Faculty-led programs as a negotiating basis for exchange places

In the course of the ‘Go out, Come in’ project to promote the internationalisation of teacher education at Technische Universität Braunschweig (TUBS), faculty-led short programmes have already proved their success as promising ways of internationalising exchange structures. The programmes forge links between sustainable collaboration structures and an attractive programme of ‘internationalisation at home’. Each programme is tailored to both partners’ curricula with regard to time and content and contains an academic component, a practical component and a cultural programme.

Academia and practice

The academic component consists of a course which in all programmes carried so far has been based on international collaborative teaching. One lecturer from each partner university and one from the Technische Universität Braunschweig collaborate to develop a syllabus for the joint seminar. The focus is on networking lecturers who share research interests. The practical component involves placements in schools and visits to other institutions which fit the theme of the course. Participants shadow teachers, observe lessons, discuss their findings and reflect on what they have learned. The cultural component includes a tour of the city, visits to Berlin and the Harz Mountains, and other activities such as visiting a football stadium and a barbecue.

The collaborations are designed to ensure that the programmes can be integrated into each partner’s curriculum and operate on multiple levels at the same time. In future, there is the potential to set up a four-week programme to take place at each of the collaborating universities.

Alongside the goal of creating sustainable collaborations, the faculty-led programmes create opportunities to promote internationalisation@home. For lecturers, these include teaching and co-teaching jointly developed courses, and students benefit from participating in classes and intercultural exchanges in the lecture theatre.