Technische Universität Braunschweig: ‘Go out, Come in’

Faculty-led programs as a negotiating basis for exchange places

Internationalising exchange structures

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Internationalisation programme

By choosing to study in Germany, [...] you’ll not only enhance your academic and professional skills but also broaden your perspective on global citizenship. It is important to strengthen cultural relationships between countries [...].
University of Tennessee student at Martin and participant in Maymester 2024 at TU Braunschweig: Elevator pitch for Maymester 2025

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.

Successful implementation

Two faculty-led programmes have arisen from the activities carried out so far, one with the University of Rhode Island (URI) and the ‘Maymester’ with the University of Tennessee at Martin. In June 2023, Dr Rabia Hos (URI) and Roksolana Pleshkanovska (TUBS) ran the ‘Comparative International Education Study Abroad’ programme including a course on ‘Teaching Multicultural Populations against the Background of Cultural Otherness and Ongoing Digital Transformation’. May 2024 saw the ‘Inclusive Education’ Maymester with a course of the same name, led by Dr Clinton Smith (UTM) and Dr Olga Fert (TUBS). The ‘Comparative and Multicultural Education’ programme and course took place in June 2024 under the leadership of Dr Rabia Hos (URI) and Prof. Carmen Becker (TUBS).

Dr. Clinton Smith
Thank you for allowing us to visit your school and your students. We appreciate the opportunity to learn more about inclusion in German schools. It was a very insightful and informative time.
Dr Clinton Smith, Chair of the Department of Educational Studies and Professor of Special Education, Guestbook entry at a placement school during Maymester 2024 at TU Braunschweig

Conclusions and next steps

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.

Further information & contacts

US partner universities and faculties that have co-hosted short programmes:

Contact

Prof Rüdiger Heinze
Professor für Amerikanistische Kultur- und Literaturwissenschaft
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Bienroder Weg 80
38106 Braunschweig
+49 (0) 531-391-8714
r.heinze@tu-bs.de