Perspectives of students with intellectual disabilities on Inclusive Physical Education in Germany

The perspectives of students are considered an essential aspect for a successful inclusive Physical Education (PE). However, the voices of students with intellectual disability (SIDs) have hardly been heard so far. This qualitative study conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 SIDs in two cooperative PE settings and analysed them by using thematic analysis. From the results, the perspectives are equivocal and seem strongly to depend on the school setting, which comprises teachers, students without disabilities (SWDs) and the school environment and thus support the bio-psychosocial model of disability. From the findings, we also show that physical inclusion doesn’t necessarily lead to social inclusion. As a conclusion, we suggest that not only PE, but also the whole school must be as inclusive as possible, and that co-teaching should be constantly implemented in inclusive PE.