numerous options available that enable students to individually pursue their interests and develop specific skills.

The application deadlines for the course are January 15th for the summer semester and July 15th for the winter semester. Further information on the selection of topics and formats for final theses is available on the university's website, which also offers guidelines for literary and empirical work to support students in their academic work.

In a constantly changing educational environment, the Heidelberg University of Education offers comprehensive opportunities for further training and the acquisition of additional qualifications, including the master's degree program "Master of Education in Special Education". This enables graduates to pursue a career in the education sector or an academic career.