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  • TravelToTeach - Teaching and Learning Abroad 2021

    (click on image to open as pdf)

       

    A virtual lecture series organized for YOU on various topics of international teaching and intercultural competencies, with speakers from six different countries! All students and staff welcome - no registration necessary! 

    The lectures take place on Tuesdays from 6-8pm (Portugal: 5-7pm; Romania: 7-9pm). All sessions will be held ONLINE in BigBlueButton. 

    As we are expecting participants from six different countries, all sessions will be held in English - but no worries if you are unsure about the language, none of us are native speakers. 

    We are looking forward to seeing you there!

  • TravelToTeach - Learning and Teaching Abroad 2022

    An international virtual event series organized for you! 

    Everyone is welcome - you can join a lecture by just entering our BigBlueBotton Room and sign up for a workshop via the link provided in each description. 

    Lectures take place Tuesday evening from 6-7:30pm (CET) and workshops Friday afternoon from 1-5pm (CET), unless stated otherwise. 

    01/11/22: Creating a gender sensitive curriculum (lecture)

    Maria Helena Esteves, PhD
    Lecturer at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

    The focus of the lecture will be on gender in teaching, within the scope of the 2030 Agenda, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 4 - Quality Education and Sustainable Development Goal 5 - Gender Equality. Gender inequality is present in different areas of society, and education has an important role in addressing these issues. Relevant research will be presented demonstrating how raising gender awareness is important in classroom activities and can be done in most school subjects. We will use contributions from participants to promote collaborative reflexion bringing together different school subjects.

    04/11/22: Learning through service projects (workshop)

    Foundation Learning through Civic Engagement
    Germany

    Service-Learning is an educational approach which combines formal learning with meaningful civic engagement. The combination of learning and civic engagement reflects two core goals of Service-Learning: strengthening democracy through changing learning culture. Service-Learning is suitable for all school types, age groups, and subjects and can be adapted to a variety of educational concepts and backgrounds.
    Designing a playground according to children´s needs, rehabilitating public grounds for bees and insects, or run awareness campaigns on voting rights – Service-Learning projects help to bring about positive change for all, contribute to increased motivation for investing oneself in society – and help to achieve the learning goals of the curriculum.

    In this workshop, teachers experienced in Service-Learning and experts will introduce participants to the concept, provide insights into practical examples from their own schools, and guide students through the process of developing their own service project as a teacher. The workshop will be facilitated by the Foundation Learning through Civic Engagement, which serves as one of the main organizations in Germany to support teachers in this area and cooperates with similar initiatives in other European countries.

    08/11/22: What is hidden in the hidden curriculum - how do schools operate on the latent level (lecture)

    Prof. AMU dr hab. Daria Hejwosz-Gromkowska
    Professor at the Institute of Education, AMU, Poznan, Poland

    During the lecture, the category of the hidden curriculum will be explained. Moreover, we will discuss how hidden curriculum is related to the process of learning. We will be also looking for the answer to the question of what is hidden in the school architecture and space. What do the school textbooks hide and what do they want to tell us? How can the hidden curriculum create role models (e.g. gender roles)? We will also try to uncover the hidden curricula in our past schools.

    11/11/22: Anti- bias training for teachers (workshop)

    Nele Kontzi and Cvetka Bovha
    anti-bias.netz.org, Germany

    In this workshop, students will explore how (un-)conscious attitudes towards diversity can impact on school settings and explore ways to role-model and address related dynamics in their classroom as future teachers.

    Diversity may take many forms - obvious ones such as color, dialect or wealth, or more subtle ones like different opinions on deep-seated aspects of life. Sometimes we are aware of our attitude towards difference, sometimes our notions are hidden to ourselves, and they can be positive, negative, or neutral. Being aware of our own categories in navigating life is a crucial first step in allowing for encounters that enable us to see and value diversity. Bias is embedded as well in structures and with that also in schools and has effects on learning and living together.

    In this workshop facilitated by two trainers experienced in the anti-bias approach, students will have the opportunity to reflect upon their societal imprint and experiences with diversity, in exchange with students from other countries and cultures. They will learn about ways diversity may impact group dynamics in class and explore practical ways how they, as a teacher, can contribute to build appreciative and integrative school communities (with the students). 

    15/11/22: Talking social justice - conversations that matter (6:30 - 8:00 pm, lecture)

    Sydney Chaffee
    Teacher of the Year 2017, Massachusetts, USA

    Education can be a transformative tool to work towards social justice. In a world where our students regularly experience injustice, teachers play a critical role: helping young people build skills to be active citizens and work to create a more just and equitable society. In this talk, Sydney explains why teaching is a political act and encourages teachers to see themselves as facilitators of students' activism.

