Welcome activities at Universität HamburgInternationalization of Teacher Education

27 September 2023, by Gießelmann/Newsroom-Redaktion

Photo: UHH/Wett

Conference participants: Internationalization of Teacher Education

To do justice to cultural and linguistic diversity in the classroom, future teachers need to cultivate awareness and skills for diversity-sensitive lesson plans. At an international networking conference at the Faculty of Education at Universität Hamburg, different ideas about and aspects of internationalization in teacher education will be discussed from 26 to 29 September.

To strengthen cooperation and academic exchange, roughly 30 guests from 11 countries will be attending the International of Teacher Education conference. Two of Universität Hamburg’s strategic partner universities will also be there: Indiana University (US) and the University of Groningen (Netherlands).

Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, the University’s president, will open the conference on 26 September. He emphasized that Universität Hamburg has made the training of teachers a priority and that its internationalization is of central importance.

Program on diversity and internationalization

At the heart of this 4-day conference are a host of workshops and talks on topics such as diversity, internationalization, and self-reflection upon teachers’ conduct and their intersectionality. All of the partner universities are contributing to the program, ensuring a multitude of viewpoints and experiences.

Following the networking conference, guests will visit several Hamburg schools, giving conference participants insight into the specifics of the Hamburg school system.

New ideas for teacher training in Hamburg

This is the second year in a row that the Internationalization of Teacher Education conference is taking place in Hamburg. The number of participants has significantly increased since last year, not only due to the growing importance of internationalization in teacher education but also thanks to the growth of Universität Hamburg’s partner network.

The networking conference is taking place as part of the Diversity Contexts in Teacher Education (DiCoT), which is being funded through the Lehramt.International program run by DAAD with money from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The project goal is to internationalize the orientation internship in teacher training programs via a combination of international internships and opportunities in Hamburg (“internationalization@home”). It is a joint initiative between the Faculty of Education and the Hamburg Center for Teacher Education (ZLH).

Moreover, in the last few years, the Faculty of Education has acquired funding for several projects that foster the internationalization of teacher education and prepare future teachers accordingly. Projects such as the Tricontinental Teacher Training project or the Next Generation Literacies projects (part of the Next Generation Partnerships), will further strengthen cooperation at faculty and university levels while also initiating new cooperation with international partner universities.