Zwei Schülerinnen sitzen in einem Klassenzimmer.  Eine hat lange offene Haare, die andere trägt ein apricotfarbenes Kopftuch.

First School Placement

When is the first school placement in the bachelor’s program in Teacher Education?

The first school placement in the bachelor’s program in Teacher Education is part of the second subject-specific semester of the bachelor’s program. The students spend three weeks at a secondary school or a vocational school and attend a seminar course at university (preparation/revision) for career orientation.

Participating in the “Lehr:werkstatt” is an alternative to the first school placement. The “Lehr:werkstatt” is a new type of internship during which students (“Lehr:werker”) work in tandem with a teacher (“Lehr:mentor”) over the course of an entire school year.

What are the goals of the internship?

The internship offers students the option to review the choice of program and their prospective career. In the accompanying seminar course at university, we look at and reflect on the motives for choosing the program and the career, the characteristics of the teaching profession and good teaching practice.

The Chair of Psychology of Education and the Center for Teacher Education and Educational Innovation (ZLBI) design, organize, conduct, and evaluate the seminar course, which accompanies the first school placement.

Registration for the internship: How it’s done

Three separate registrations are required for the first school placement in the bachelor’s program in Teacher Education.

  1. For the seminar course at university, which accompanies the first school placement, you need to register in the portal of the university during the period where students register for the courses of the subsequent semester.
  2. Please register for the examination for the first school placement for future teachers at the Gymnasium in the current semester’s exam registration period. Please note: There is only one examination date per semester.
  3. The registration for the three-week placement at a school needs to be done via the central online platform of the Ministry for Education and Cultural Affairs. The link to the registration platform is www.orientierungspraktikum-bw.de. The earliest you can register for the internship at the school is six months before you visit the school. For students of the University of Mannheim, this means that they can start registering from the beginning of December to mid-December of the previous year.

Please observe the information on the first school placement for the bachelor's program in Teacher Education for Gymnasium provided on the online platform, including the information on the required protection against measles!

Here you will find a map of all schools in Germany.

Advising and contact

Svenja Kaiser

Svenja Kaiser

Academic staff member, coordinator for the Lehr:werkstatt project
University of Mannheim
Center for Teacher Education and Educational Innovation
Schloss – Raum EO 082
68161 Mannheim
Consultation hour(s):
I offer digital consultations for the Lehr:werkstatt. Please contact me at kaiser@zlbi.uni-mannheim.de.
OStR Dr. Georg Matthias Schneider

OStR Dr. Georg Matthias Schneider

Managing Director and Head of Teacher Education
University of Mannheim
Center for Teacher Education and Educational Innovation
Schloss, Ehrenhof Ost, EO 085
Ehrenhof Ost – Room EO 085
68161 Mannheim
Consultation hour(s):
Appointments for virtual consultations are possible. Please send an email to schneider(at)zlbi.uni-mannheim.de.