    25/11/22: World Café - get connected and exchange experiences! (1:30 - 4:30 pm, workshop)

    Wiebke Nierste
    JLU Giessen, Germany

    The basic idea of the "World Café" is to bring learners or participants into conversation with each other and thus to be able to intensively discuss and reflect on problems or questions in small groups. This World Café is supposed to provide a safe space for student teachers to exchange personal experiences related to school and university studies and to learn more about different approaches as well as ideas in education around the world.

    29/11/22: Gamification in service of formative learning assessment - a tool (lecture)

    Carolina Micaela Costeira e Pereira
    Lecturer at the Institute of Education, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

    During this lecture, we will both learn the use of and experiment with a tool that contributes to formative learning assessment by creating a gaming environment. 
    This activity emerged within an intervention project aiming to promote the use of digital technologies in primary schools of a municipality. The project was designed from a framework based on the principles of contextualized in-service learning and professional development environments.

    06/12/22: Crossing racialized borders: The impact on the education of immigrant children in the United States and South Africa (lecture)

    Bekisizwe S. Ndimande, Ph.D.
    Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Professor of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies
    College of Education and Human Development, The University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas, USA

    This presentation discusses the experiences of immigrant communities who cross racial borders in South Africa and in the United States. Research shows that refugees and immigrant families around the world have encountered various challenges in their country of destination and/or newly adopted countries, including the challenges of education access for their children (Olneck, 1995; Olsen, 1997; Taylor & Whittaker, 2003; Gershberg, et al, 2004, Sookrajh, et al, 2005).
    This presentation argues that most such challenges disproportionately face minoritized immigrants and their children. First, I discuss the struggles of minoritized immigrants in post-apartheid South Africa including the challenges of xenophobia in that country. Second, I discuss the recent challenges faced by immigrants from Latin America in the United States. In both contexts I underscore the oppressive environment they encounter, including the struggles to access education for their children. I argue that the national education systems of both countries have not done sufficiently to help immigrant children towards achieving equal educational opportunities in their new environment.

    13/12/22: International Quiz Night - Winter Edition

    An international Quiz Night organized by students for students! 

    There is no need to sign up - just join on the evening and you will be teamed up with students from other universities. The more, the merrier! 

  • TravelToTeach – Experience School Internationally 2023

    November 24, 2023, at 4:00 PM: The German International School System – Application and Testimonials

    How can I become a teacher at one of the German international schools? Do I need to study German as a foreign language for this? How can I apply? And what experiences have others had?

    Have these questions crossed your mind before? Then you're in the right place with us! During the Reading Week, we are hosting an event where you will learn about the German international school system. Additionally, you will hear two testimonials, and we will have the opportunity to answer all your questions. This event is part of our series "Travel to Teach – Experience School Internationally."

    Date: Friday, November 24, 2023, at 4:00 PM

    Language: German

    December 6, 2023: Interview with the principal of the German School in Brooklyn

    Speaker: Raphael Hillisch (principal of the German School Brooklyn)

    Date: December 06, 2023 at 4:00 PM

    Language: German

    January 17, 2024: Beyond the Horizon: The Polish Education System and International Schools in Poland – Opportunities and Challenges for the Teacher Training System

    Speaker: Dr. Joanna Leek (University of Lodz)
    Date: January 17, 2024, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM 
    Language: English

    The Polish education system has undergone significant changes in the past decades, especially in terms of internationalization and integration with the global community. One of the manifestations of this process is the emergence and development of international schools in Poland, which offer various curricula and programmes that aim to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century. However, these schools also pose new demands and expectations for the teachers who work in them, as they require specific competencies and qualifications that may not be adequately addressed by the current teacher training system in Poland.

    This presentation will provide an overview of the main features and characteristics of international education, as well as the current state and challenges of pre-service teacher training in Poland. It will also propose some recommendations and suggestions on how to improve and adapt the teacher training system to the requirements and standards of international education.

    January 31, 2024: Report from Taiwan - an insight into the school system abroad using the example of the Taipei European School

    Speaker: Daniel Engler (Deputy Head, German Section, of the Taipei European School (TES), Taipei, Taiwan)

    Date: January 31, 2024 at 2:00 PM until 3:00 PM

    Language: German

#DifferenceMatters

  • #DifferenceMatters: Sensible and Professional Approaches to Diversity in the Classroom

    You are cordially invited to our virtual lecture series about the approach to diversity in everyday school life!

