Dr. Theresa Stommel, deputy professor at the Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation at the University of Oldenburg, has been awarded the prestigious Dissertation Prize of the Special Needs Education Section of the German Educational Research Association (DGfE). The award ceremony took place at this year's section conference in Heidelberg.

Her dissertation entitled "Education and amazement. An educational-philosophical perspective in the context of mental and severe disabilities". In her work, Dr. Stommel opens up innovative perspectives on the philosophy of education, which, against the background of a phenomenological mindset, make wonder appear as a central dimension of educational processes, which proves to be particularly fruitful for people with intellectual disabilities. Following on from this, Dr. Stommel presents approaches to wonder-friendly teaching and transfers her findings from educational philosophy to didactics. The work thus makes an important contribution to the theoretical foundation and further development of the concept of education and builds a bridge between special education and general educational theory.

Dr. Stommel received her doctorate from the University of Cologne in 2022. Her dissertation was published by Transcript Verlag in 2023 and is freely available in open access: To the publication.

Click here for the laudation.