A completely different type of school internship abroad

Teaching Across Borders

The TAB concept

Teaching Across Borders (TAB) is our most prized asset in the Lehramt.International vault. In line with internationalisation at home it also offers teaching degree students who are less mobile the opportunity to internationalise their teacher training. TAB is based on the concept of lesson studies and originated during the pandemic, when regular internships in schools were only feasible to a limited extent.

Video interview with Professor Heloise Sathorar

Schedule and activities

Three workshops a year enable our students to get to know the partner universities in South Africa, the Netherlands and Germany. There is an initial online kick-off session in which the prospective teachers are introduced to the various educational contexts and reciprocally explain their school system, followed by the formation of groups involving members from a mix of countries. These groups then each determine a topic for which they will subsequently produce a lesson plan. This also involves a discussion regarding their respective understanding of what constitutes ‘good teaching’ and how it is prepared.

Their work is only undertaken in the workshops (fosters motivation). Between the workshops, the students arrange informal appointments on a regular basis to gain insights into everyday life in the different countries and thus get to know each other better. The intention is that they should take their smartphones and remain in contact during a visit to a South African supermarket, a German café or a school in the Netherlands for example. Coupled with conversations, this results in greater awareness regarding the diversity of living and working conditions in the three countries – alongside the didactic components this is the most important objective of the event.

Highlights and results

The second workshop sees the groups formulating a lesson plan that usually involves an interdisciplinary topic. The TAB lecturers are on hand in the respective break-out rooms during this work phase to assist the groups with any uncertainties. A highlight of the TAB series is the third workshop, which where possible, is organised as a hybrid event so that the majority of students can finally meet each other face-to-face in one of the partner countries. The final workshop involves the students presenting their lesson plans to a panel of local teaching staff who assess whether the plan would have survived a ‘genuine’ class. Ideally, this is followed by a discussion concerning specific aspects of lesson planning.

Advantages and perspectives

Teaching Across Borders improves foreign language skills and hones an intersectional awareness of diversity among student teachers. It also trains them in designing lessons and enables the all important broader view that is crucial to reflection and educational processes. Their change of perspective makes the students more flexible when planning their own lessons and dealing with a heterogeneous class. They also incidentally acquire methodical skills relating to lesson planning in the narrower sense, but also beyond that in dealing with digitisation due to the digital-hybrid structure of TAB. Its low thresholds and opportunities for ‘at home’ participation enable us to reach a wide range of students, and we plan to expand the format in the future.

A woman participates in a conference using a laptop.

Universität Oldenburg

If you love meeting new people from around the world and gaining new perspectives, go join the TAB community.

Friederike Ulses, student in the context of Teaching Across Borders

Further information & contacts

Project homepage

Contact

Tina Grummel
International Office, Project Coordinator
tina.grummel@uni-oldenburg.de
Tel.: +49 (0)441 798 2457