    Prof. Dr. Naime Çakir-Mattner (JLU Gießen) will be shedding light on the influence of Islamic ideals of upbringing (16.5), Dr. Florian C. Klenk (TU Darmstadt) will be giving a lecture on sexual and gender diversity in immigrant youth (9.6), and Dr. Jost Stellmacher (UMR) und Dr. Ursula Bertels (WWU / Ethnologie in Schule und Erwachsenenbildung e.V.) will be reporting on intercultural differences as a potential source of conflict and resource at school, uniting scientific insight with practical experience.

    The lecture series is organized conjoinedly by the Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, the Technical University Darmstadt and the Philipps-University Marburg with funding from the DAAD programme Lehramt.international (teacher education international) and is accessible to anyone who is interested in partaking. No registration is necessary!

    Time: 18:00 – 20:00
    Your Lehramt.international teams of the JLU Gießen, TU Darmstadt, and Philipps-Universität Marburg.

    16.5 Parenting Ideals of Muslim Parents

    The refusal to participate in PE classes, the objection to sex ed in schools, wearing a headscarf, and the partially practiced tradition of arranged marriages repeatedly feed controversial discussions that do not remain outside of school walls. These kinds of happenings at school raise questions concerning parenting ideals of Muslim parents.

    In this lecture, Prof. Dr. Naime Çakir-Mattner, professor of Islamic theology with an emphasis on Muslim ways of life at the Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, offers an introduction to parenting ideals in Muslim influenced families and reflects them from a theological perspective.

    Prof. Dr. Naime Çakir-Mattner, JLU Gießen

    Project IMPACCT (International Mobility with Partners Abroad for Culturally Competent Teachers)

    9.6 Gender and Sexual Diversity at School – (Not) an Issue of Immigrant Youth?

    The question how and if one should work with the diversity of gender and sexuality should be dealt with pedagogically at school, takes up more and more space in teacher education. And that although the educational situation of LGBTQIA* adolescents is comparably well researched. In his lecture, Dr, Florian C. Klenk will be illuminating how teachers perceive different lifestyles in regards to sexual orientation or gender in a school context and what meaning they prescribe to them in accordance to their pedagogical actions.

    The basis is an empiric study conducted by him in the context of which teachers of different gender identities and sexualities were interviewed. Within the lecture a special emphasis will be put on culturally racist interpretations in which in a biased manner heteronormativity is seen as an issue of immigrant youth.

    Dr. Florian C. Klenk, Technische Universität Darmstadt

    Project PraxisPro (Professionalization of teacher education by the means of structured internationalization offers within the teaching degree at TU Darmstadt)

    21.6. Intercultural Differences as a Potential for Conflict and Resource in a Cooperative School Context

    Everyday school life is heavily influenced by children and adolescents with different cultural heritage. Here often dominates a viewpoint of deficits that highlights, for example, language deficits or difficulties to adapt. However, cultural differences can bear fruit as a resource that strengthens a sympathetic environment and the self-competence of immigrant youth.

    Group dynamical aspects that also serve as a foundation of intercultural conflicts at schools are at the center of the lecture of Dr. Jost Stellmacher from the Philipps-University Marburg. It is central to the development of adolescents to develop their own identity, and affiliations to social groups play a significant role in that development. An important one of these affiliations draws from cultural heritage / socialization. Ideas are supposed to be conveyed in which ways, from the standpoint of this theoretical tradition, intercultural conflicts in schools can be dealt with.

    Dr. Jost Stellmacher, Philipps-Universität Marburg 

    How cultural diversity can be put to practice together will be shown by Dr. Ursula Bertels by using the projects “Interkulturelle Streitschlichter:innen” (“Intercultural Mediators”) and “Kulturübersetzer:innen” (“Cultural Translators”) of the Vereins Ethnologie und Schule in Erwachsenenbildung (ESE) e.V. (Society for Ethnology and School in Adult Education): As cultural mediators, adolescents simplify the access to school environment for new children and advise their teachers by utilizing their multilingualism as well as their cultural knowledge. Even in social work in city districts positive positive effects of intercultural sensibilization of adolescents who worked as mediators become visible.

    Ethnologie und Schule in Erwachsenenbildung e.V. (society for Ethnology and School in Adult Education)

    Projekt LiMa (Lehramt international in Marburg) (Teacher Education international in Marburg)