State strengthens teacher training

Science Minister Dr. Manja Schüle, Education Minister Steffen Freiberg as well as Prof. Dr. Andreas Borowski, Director of the Center for Teacher Training and Educational Research at the University of Potsdam, and Prof. Dr. Juliane Noack Napoles, Education Sciences and Director of the teacher training study programme at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, today presented a ten-point program in Potsdam to strengthen teacher training. Afterwards, Heiko Jahn, Manager of Wirtschaftsregion Lausitz GmbH, and Andreas Pfeiffer, Mayor of Senftenberg, launched the advertising campaign for teacher training at Senftenberg University as part of the image and location marketing campaign 'Die Lausitz. Crass area' started.

Science Minister Dr. Manja Schüle: "The shortage of teachers is the greatest educational challenge of the coming years. That's why we already presented the first plans in March to establish a teacher training program at the Senftenberg university site - because we need not only medical and railroad engineers in Lusatia, but also highly trained teachers. And that's why we are now following up with a ten-point program to strengthen teacher training in Brandenburg. Education experts nationwide are calling for more flexible and practical training - and we are the first state to deliver: Whether it's dual master's degrees, single-subject teachers, better integration of schools and universities, the introduction of vocational school teacher training or increased training for school social workers - we're taking on all areas. Our recipe for success: we are all pulling in the same direction. I would like to thank the Ministry of Education, the University of Potsdam and the BTU Cott-bus-Senftenberg for their excellent cooperation! One thing is clear: Our 10-point program will not solve the shortage of teachers in Brandenburg overnight. But it is a promise: We will make teacher education in Brandenburg a learning system - and we will keep up the pace."

Education Minister Steffen Freiberg: "Teacher education is moving at all levels. We are making every effort to be able to recruit enough teachers. Higher training capacities at universities play a key role in attracting well-trained teachers to our elementary schools in our own state. The teacher training center in Senftenberg is an outstanding example of how we in Brandenburg are thinking differently about training and continuing education and are redesigning it together with all those involved in order to meet the current challenges. Brandenburg's system of teacher training will be of high quality and flexibly aligned to the respective needs and will lead the way nationwide. Well-trained teachers lead to good teaching - that's what matters to us."

Prof. Dr. Andreas Borowski, Director of the Center for Teacher Education and Educational Research at the University of Potsdam: "The package of measures from the Ministry of Science and Education will strengthen teacher education in the state. We at the University of Potsdam also want to make our contribution. We hope that the closer cooperation between the schools and the university, as well as between the Brandenburg State Institute, which is currently being rebuilt, and the university will have a positive impact on teacher training at the university, as well as on the continuing education of teachers. I look forward to further cooperation, especially in the interest of Brandenburg's students."

Prof. Dr. Juliane Noack Napoles, educationalist and head of the teacher education study programme at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg: "The primary school teacher training study programme, which will start in Senftenberg in the winter semester 2023/24, aims to convey and enable innovative and contemporary primary school pedagogy. The experiences children have in elementary school shape their further learning and life - therefore primary school teachers are important guides and companions. In order to prepare them for this, practical orientation is essential throughout the entire course of study at the BTU. In the first and second semesters, students go to school once a week, whereby school practice and university teaching are reflexively interlinked. The students do not sit in lectures in which only alternative learning formats are discussed, but they experience these themselves in learning workshops and thus combine skills and knowledge. Teaching content in an appealing and motivating way is a central prerequisite for students to teach content in an appealing and motivating way in school. Senftenberg is very student-friendly. I am pleased that with the new study programme at this location and the internships we offer in our nearly one hundred partner schools, we have the opportunity to train young people in Lusatia for Lusatia."

The ten-point program can be found in the annex and is available at www.mwfk.brandenburg.de and www.mbjs.brandenburg.de. The campaign motifs can be downloaded at https://we.tl/t-4xsbM7Phtd (Source: MWFK).

The first student teachers at the BTU location Senftenberg for the subject combination German and Mathematics will already begin their studies in Senftenberg in the winter semester 2023/24. In the coming years, the range of courses and the number of student places are to be significantly expanded. The study and examination regulations are already in place, and the first professor and Staff Member positions have been filled. An additional 5.21 million euros will be made available this year and 7.1 million euros next year to expand the capacity of teacher training. A significant portion of the funds will be used to develop the teacher training program at the Senftenberg site. Further information on the study program is available at www.b-tu.de/lehramt-primarstufe-bed.