QualiTIES

Qualifying Teachers for Innovative English Settings: Teaching English in heterogeneous classes in secondary years education

With a view towards improving the training of future teachers, a multi-professional team spanning several institutions and phases of teacher preparation developed a seminar for students in the field of English didactics within the project "Theorie-Praxis-Verzahnung im ZZL-Netzwerk" of the „Quality Initiative for Excellence in Teacher Education“ at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg.

In a follow-up initiative, a demonstration project carried out in cooperation with QUA-LiS NRW (Qualitäts- und Unterstützungsagentur - Landesinstitut für Schule Nordrhein-Westfalen) between 2018 and 2022, the focus is on teachers currently in schools. The professional development concept for English instruction is designed as a blended learning format and thus includes phases of self-individual learning that alternate with phases of peer exchange for reflection and further development of one's own teaching activities. The development project also includes qualifying trainers and moderators of state teacher training institutions to be multipliers of the project’s content.  As a cooperative project between the Leuphana University of Lüneburg (Chair of English Didactics) and QUA-LiS NRW, the project is based on the design-based research of the Leuphana University, which continues to provide the QUA-LiS with consultancy and empirical evaluation. By coordinating initial teacher training and professional development for teachers within the framework of cross-institutional and cross-phase cooperation, current subject didactic knowledge and developments into the professional development of teachers in the area of subject-specific classroom development are systematically integrated.

With regard to the accompanying research of both projects, the focus is particularly on constructs such as attitudes towards inclusion, beliefs about language learning, and reflection competences, as well as classroom planning competences of prospective and practising English teachers in the area of inclusive English teaching.

By improving practice and engaging in scientific monitoring, QualiTIES contributes to the transfer of research knowledge - an important task of QUA-LiS NRW as a state institution for educational development.

Within QUA-LiS NRW, QualiTIES is a joint project of department 4 (instructional development in general and special schools) and department 7 (systemic development and personnel development in teacher training). Contact persons in QUA - LiS: AB 4: Dr. Bianca Roters, Susanne Eßer & AB 7: Ulrike Borchert - Dohr

Team

Prof. Dr. Torben Schmidt
Prof. Dr. David Gerlach
Dr. Bianca Roters
JProf'in Dr. Carolyn Blume

Dr. Carolyn Blume has been Junior Professor at the TU Dortmund (DoKoLL: Dortmunder Kompetenzzentrum für Lehren und Lernen) since November 1st, 2020. Before, she was a research assistant in the Institute of English Studies in the field of English didactics at the Leuphana University Lüneburg. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.Ed. from Harvard University. Since January 2016, she had been working on the development of video-based learning modules for addressing heterogeneity and inclusion in English as a subject within the project “ZZL-Network” at the Center for Teacher Education (ZZL). The ZZL-Network is funded by the BMBF as part of the Quality Initiative for Excellence in Teacher Education. Ms. Blume's research interests are in the area of computer-based foreign language learning, teacher training for inclusion and issues of participation in English teaching and learning. Dr. Blume previously worked for nearly twenty years as a teacher and school district administrator in both the United States and Germany.

Prof. Dr. David Gerlach is Professor of English Didactics at the University of Wuppertal. Previously, he was a research assistant at the Institute for School Education (AG Fremdsprachenforschung) at the Philipps University of Marburg and represented the professorship for English didactics at the University of Regensburg from 2017 to 2019. In his dissertation, he developed and evaluated a support concept for English language learners with reading and spelling difficulties, while his habilitation project focused on the professionalisation of prospective foreign language teachers in the preparatory service. His research focuses on learning difficulties in foreign language teaching (especially dyslexia) and the associated support of learners in inclusive and heterogeneous teaching settings. In addition, he is interested in professionalisation processes of (prospective) teachers, especially their trainers who shape these professionalisation processes, as well as the construct of reflective competence. Together with Dr. Bianca Roters & Susanne Eßer, he is a founding member of the Network for Inclusive English Language Teaching (Link).

Prof. Dr. Torben Schmidt has been Professor of Didactics of English in the Institute of English Studies at the Leuphana University Lüneburg since 2011. His research and development interests are in the areas of video-based classroom research (e.g. multiview.leuphana.de), foreign language learning with digital media (focusing on Web 2.0 and speaking, adaptive computer-based activities, intelligent tutorial systems, chatbots), blended learning scenarios in teacher training and further education as well as in the development and analysis of playful approaches to foreign language learning. Torben Schmidt has been one of the directors of the Center for Teacher Education (ZZL) since 2014 and is responsible for the management of the ZZL Network project, which is funded by the BMBF (German Ministry of Education & Research) as part of the Quality Initiative for Excellence in Teacher Education.

Dr. Bianca Roters has been a consultant for foreign languages at QUA-LiS NRW since 2015. In this context, she is active in the field of educational improvement. In her empirical, interdisciplinary dissertation, she investigated the comparative reflective competence of foreign language students at a German and US-American university. From April 2013 to January 2015, she was managing director of the interdisciplinary Teacher Research Center (IZeF) at the University of Cologne. Among other things, she coordinated the DFG project "Professional Competence of Prospective English Teachers (PKE)" and collaborated in the educational research project, "Learning with Instructional Videos in Teacher Education (ViLLA)". Her research interests reflect her interdisciplinary approaches: foreign language teacher professional research, reflective learning opportunities in teacher education (research-based and problem-based learning, videography), inclusive foreign language didactics. Together with Dr. David Gerlach & Susanne Eßer, she is a founding member of the network Inclusive English Teaching (Link).

