The reason for mentoring stays abroad
Even beyond the entire duration of the ‘Global Awareness for Future Teachers’ project, the Tübingen School of Education has always placed great emphasis on student exchange. Supporting student teachers from Tübingen and our partner universities in a comprehensive manner involved the School of Education developing the portfolio concept ‘Global Learning Abroad – Education in Exchange’. Its aim is to amalgamate the learning processes within global learning and the individual reflection on intercultural experiences into this portfolio course and incorporate it into the student teachers’ professionalisation process. This course is presented here as a good practice example for preparation/follow-up, mentoring and reflection on stays abroad as part of teacher training.
A section of the portfolio course involves individual analysis of the topic ‘Global Awareness – Education in Exchange’, which the students elaborate on their own in the context of short media projects. The following video is the result of one of these thematic projects in the portfolio course and shows international views regarding social and global challenges. Given the great question of what it means to be a teacher in a globally networked world, a Tübingen DAAD scholarship holder poses questions in an interview format to prospective and current teachers at our partner Aix-Marseille University.
Projects undertaken by course students
The portfolio as a methodical instrument
Substantive alignment
The course comprises two substantive sections: the students first independently complete individual portfolio assignments during their stay abroad. These involve both reflection assignments to help them process their personal intercultural experiences, but also theory-based knowledge acquisition assignments dealing with aspects including global awareness, global learning, global consciousness, inter-/transcultural theories, comparisons of global school systems, and many more.
Systematic mentoring of the knowledge acquired on this basis and reflection on the inherent experiences abroad secondly involves discussion of the school-related topics in the didactically guided co-teaching format, always with a view to global learning, global awareness and teacher training. Both in the online format involving students abroad and with the international students in Tübingen, they independently formulate the features of global awareness, global learning and inter-/transcultural skills based on their own deliberations, investigations and projects.
Student voices
As an exchange student, the portfolio class has been a great tool to help me express myself confidently, knowing that I am supported emotionally, knowing that my feelings are valid and welcome and that whatever that I express during class, I will not be judged but I will be heard.Mokoena, Limpho
Especially in the beginning of my stay abroad, I felt lost, and our regular meetings helped me a lot to stay on track and to stay motivated doing all the work. The course made me feel like my time abroad had a purpose other than only my personal development.Sieler, Fiona
The experience being abroad has opened my eyes on how pluralisation of knowledge looks like in day to day classroom. Being with students from different parts of the world changes how one views the world. The program has given me that opportunity to interrogate the world differently.Mdingi, Isasiphinkosi
I was very thankful for the scientific support and the texts on which we worked. The reading material and online assignment questions always set the perfect tone for each topic and pushed me to think more critically about the issues we were exploring.Teborg, Mareike
My experience in the portfolio course was an enriching international education experience. I was exposed to principles of effective teaching, guided by the German educational concept of ‘Bildung’. This changed my perspective of education into a more inclusive ecosystem form of education that considers teaching beyond the scope of pedagogical practices.Gcwensa, Siphelele