PLUS
PRACTICE-ORIENTED LEARNING AT THE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL
What is PLUS?
The PLUS project is reimagining teacher education to make it more practice-oriented and research-based!
What makes a good teacher today? Is it the ability to engage in dialogue, build relationships, and drive innovative change in schools? How can students develop the skills to take action when academic learning and practical experience are systematically linked from the very beginning, and students begin testing their skills in everyday school life starting in their first semester? The PLUS project is developing a new model for teacher education in which scientifically grounded professional development and practical testing and practice at a university school go hand in hand from the very beginning.
What makes PLUS special?
The idea of the university school is modeled after the concept of the university hospital: Here, aspiring doctors gain practical experience in an environment that combines clinical care, medical research, and teaching. They acquire practical professional skills under scientific guidance—directly through real-world applications. Students, researchers, and patients all benefit. Applied to teacher education, this means that a university school integrates school development, professional development, and practice-oriented educational research. Here, too, all stakeholders benefit: students, teacher candidates, and academia.
At the heart of PLUS is not simply “more practical experience,” but the reflective integration of practice into teacher education. This approach is also known as practice-based teacher education. An important component is what are known as Core Practices—key activities of effective teaching, such as building relationships with students, explaining new concepts, providing feedback, or moderating discussions. These are specifically practiced in the university school’s real-world classroom setting and supported by the latest technological tools (such as virtual reality simulations or video feedback).
The participating schools benefit directly: Through continuous exchange between teachers, students, academia, and the city, teaching formats are jointly developed, tested, and improved—always guided by the school’s specific needs. In this way, school and instructional development can be professionalized, and planned projects—such as those promoting reading or fostering a culture of feedback—can be systematically implemented. This creates a shared space for development: All participants learn how schools can be structured differently and more innovatively. They are part of an exemplary transformation process that demonstrates how not only teacher education but also schools themselves can be redesigned in new and constructive ways for the benefit of all.
What are the project’s goals?
PLUS creates added value on three levels:
• For students
Students learn key core practices in real classroom situations—not just sporadically, but as a continuous development process that provides genuine opportunities for practice and feedback, thereby enabling them to gradually advance their professional skills.
• For academia
A curriculum of scientifically grounded training programs is being developed, which will initially be tested in seven selected areas of teacher education (educational sciences, subject-specific didactics for German, English, mathematics, natural sciences, and general studies).
• For schools
Close collaboration between school practice and academia provides new impetus for everyday school life. Teachers can take temporary leave to work in academia, helping to shape the program and bringing back new ideas for instruction and school development. At the same time, schools’ experiences feed directly into the development of practical and scientifically grounded solutions. Students benefit from diverse teaching and developmental expertise and new support opportunities.
What is the Lüneburg University School?
Individual locations in Germany, such as Cologne and Dresden, have already established university schools. However, this model has not yet gained widespread acceptance in the educational research community and is still in an early stage of development in German-speaking countries. The understanding of what a university school is can vary depending on the location.
Our vision for Lüneburg is to develop a university school for grades 1 through 13, where students systematically and continuously learn through practical experience and plan, test, and evaluate scientifically grounded, contemporary school and teaching concepts. To make this a reality, we are working closely with existing schools in Lüneburg that are already involved in other project contexts as campus schools, such as the Heiligengeistschule, the Rotes Feld Elementary School, and the Oberschule am Wasserturm.
Within this framework, the participating schools can, for example, undertake projects such as extended collaborative and individualized learning for students without the pressure of grades, or new, more flexible work schedules for teachers. We want to make this happen together.
How does the project work?
PLUS follows a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach: This means that the study model is not developed once and implemented unchanged, but is continuously tested in practice, scientifically monitored, and further developed on this basis. The plan is to integrate the study model into the existing bachelor’s degree program in Teaching and Learning. The plan is to have around 30 students, who will be guided by approximately 10 experienced instructors in practice-oriented training sessions. Success will be continuously monitored through comprehensive surveys—both ongoing (formative, for continuous improvement) and final (summative, to assess effectiveness). The insights gained from these surveys will feed directly into further development, in keeping with the DBR approach: test, evaluate, improve—in a continuous cycle of development and evaluation. To connect the key stakeholder groups, an Innovation Community is also being established: students engage in dialogue with (inter)national stakeholders from municipalities, counties, schools, universities, ministries, and government agencies. The goal is to create a network that brings together the various perspectives of the education system and facilitates better integration of theory and practice.
How is the project funded?
The project is funded as part of the “The World Is My Campus” program of the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education (STIL) (grant amount: 3.4 million euros). PLUS is one of 37 selected higher education projects aimed at empowering students in their role as future leaders. As part of this funding, universities are given the opportunity to realign their program portfolio by further developing, reforming, replacing, or establishing new degree programs—particularly their curricula. Funding is primarily directed toward model projects with high potential for transferability.
How can I get involved?
For PLUS, we are looking for dedicated individuals from academia and the school system who are interested in innovative teacher education, would like to help shape it, and want to actively contribute their ideas and experiences to the project’s further development.
Full or partial secondments from the school system are expressly permitted.
A total of 9 positions are being advertised.
- 5 x Research Assistants (EG13 TV-L, 100%, fixed-term until June 30, 2030)
- 1 x Research Assistant (EG13 TV-L, 100%, fixed-term until June 30, 2030)
- 1 Research Assistant (EG14 TV-L, 100%, fixed-term until June 30, 2030)
- 1 Science Communication Officer (EG13 TV-L, 50%, fixed-term until June 30, 2030)
- 1x Research Assistant (EG13 TV-L, 50%, fixed-term until June 30, 2030)
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Prof. Dr. Marc Kleinknecht.