The aim of the Oldenburg teacher training programme is to train teachers for current and future challenges in schools that are not yet foreseeable and cannot be planned for. This requires prospective teachers to have an open, flexible attitude that enables them to react adaptively to changing school conditions by balancing a pedagogical approach to pupils on the one hand and a sound professionalism on the other in order to achieve teaching practice that is both appropriate to the target group and at the same time relevant. To this end, they can draw on a wide range of skills, knowledge and methods.

These include

• that students have both subject-specific and practical expertise;
• that they distinguish between specialised, didactic and educational science perspectives in order to systematically relate them to each other;
• that they continuously adapt teaching processes and didactic structures to the learning requirements and needs of the students by means of their own reflective diagnostics - in accordance with their reflective and research-based attitude and professionalism as a teacher;
• that they critically reflect on educational processes and processes of school and lesson development in order to realise cooperative and interdisciplinary school activities;
• that prospective teachers, aware of the necessary social transformations and global responsibility, use their teaching to empower children and young people to cope with current and future tasks in a sustainable way;
• that they are able to take on pedagogical responsibility in school practice in order to support pupils in a way that is equitable and in line with their needs and potential
• and that they are sensitive to diversity and the heterogeneous requirements of pupils in order to utilise these professionally as potential for inclusive school life.

All teacher training degree programmes are structured around components covering specialised subject-specific knowledge, subject-specific pedagogy and educational sciences. To ensure the greatest possible relevance to the subject area, the individual subject-specific pedagogy modules at the UOL are decentralised and integrated into the respective subjects within Schools I to V. In the curricula of all teacher training degree programmes, the training components comprising specialised knowledge, specialised pedagogy and educational sciences should be structurally interlinked and organised according to a spiral curriculum.

In their teaching and research, specialised disciplines, specialised didactics and educational sciences place particular emphasis on fostering a professional attitude and the development of competence in teacher training. The aim is to prepare teacher training students for the diverse tasks they will face in schools, so that, through their teaching practice, they can help shape the educational policy challenges of a changing society.

In keeping with the tradition of teacher training in Oldenburg, all teacher-training degree programmes are characterised by a close integration of theory and practice. At the University of Oldenburg (UOL), this integration of theory and practice is supported by a wide range of specific, practice-oriented modules, which are specifically prepared for, followed up on and supported as part of the course programme. In this way, theoretical content is systematically linked to its application in school practice, whilst teaching practice is reflected upon in a targeted, theory-based manner.

This enables teacher training students, throughout their entire course of study, to gain practical school experience in various learning contexts whilst cumulatively building up and expanding their knowledge and skills. In doing so, they gain an understanding of the school as a professional and practical environment from a teacher’s perspective and assess their motivation for the profession and their career choice.

The central elements of this process are the school placements in the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes, which constitute the compulsory practical components required to obtain a teaching qualification.

In particular, the teacher training programme in Oldenburg has teaching and learning spaces (OLELA) for numerous subjects. These are typically spaces where teacher training students teach small groups of pupils in short learning sequences, which they have previously developed under supervision in university courses. The implementation is then critically reflected upon and the methodological and didactic structure of the unit adapted. Research projects for Bachelor’s and Master’s theses can also be carried out in the OLELA. The teaching and learning spaces complement the school placements required as part of the degree programme by providing a further means of linking subject-specific and subject-didactic theory with practical learning and teaching experience. The OLELA are increasingly being integrated into the subjects of teacher training degree programmes.

To illustrate the implementation and distinctive features of the theory-practice spaces in Oldenburg’s teacher training, the BMBF project ‘Biography-oriented and Cross-Phase Teacher Training in Oldenburg’ – funded as part of the Quality Initiative for Teacher Training – (OLE+), the concept paper ‘Theory-Practice Links in Oldenburg’s Teacher Education’, which can be downloaded from this page, was produced.

Teacher training in Oldenburg is designed to span all stages of education and, through co-operation with schools and teacher training colleges in selected modules, is particularly closely integrated with the training region. In the dual-subject Bachelor’s degree programme with a focus on teacher training and in the Master of Education programmes, compulsory internships at regional schools of all types within the training region are an integral part of the curriculum.

At the University of Oldenburg (UOL), the systematic integration of the training phases is promoted in particular by involving practitioners from the school system or teacher training colleges in university courses. This particularly enhances the transition from the Master of Education degree programmes to the teaching practice placement.

In addition, the UOL has further forms of co-operation in the area of integrating theory and practice, which continuously influence the further development of teaching. These include, in particular, specific conference and event formats, cross-phase areas of work, committee formats and projects.

Our study programmes, counselling and support services promote the personal, biographical and professional development of teacher training students.

Teacher training at the UOL fosters the development of a professional mindset geared towards lifelong learning. The freedom of choice within the curricula allows students to set their own priorities for in-depth engagement with profession-specific competences and content.

Institutional support services and counselling on teacher training-specific topics are offered; self-organised study projects enable the independent and self-directed planning, utilisation and reflection on learning opportunities.

Particular emphasis is placed on the development of reflective, discursive and critical thinking skills based on subject-specific, subject-didactic and educational science competences. This includes raising prospective teachers’ awareness of the processes of their own professional development and of changes in schools and teaching practice. In this context, we regard the promotion of personal development and personal responsibility as key components of professional teacher training and of the subsequent responsibilities of the teaching profession.

Research-related modules are compulsory in degree programmes related to teaching. Research-based learning is integrated into specific practical school modules and research methodology modules and anchored in the curriculum. Modules with specific formats (e.g. in teaching-learning spaces) provide the framework for research-based professional learning. Self-organised study projects (e.g. for final theses) enable students to plan, design and carry out learning and research processes independently and on their own responsibility.

Teacher training in Oldenburg is characterised by a wide range of interdisciplinary research activities specifically related to teacher training. Our university has a 20-year tradition of structured support for early career teachers, in which interdisciplinary, cross-school and cross-disciplinary doctoral programmes have been carried out jointly by didactics and educational sciences. We thus offer graduates the opportunity to gain further academic qualifications in teacher training.

We regard active engagement with current social and educational policy issues as central to acting responsibly in future professional practice. Current societal challenges are not merely included in the curricula as a compulsory requirement in accordance with training regulations. In line with the priorities set in the specialised subject disciplines, subject didactics and educational sciences, selected societal and, in particular, education policy topics are also explored in depth across various modules.

Social and education policy issues require an interdisciplinary approach, which characterises teacher training in Oldenburg thanks to a culture of cross-subject and cross-school collaboration that has developed over decades.

This has given rise to collaborative networks that integrate and utilise the methods and ways of thinking from the various disciplines. This results in improved understanding across disciplinary boundaries.

The University of Oldenburg (UOL) supports processes of social and educational policy transformation from the perspective of reflective academic guidance. The aim is to equip graduates of Oldenburg’s teaching degree programmes with a reflective mindset and strategies so that, in their future teaching careers, they can actively help shape school and classroom development processes against the backdrop of ongoing societal and, in particular, education policy changes.

A key objective in the internationalisation of teacher training is for teacher training students across all types of school to acquire intercultural skills through study abroad or work placements abroad, in order to sharpen their awareness of current global and socially relevant issues and challenges.

All teacher training degree programmes generally offer a mobility window for stays abroad. This means that a semester of study or at least one of the compulsory teaching placements can be completed abroad. The UOL offers advisory services as well as specific information sessions (e.g. ‘Teaching abroad – teaching placement abroad’) for stays abroad as part of teacher training. Many of our academic staff supervise degree theses in combination with periods abroad and/or co-operations with international partners.