Professional Diploma in Specialized Physical Education

The Faculty of Education at the University of Sciences and Arts in Lebanon (USAL) launches a professional diploma in Specialized Physical Education (adapted) as part of the in-service teacher training programme. It was launched in light of the worldwide scientific revolution in the field of Education, namely physical and sports education. It is noteworthy that we have recently witnessed increasing interest in the most preferable practices of sports education when dealing with people with special needs.

The Specialized Physical Education professional diploma (adapted) is the first of its kind in Lebanese universities. It aims at preparing and qualifying physical education academics, specialists and practitioners for special needs students, in addition to employees in educational institutions, specifically inclusive ones.

This program is designed to provide students with the basic knowledge derived from most recent and important studies, along with significant experiments held by distinguished inclusive institutions worldwide. Its purpose is to spread the knowledge imbedded in the field and to achieve distinction in Physical and Sports Education, allowing graduates to set down plans and apply objective educational, scientific and methodological programs.

This program:

• Provides students with the basic knowledge to classify physical and sports activities for people with special needs, it also introduces them to the teaching and training methodologies that suitable for the conditions of each disability.
• Introduces specific language related to the physical and sports activities specific to each disability.
• Emphasizes the impact of sports in enhancing the lives of disabled people.
• Provides students with competencies necessary to plan and execute courses of physical and sports education in inclusive classes, or for learners with special needs.
• Sheds light on the importance of specializing in Physical and Sports Education by providing inclusive schools with specialized teachers who are qualified to teach special needs students after enrolling in this program for one academic year.
• Trains students to apply recent methods to valuate disabled students, allowing them to set down precise educational objectives suitable to the abilities of each learner to reach complete independence in both daily and academic lives.
• Introduces the most recent scientific studies in the field and employs all relevant results and recommendations in the daily practices of Physical and Sports Education teachers.

1. Credit system (two semesters), accordingly:
   1. First semester: 11 credits.
   2. Second semester: 13 credits.
2. The course-evaluation system depends on small performance tasks, along with partial tests and an inclusive exam by the end of the second semester to evaluate the students’ acquirement of educational and applied outcomes.
3. Attendance is obligatory by 80%.

Students who wish to apply for this diploma must:

• Have a Bachelor’s degree in Physical and Sports Education or Special Education.
• Or, have a 5-years’ experience in teaching physical education, provided that they had gained a baccalaureate certificate or any equivalent.
• Or, have a 5-years’ experience of working in the field of special education in special needs care institutions or in inclusive schools, provided that they had gained a baccalaureate certificate or any equivalent.

The University provides a Diploma for students who successfully pass all courses with a minimum average of 50% for each course, a minimum attendance of 80% and after they had successfully passed a comprehensive exam that covers all competencies of the programme.