First year of the programme for refugee teachers in its final phase

For almost a year now, 24 refugee teachers from Afghanistan, Armenia, Guinea, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria have been taking part in the “Lehrkräfte Plus” programme at Bielefeld University with the aim of qualifying to work in German schools. Today (2/7/2018), Yvonne Gebauer (FDP), Minister of Schools and Education for North-Rhine Westphalia, visited the pioneer project in Bielefeld. In the final phase of the first year, she spoke with participants, coordinators, representatives of Bielefeld University, the cooperation partner, the Bertelsmann Foundation, contacts from schools offering internships, representatives of the Detmold and Arnsberg district governments, and other cooperation partners about successes, challenges and prospects.

Education Minister Yvonne Gebauer thanked all those involved for their great commitment and declared, “Lehrkräfte Plus” makes an important contribution to integration by giving refugee teachers the opportunity to qualify in their profession. I am particularly impressed by the participants’ great willingness to get involved and establish their livelihoods.”

“The participants are currently mastering an intensive and varied programme in order to be able to apply their skills as teachers in German schools as well. Their continuous training in theory and practice in combination with individual advice and counselling by the programme managers is a decisive factor,” says Professor Dr.-Ing Gerhard Sagerer, Rektor of Bielefeld University.
 
Dr Jörg Dräger, board member of the Bertelsmann Foundation, had nothing but praise for the project, “The teachers in the programme are highly motivated to work in a school again. They can also use their language skills and experience to build bridges to pupils and parents with a refugee background. The diversity in the classrooms should also be reflected in the staff rooms.”

Bielefeld School of Education’s 12-month programme is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Schools and Education NRW, the Bertelsmann Foundation and the municipal integration centres. Participants raise their existing knowledge of German to C1 level at Bielefeld University’s German language learning centre PunktUm. German language skills of at least B1 level are  required in order to take part. In addition, they expand their subject and teaching skills. Afterwards – the current participants are in this phase – they go to schools in the region and practise teaching under the supervision of experienced mentors.
 
In 2017, Bielefeld University’s “Lehrkräfte Plus” was the first further training programme for refugee teachers in NRW. Project management is in the hands of Dr. Renate Schüssler, Kristina Purrmann is project coordinator. The programme at Bielefeld University is designed to extend over three years. There were 270 applicants for the first round which started in August 2017. The second group of participants in the programme starts in September this year. In April 2018, the sister programme bearing the same name began at the Ruhr-University Bochum.

Further information is available online at:
•    The programme’s homepage: http://www.bised.uni-bielefeld.de/LKplus/LKplus (in German)
•    Press release on the launch of the programme (31 August 2017): https://ekvv.uni-bielefeld.de/blog/uninews/entry/start_of_lehrkr%C3%A4fte_plus_new

Contact:
Dr. Renate Schüssler, Bielefeld University
Bielefeld School of Education, project manager “Lehrkräfte Plus”
Telephone: 0049 521 106-4234
Email: bised-LKplus@uni-bielefeld.de

Angela Müncher
Project manager Bertelsmann Foundation
Telephone: 0049 5241 8181424
Email: angela.muencher@bertelsmann-stiftung.de