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University of Flensburg: Partners in Mobility

Students’ perspectives on stays abroad as part of teacher education

Activities to make mobility more attractive

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Student survey

Over a three-year period, undergraduate education studies students at Europa-Universität Flensburg were asked to complete annual online surveys to ascertain their interests in study-related stays abroad, the types of stay, and perceived obstacles to such stays. The data was analysed quantitatively. Just over half of students said they would like to complete a stay abroad, and the survey data indicated a number of differences between these students and those who were not interested in international mobility.

The data indicated moderate to strong differences for: study programme, subject knowledge, professional qualifications, personal development, and personal circumstances.

Differences with a medium to large effect were found in areas such as study components, specialized knowledge, professional qualifications, personal development, and personal circumstances.

International mobility: survey findings, by theme

Study programme

Students not interested in mobility were more likely than those interested in mobility to say that a stay abroad was not an essential element of teacher education, and also see such stays as being less common.

Subject knowledge

Students interested in mobility are more likely to expect a stay abroad to improve their subject knowledge.

Professional qualifications

Compared to students who are interested in stays abroad, non-mobile students saw less benefit in terms of professional qualifications, improving chances of finding a first job, improving long-term career chances, or being of use later in their careers.

Personal development

While both groups expect stays abroad to benefit their personal development and independence, students who are not interested in such stays attach less importance to such stays than those who are interested.

Personal circumstances

Both groups perceive being separated from their home lives as a barrier, but students who are not interested in mobility are more likely to hold this view. In addition to this, they are also more likely to see stays abroad as being difficult to reconcile with private commitments.

Conclusions and actions

The Partners in Mobility project conclude from the survey data that the following actions would make stays abroad more attractive to teacher education students:

  • improved communication from the university on the value of a stay abroad to study programmes in educational sciences
  • intensive emphasis on the positive elements of study-related stays abroad for teacher education students, focusing on subject knowledge, personal development and associated professional qualifications for all teachers
  • offering flexible routes to mobility with low barriers to entry with a particular focus on short stays and ‘internationalisation@home’, with advice for students1,2
  • greater internationalisation of education studies curricula
  • legislation to recognise stays abroad as part of teaching practice and for school staffing purposes
  • create opportunities for students who have returned from abroad to discuss fears and concerns about stays abroad and develop potential solutions with one another

Networking and exchange

Since 2020, there has been a collaboration among the Lehramt.International projects ILAP (PH Weingarten), IMPACCT (JLU Gießen), Partners in Mobility (Europa-Universität Flensburg), and UNITE Cologne (Universität zu Köln). In the following years, additional projects joined, including Humboldt International Teacher Training (HU Berlin), IDEAS, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, and INVITE (PH Ludwigsburg). This partnership has resulted in administrative exchanges, joint training sessions and the opening of events for students and staff, as well as collaborative lectures and publications.

 

Further information & contacts

Project homepage

Project partners

Contact

Dr Kathrin Wild: kathrin.wild@uni-flensburg.de 

Bibliography

  • 1Wild, Kathrin / Nierste, Wiebke / Kaiser, Katrin / Dasouqi, Nina (2023): Virtual Internationalization in Teacher Education. Experiences from Four Projects Conducted at German Higher Institutions. In: Mammadova, Tamilla (ed.): Academic Mobility through the Lens of Language and Identity, Global Pandemics, and Distance Internationalization. Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Publisher: Routledge. pp. 256-270. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003366942-25.
  • 2Wild, Kathrin (awaiting publication): Student Education Students and Virtual Mobility Formats – Insights from a Student Survey on the Flexibilization of Internationalization. In: Brück-Hübner, Annika, Müller, Ulrike Beate & Seifert, Anja (eds.) (2024). (Virtual) Internationalization of Teacher Education – Theories, Concepts and Practical Approaches to construct a Future-oriented Education of Teachers. Bielefeld: wbv. pp. 111-122. https://www.wbv.de/shop/Teachers-Education-Students-and-Virtual-Mobility-Formats-Insights-from-a-Student-Survey-on-the-Flexibilization-of-Internationalization-I77352W011