Intercultural Teaching (Lehramt Interkulturell – LAIK)

Some 50% of the student teachers surveyed deem the presence of assistance or mentoring as being highly important when deciding on a stay abroad for their studies.¹

Other investigations² in recent years have revealed various positive effects of international mobility on student teachers’ personal development and intercultural expertise. It was frequently accepted that a supportive university framework is required to see an efficacious, profession-specific development.³

Digital and face-to-face

Against this background, a start was made in 2019 to conceive a system for comprehensive mentoring of and assistance for student teachers during stays abroad relating to their studies. LAIK (Lehramt Interkulturell – Intercultural Teaching) means that students at the University of Halle have since the end of 2020 not only been linguistically and interculturally prepared by means of both digital and face-to-face formats, they also have access to an online portfolio platform.

This is where elements of ‘blended mobility’ and the mentoring functions are located. During their stays, the students interact as peers with their lecturers at the University of Halle, with the mentors at the international institution and with other (foreign) students. Students document and reflect on their experiences, immerse themselves in an interest-based manner in issues relating to education and didactics and link these aspects with intercultural and inclusion-related topics.

LAIK concludes with follow-up activities after the students return from abroad. The skills acquired in the various dimensions (professional, educational, intercultural, personal) and the time spent on their international mobility are accredited on a certificate.

At the end of their stay, they very often talk about an increased self-confidence regarding their desired future occupation: student teacher Lea states, for example: ‘I had to take an active part in the tuition for my self-development’. LAIK creates synergetic links between the aforementioned positive effects of a stay abroad, the course contents and intercultural skills development, and thus makes a substantial contribution to the professionalisation of prospective teachers.

Personal experiences

The portfolios reflect very individual development processes; starting with the motives for their stay abroad and including the hopes, concerns and challenges that student teachers face. This was also the case for trainee teacher Hanna: ‘I hoped to learn about my own strengths and to enhance my self-assurance.’ Her fellow student teacher Martin anticipated ‘being able to learn as much as possible about the culture, schooling and language’ and thus suggested growth in intercultural expertise and educational success in dealing with situations characterised by multilingualism. At the end of their stay, they very often talk about an increased self-confidence that exerts a positive impact on their personal and vocational development. Student teacher Lea adds: ‘I generally became calmer and more self-confident before classes. It occurred to me how much I would still like to learn, and how much I still have to learn.’

¹ DAAD (2023): Merkmale und Bedingungsfaktoren von Auslandsaufenthalten im Lehramtsstudium Auswertung der Lehramtsdaten aus dem Projekt „Benchmark internationale Hochschule“ (BintHo), unter: https://static.daad.de/media/daad_de/pdfs_nicht_barrierefrei/der-daad/analysen-studien/2023_arbeitspapier_bintho_lehramt_fin.pdf 

² Siehe Zimmermann, J.; Neyer, F. J. (2013): Do we become a different person when hitting the road?Personality development of sojourners. In: Journal of personality and social psychology; oder Leutwyler, B., Mantel, C. & Tremp, P. (2011). Lokale Ausrichtung – internationalerAnspruch. Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung an Pädagogischen Hochschulen. In Beiträge zur Lehrerbildung, 29(1), 5-19. 105 (3), S. 515–530. DOI: 10.1037/a0033019 und auch Kercher, J. & Schifferings, M. (2019), Auslandsmobilität von Lehramtsstudierenden in Deutschland: Ein Überblick zur Datenlage und zu praktischen Umsetzungsbeispielen. In Ch. Falkenberg, N. Grimm & L. Volkmann (Hrsg.), Internationalisierung des Lehramtsstudiums. Modelle, Konzepte, Erfahrungen (S. 235–262). Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh. https://doi. Org/ 10. 30965/ 9783657728459_ 015. 

³ Leutwyler, B. & Lottenbach, S. (2011). Reflection on Normality: The Benefits of International Student Exchange for Teacher Education. In T. Goetz, G. Jaritz & F. Oser (Eds.), Pains and Gains of International Mobility in Teacher Education (p. 59–77). Boston, Taipei, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.