The Lehr:werkstatt is an alternative type of internship for students of the University of Mannheim who want to become a teacher. This long-term internship is meant for students of Teacher Education in the bachelor’s and master’s program as well as students of Economic and Business Education. In the Lehr:werkstatt, students work in tandem with a teacher over the course of an entire school year to organize and experience everyday school life . In various forms of team teaching, they can put themselves to the test and see what it’s like to teach in the classroom. Students, teachers, and schools alike can benefit from this alternative type of internship.
The close cooperation that is developed in the tandems is unique to the Lehr:werkstatt. In addition to the teaching subjects, the application forms also take into account the expectations, previous experiences, and personality traits of the applicants when matching the tandems. This person-specific matching process is the basic prerequisite for a trusting and constructive collaboration.
Students can …
- work intensively with an experienced teacher and gain valuable insights into the teaching profession and its everyday life.
- get to know school structures and topics from a teacher's perspective over the course of an entire school year.
- gather teaching experience and slowly familiarize themselves with the role of a teacher.
Teachers and schools can benefit in the following ways:
- The students support the teachers in the preparation and execution of lessons, as they are at the school all year round.
- The students make it possible to teach in a differentiated way in heterogeneous and large classes.
- Teachers are motivated by the new input they can gain from working closely with the students.
Credit: Lehr:werkstatt
Further information can be found on the central website of the Lehr:werkstatt. You can read, for example, what other students report about their experiences or why the Lehr:werkstatt also appeals to the participating teachers and the schools.
The research network also aims for accompanying research. In particular, the aim is to identify the evidence-based advantages of this internship type compared to conventional internships, but also where there is a need for further development. More information on accompanying research can be found on the website of the University of Tübingen: uni-tuebingen.de/einrichtungen/zentrale-einrichtungen/tuebingen-school-of-education-tuese/forschung/begleitforschung-lehrwerkstatt/
The Lehr:werkstatt in Baden-Württemberg is conducted in cooperation with the Amanda and Erich NEUMAYER STIFTUNG and its partners.