Innovative and practical for high-quality digitally supported subject teaching

Stuttgart/Tübingen, 13.03.2024

Criticism of the slow progress of digitalization in Germany's schools continues unabated. Numerous recent studies have shown that schools in this country have a lot of catching up to do in terms of digital equipment and also with regard to the culture of digitality in teaching and learning. The two Schools of Education in Tübingen and Stuttgart-Ludwigsburg decided that this did not have to remain the case and applied for financial support with their joint concept for a unique postdoctoral college as part of a call for proposals from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Arts to evaluate the schools. And they were successful! The first cooperative postdoctoral college in Germany that specifically addresses the needs of early career researchers with a doctorate and practical experience in schools was approved.

The first cohort of the postdoctoral college has now begun its work with TEIFUN, which was officially launched at the beginning of March in the presence of representatives from the respective rectorates and the Ministry of Science at the Professional School of Education's office in Stuttgart. In order to be able to react flexibly to the major challenges of the 21st century in teacher training, the college will change its thematic focus every six years. With its focus on "Technologiegesetützte Innovationen in Fachspezifischen Unterrichtssettings" ("Technology-enhanced innovations in subject-specific teaching settings") - TEIFUN for short - the focus over the next six years will be on the important topic of "Education and AI in the 21st century". At the heart of TEIFUN is the question of how technology-supported innovations can best contribute to an actual improvement in subject-specific teaching. This clearly school-related focus, which the cohorts following TEIFUN will also have, characterizes the college in a special way.

A total of six national and international colleagues have been recruited for the TEIFUN research projects. In their projects, the early career researchers are tackling teaching topics such as writing skills, listening comprehension in foreign language acquisition and the integration of translation software in languages that teachers are not familiar with. The latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality are used, the prototypes developed are tested in the classroom and their future use in the classroom is optimized through appropriate research. During their six-year research period, the fellows are expected to complete their habilitation in order to be appointed to professorships in subject didactics or educational science. In this way, the postdoctoral college also makes a decisive contribution to teacher training in the long term.

Ministerial Director Dr. Hans Reiter from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Arts, which is permanently funding the cooperative postdoc college as part of the state's academic strategy for the future, Vice-Rector Professor Peter Grathwohl from the University of Tübingen and Rector Professor Jörg Keßler from the Ludwigsburg University of Education gave the college words of support and wished the early career researchers perseverance and success in their ambitious projects.

The Stuttgart director of the college, Professor Christine Sälzer, was pleased to note: "School education is one of the central issues of our time and at the same time a requirement for teacher training. With the cooperative postdoctoral college, a format has been created that creates a long-term academic environment for excellent early career researchers rather than a short-term project, enabling them to develop an academic profile and put their research at the service of teaching development."

Professor Thorsten Bohl, Director of TEIFUN in Tübingen, also expressed his delight at the start of the college: "The profile of the postdoc college and the cross-location cooperation between the participating Schools of Education are unique in Germany. We are also delighted to have six excellent postdocs, whom we were able to recruit in a complex process. After a long period of preparation, we can now finally get started."