The area of Teacher Education needs to ensure ongoing doctoral research especially in the field of subject didactics. Once they finish their 18-month practical in-school internship, though, graduates of teacher training tend to lose contact with their alma mater. To make sure enough teachers return to academic studies and satisfy the need for doctoral research in certain badly needed areas, the University of Bremen has therefore come up with a concept that is as innovative as it is unique: A program called “Duale Promotion”. The program essentially combines the Referendariat – the two-year period of in-school teaching practice trainee teachers are required to complete after graduating from university – with a doctoral project. The aim is to recruit more doctoral students in the field of educational sciences and especially in subject didactics. “Facing an increasingly heterogeneous student body, schools have a growing need for scientifically grounded school and teaching development”, says one of the coordinators of the project, Professor Andreas Grünewald. This is where the “Duale Promotion” program comes in. The first six fellows recently attended a welcome event held in Haus der Wissenschaft in the company of Bremen’s Senator for Science, Professor Eva Quante-Brandt, as well as leading representatives of teacher education at the University of Bremen.
Close cooperation with schools
The idea is to link doctoral research projects as closely as possible to the practical needs of schools, and thereby have pressing issues of day-to-day teaching approached by university-level research. The fellows will be concentrating on the subjects of Mathematics, Spanish, Art, German, Biology, and Music. The program gives them the opportunity to pursue their own experience-based interests in the area of school development and teaching methods together with the University. The government of the Federal State of Bremen supports the project and even had to introduce amendments to legal regulations in order to accommodate it. Bremen’s Senator for Science, Health and Consumer Protection especially welcomes the push for more research in the area of subject didactics: “The ‘Duale Promotion’ offers graduates of teacher education an exceptional opportunity to combine their Referendariat with obtaining a doctorate. It’s a great incentive for them to continue their research. I think we can safely assume this program will ensure sufficient research will be done in the area of teacher education in future.”
What does the program entail?
The Duale Promotion is a four-year program. The fellows spend the first ten months developing the concept for their research projects in close cooperation with the schools hosting their Referendariat. After this, they move on to complete their practical teaching internship, during which they collect the requisite data for their projects. The almost two remaining years are spent processing the research results. Over the whole period, the doctoral candidates are embedded in a Research Training Group supervised by the University together with Landesinstitut für Schule [State institute for teacher education and further training]. The fellowships are funded by the University of Bremen as the university’s own share within the framework of the program “Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung” financed by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research. The “Duale Promotion” program was developed by the University of Bremen’s Creative Unit “Subject-related Educational Processes in Transformation”, which is funded within the frame of the Excellence Initiative.
If you would like to have more information, feel free to contact:
University of Bremen
Creative Unit FaBiT
Prof.Dr. Andreas Grünewald
Phone: ++49 421 218 68400
email: gruenewaldprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Zentrum für Lehrerbildung (University’s Center for Teacher Education)
Prof. Dr. Sabine Doff
Tel.: +49 421 218-68170
E-Mail: doffprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Dr. Regine Komoss
Tel.: +49 421 218-61900
E-Mail: rkomossprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
