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DAADInternationalisation of Teacher Training

Press Release No. 126/2019
25 November 2019

DAAD Funds Joint Project of the Heidelberg School of Education and the Faculty of Modern Languages

The “Mobility in International Teacher Training” project of the Heidelberg School of Education (HSE) and the Faculty of Modern Languages at Ruperto Carola has been awarded funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The major goals are to expand study abroad opportunities for students in Bachelor’s programmes related to teacher training, to establish international university partnerships, and to provide future teachers with transcultural competencies. The DAAD is supporting the project within the framework of its “Internationalisation of Teacher Training” funding line with approximately 500,000 euros over a period of three years.

The Heidelberg project is focussed specifically on promoting stays abroad to students of the Faculty of Modern Languages, for example through scholarships. At the same time, students will have the opportunity to complete an internship at an educational institution abroad as part of the practical training phase 2. The activities build on the already excellent international network of Heidelberg University, whose existing university partnerships will be further strengthened by the exchange and mobility programme. Participating partner universities are located in Chile, France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, and the USA, among them the Sorbonne University in Paris, St. Petersburg State University, and the Teachers College of Columbia University in New York. Local initiatives in Heidelberg include the establishment of visiting lectureships as well as an event programme that includes an international summer school. The fall 2020 summer school will address “Transculturality in Teacher Education” and is aimed at future teachers currently studying at Ruperto Carola and other participating partner universities.

“We believe the funding will fuel interest in the topic of mobility beyond modern languages to the other teaching disciplines,” points out Prof. Dr Sybille Große of the Department of Romance Languages, which is part of the Faculty of Modern Languages. “Internationalisation is critical for excellent and forward-looking teacher training, and it is also anchored in the mission of the Heidelberg School of Education as a main cross-sectional topic,” states HSE Director Dr Christiane Wienand, who heads up the project together with Sybille Große. The Heidelberg School of Education is the joint cross-institutional organisation of Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg University of Education. It is the institutional, strategic, and intellectual centre of cooperative teacher training in Heidelberg.