Teacher training at the university has developed significantly over the past eight years - also thanks to the recently completed OLE+ programme.
More practical experience for prospective teachers, new committees to better organise the teacher training programme and a new information portal for everyone: these are just some of the latest developments in teacher training in Oldenburg. They all came about as part of the OLE+ project (biography-oriented and cross-phase teacher training in Oldenburg), which has been funded by the federal and state programme "Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung" since 2016.
An important process initiated by OLE+ was the realignment of the University's Centre for Teacher Education - Didactic Centre (DiZ), says project manager Isabel Müskens, Head of the Department for Study Affairs. In its new form, the DiZ has been bundling the activities of Oldenburg's teacher training in the five Schools with teaching degree programmes since 2019. Its bodies include a Commission for Teacher Education, a Council for Research and a Council for Teaching. According to Müskens, the reorganisation has led to more efficient coordination between the Schools and overarching topics can be planned centrally. A newly established research academy also networks research projects on teacher training and supports interdisciplinary cooperation.
The improved organisation is also visible in the new "Teacher Training Information Portal", a website that has been online since the end of November. "All information for various target groups, such as prospective students, students, teachers and teaching staff, is available here in one place," says project team member Julia Sobing. Previously scattered materials are now easier to find, such as concepts for teaching series for all subjects and school types, open educational resources, podcasts and films with information on teacher training programmes.
Gaining teaching experience early on
An important focus of OLE+ was to more closely interlink theory and practice in the teaching degree programmes, for example through increased cooperation with extracurricular learning venues such as museums. The project team is particularly proud of having further developed the Oldenburg Teaching-Learning Spaces, or OLELA for short. "These courses have been an integral part of our teacher training for many years and make an important contribution to the professionalisation of our students," emphasises Müskens. Prospective teachers are given the opportunity to gain teaching experience at an early stage in the teaching-learning rooms.
Three teaching-learning rooms have been added as part of OLE+, and the programme has also found a permanent location at the university: in 2023, three new multifunctional rooms were set up on the ground floor of Building A3, where student teachers have the opportunity to try out teaching concepts they have created themselves with pupils. Corresponding modules are offered in ten subjects - including Philosophy, Biology, Computing Science, Physics and Economics Education. "The subject-specific breadth of the teaching-learning rooms in Oldenburg is something special," says Müskens.
OLE+ has also helped to incorporate overarching topics such as inclusion, media didactics, support diagnostics and language-sensitive teaching into the curricula of the teaching degree programmes. In addition, the university offers relevant further training courses to trained teachers via the DiZ. "What sets us apart in Oldenburg is our strong networking with the study seminars and regional schools," emphasises Müskens - another point that helps to prepare students as well as possible for their everyday academic appointments at school.
