Teacher Education and School Development
How can students, teachers, and school administrators be supported in acquiring competencies? How important are opportunities for practice and feedback from experts and peers for acquiring competencies? How can video- and online-based approaches be effectively used in teacher education?We address these and similar questions in the School Pedagogy and School Development Research Area.
- Modeling, Explaining, Experimenting, and Receiving Feedback: Studies on the Acquisition of Core Practices in the Training of Prospective Teachers
- Trico School Development and Leadership: Building a Network for School Development and Leadership
- V-Reflect and V-Feedback: Studies on the Effectiveness of Online and Classroom-Video-Based Video Feedback During Teacher Candidates’ School Practicums.
- PLUS: Practice-oriented learning at the university school: Development of a pilot degree programme in teacher training based on the Core Practice approach, involving the establishment of a university school as a venue for teaching, learning and research
Project PLUS – Practice-Oriented Learning at the University School
New PLUS Project – Practice-Oriented Learning at the University School has been launched
The PLUS project, which is funded by ‘Die Welt ist mein Campus’ (funding amount: 3.4 million euros), has been running since 1 July 26. We are breaking new ground in the field of teacher training:
Establishing a pilot degree programme focusing on practice-oriented learning using Core Practices from the very first semesterProfessionalising teachers in line with the Core Practices approachThe Leuphana University School as a learning environment for evidence-based practice, in which we utilise and explore new possibilities for Core Practices training (e.g. virtual reality simulation or video feedback) and explore them; supporting the transformation process at partner schools from Year 1 to Year 13 (school development, initial and continuing professional development, empirical educational research)
On 3 November 2026, Carsten Milde (Ministry of Education, Lower Saxony) will give a presentation from 14:15 to 16:45 on the topic: “School development and the process of creating space for autonomy in Lower Saxony: strengthening personal responsibility, ensuring quality” in room C40.256.
We look forward to an open discussion about the project. Prof. Dr. Marc Kleinknecht is available as your contact for this.
Further information on the PLUS project can be found on this page.
Project- and Researched-Based Seminar on Campus and University Schools
The seminar “What makes a good campus and university school? How can they be further developed?” examines, over the course of three semesters, what distinguishes good campus and university schools. In the first semester, using the ‘research-based learning’ teaching format, students were given the opportunity to network with school leaders and teachers, plan joint projects and gain insights from guest speakers into successful school projects and visions for the school of the future. International perspectives and those from research into teaching quality – such as the lectures by Prof. em. Urban Fraefel (Switzerland) and Prof. Dr Dr h.c. em. Eckhard Klieme (Frankfurt) – were also incorporated.
In the second semester, we will examine the projects that have emerged at our campus schools, which are designed to further develop the schools and facilitate the professional development of the students. The final highlight of the summer: Kathrin Erdmann (NDR) spoke on 3 July 2026 at 2 pm in Lecture Theatre 3 about schools and teacher training in Japan.
A University School for Lüneburg
In Lüneburg, plans for northern Germany’s first university school are taking shape. Leuphana University Lüneburg and numerous school heads in the city are championing the initiative.
University schools are not a new concept – yet new sites have recently been established in Dresden and Cologne, for example. What expectations are placed on university schools today? What challenges do headteachers, teachers and academics face when establishing such a school?
We have set out to discuss these questions together with headteachers and representatives of the city, and to develop ideas for a sustainable university school.
You can find out more about the idea of establishing a university school in Lüneburg here.
Perspectives on the School of the Future
We asked: How do experts envision the school of the future, and how can academia and the field work together to shape innovation and transformation? A university-affiliated school would be one possibility. That’s why we also wanted to know: How can a school of the future be created at the university that combines research, education, professional development, and excellent school development?
Production: Leuphana Media Studio of the Innovation Communities and the Department of Teacher Education and School Development
Exploring New Paths in Teacher Education—Practice-and Research-Oriented Learning at the University School
Building on the successfully implemented concept of campus schools, Leuphana University is currently developing ideas for establishing a university school and for designing a new pilot degree programme with a focus on practice-oriented learning in line with the Core Practice approach. This approach aims to develop key practical skills such as explaining subject-specific content, designing feedback processes, building a respectful teacher-pupil relationship, and assessing learning processes and outcomes. The project is investigating the extent to which a university school can serve as a practical teaching context for testing new technological, methodological and didactic approaches (e.g. virtual reality, systematic video feedback, microteaching formats) in teacher training. The aim is to empirically investigate and further develop the effectiveness of these methods in order to find evidence-based solutions to the challenges facing teacher training. At the same time, a university school is to be established and used as a research field for empirical educational research, with a view to systematically improving the quality of teacher training.
To address these issues, various initiatives have already been launched at Leuphana University.
Development Team for the Campus and University School at Leuphana
Within the interdisciplinary development team “Campus and University School at Leuphana” (ECUL), researchers, school heads, students and other stakeholders are working together on sustainable and innovative ideas for the university school and a potential organisational, legal, educational and pedagogical framework.
On 16 September 2025, the team met for the first time as part of Leuphana’s Communicorn Conference and, drawing on the expertise of Prof. Dr Martin Heinrich from Bielefeld University, developed initial proposals.
On 17 February 2026, we briefed school heads in Lüneburg on the university school and encouraged them to get involved.
On 23 February 2026, we interviewed Prof. Dr Christian Timo Zenke of RWTH Aachen University about national and international networks of university schools.
If you are interested or have any questions regarding the development team, please feel free to contact Prof. Dr. Marc Kleinknecht.