Investing in schools of tomorrow

In the first funding phase, which expires in December 2024, the University of Erfurt had "ELsA – Erfurt Teacher Training Students Abroad" project received around 292,000 euros from the DAAD, which was topped up with 82,000 euros in own funds. This was used to expand and consolidate cooperation with universities and internship schools abroad, expand the intercultural skills of lecturers and students and promote the visibility of the internationalisation of Erfurt's teacher training programme through an institutionalised information and advice service. As a result of these efforts, the mobility of student teachers has increased significantly.

"The fact that we were very successful with this in the teaching-related bachelor's programmes as well as in the Master of Education for Primary Schools and the Master of Education for Secondary Schools is shown not least by the unbroken interest of our students and teaching staff in internationalisation activities," says project manager Dr Madlen Protzel, taking stock after four years. The central element of student mobility at the University of Erfurt is the “Komplexes Schulpraktikum” (Complex School Internship), a practical semester in the Master's degree programme for primary and secondary schools. In the first project funding phase, around 15 per cent of the students in each year group were abroad each year. Lecturers are also interested in short-term stays with students at international partner universities, for example summer or winter schools or project weeks.

With the second DAAD grant of around 562,000 euros, which the University of Erfurt will increase by another 75,000 euros, the aim from January 2025 is to internationalise the degree programmes for future Special Needs Education and Inclusive Pedagogy teachers and teachers for vocational schools, which were not included in the first funding phase. "We also want to focus on the topic of ecological and economic sustainability," says Madlen Protzel. In concrete terms, this means that the upcoming project phase will be used to focus cooperation on digital activities, i.e. "Internationalisation@Home", in the interests of climate-conscious action. "In this way, we not only want to do justice to the diversity of internationalisation in teacher training in Erfurt, but also increase equal opportunities in terms of students' and lecturers' access to internationalisation measures."

Professor Beate Hampe, Vice President for International Affairs at the University of Erfurt, adds: "The fact that we are once again being funded by the DAAD not only shows that we have been very successful with our ideas and expertise in the internationalisation of teacher training in recent years, but also helps us to further advance internationalisation processes in the teaching profession and develop new strategies. Thanks to the financial support, we can institutionalise further international cooperation, for example with universities in Belgium, Ecuador, Austria and Portugal, and significantly increase the intercultural experience and skills of students and teachers with the help of new, digitally supported cooperation formats. In this way, we are making our prospective teachers fit for their complex future profession."