Lectures

Roters, B., Blume, C., Schmidt, T., & Gerlach, D. (2019, September). Frühe Lehrpersonenprofessionalisierung für inklusive Fremdsprachensettings: empirische Ergebnisse zu Haltungen, Überzeugungen und Reflexivität. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Fremdsprachenforschung. Sprachen, Kulturen, Identitäten: Umbrüche durch Digitalisierung? 28. Kongress für Fremdsprachendidaktik, Würzburg.

Blume, C., Gerlach, D., Roters, B., & Schmidt, T. (2019, April). Die Operationalisierung der fachdidaktischen inklusiven Reflexionskompetenz von angehenden Englischlehrkräften. Reflexivität in allen Phasen der Lehrerbildung - theoretische und empirische Zugänge: eine Tagung der Gießener Offensive Lehrerbildung (GOL). Gießen, Germany.

Blume, C.,Bollmann, E., Dorok, S., Gerlach, D., Roters, B., & Schmidt, T. (2018, November). Qualifying Teachers for Inclusive English Settings (QualiTIES)“ – Konzepte, Methoden und erste Ergebnisse. Vortrag im Rahmen der Herbsttagung der Kommission Bildungsorganisation, Bildungsplanung und Bildungsrecht an der QUA-LiS NRW.

Blume, C., Roters, B., & Schmidt, T. (2018, October).The ABCs of Inclusive English Teacher Professionalization: Attitudes, Beliefs and Competence in Reflection. Poster presentation. ACTA Australian Council for TESOL Associations. Annual Conference: English Language Learning in a Mobile World, Adelaide, Australia. 

Blume, C., Roters, B., & Schmidt, T. (2018, September). The ABCs of inclusive language instruction: Attitudes, beliefs and (reflective) competence among pre-service EFL teachers. Jahrestagung der Arbeitsgruppe der empirischen Pädagogikforschung (AEPF). Lüneburg, Germany.

Blume, C., Roters, B., & Schmidt, T. (2018, September). The ABCs of inclusive language instruction: Attitudes, beliefs and (reflective) competence among pre-service EFL teachers. Inklusiver Englischunterricht – Gemeinsam Lehren und Lernen. Lüneburg, Germany.

Blume, C., Roters, B., & Schmidt, T. (2018, June). The ABCs of inclusive language instruction: Attitudes, beliefs and competences among pre-service EFL teachers. The FIPLV Nordic-Baltic Region (NBR), Language Teachers’ Association of Lithuania (LKPA), & Institute of Foreign Languages of Faculty of Philology. Teaching and Learning Languages in the 21st Century: Linguistic, Educational and Cultural Aspects, Vilnius, Lithuania. 

Blume, C., Roters, B., & Schmidt, T. (2018, February). Die Einstellungen, Überzeugungen und Reflexionskompetenz von angehenden Englischlehrkräften: Eine Lerngelegenheit zum inklusiven Englischunterricht. Posterpräsentation im Rahmen der Tagung „CHANcen GEstalten - Inklusionsorientierung in der Lehrerbildung als Impuls für Entwicklungsprozesse in Hochschulen“. Dortmunder Profil für inklusionsorientierte Lehrer/-innenbildung, Dortmund, Germany.

Publications

Gerlach, D & Schmidt, T 2021, 'Heterogenität, Diversität und Inklusion: Ein systematisches Review zum aktuellen Stand der Fremdsprachenforschung in Deutschland', Zeitschrift für Fremdsprachenforschung, Jg. 32, Nr. 1, S. 11-32.

Gerlach, D, Vogt , K, Blume, C, Chilla, S, Doetjes, G, Eisenmann, M, Engelen, S, Heine, L, Küppers, A, Marx, N, Schmidt, T, Mertens, J, Springob, J, Wieland, K & Wilden, E 2021, 'Inklusiver Fremdsprachenunterricht: Positionspapier der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Fremdsprachenforschung (DGFF)', Zeitschrift für Fremdsprachenforschung, Jg. 32, Nr. 1, S. 3-9.

Blume, C, Gerlach, D, Roters, B & Schmidt, T 2021, 'Mindsets and reflection in teacher education for inclusive language classrooms', Zeitschrift für Fremdsprachenforschung, Jg. 32, Nr. 1, S. 33-54.

Gerlach, D & Schmidt, T (Hrsg.) 2021, Themenheft "Inklusion". Zeitschrift für Fremdsprachenforschung, Nr. 1, Bd. 32, Schneider Verlag Hohengehren, Baltmannsweiler.

Blume, C & Schmidt, T 2020, Pädagogischer Doppeldecker - Blended Learning als Methode für die Entwicklung von inklusiven Einstellungen und fachdidaktischem Wissen in der Lehrkräfteausbildung im Fach Englisch als Fremdsprache. in H Niesen, D Elsner & B Viebrock (Hrsg.), Hochschullehre digital gestalten in der (fremd-)sprachlichen LehrerInnenbildung: Inhalte, Methoden und Aufgaben. Giessener Beiträge zur Fremdsprachendidaktik, Narr Francke Attempto Verlag, Tübingen, S. 73-95.

Blume, C, Gerlach, D, Roters, B & Schmidt, T 2019, 'The ABCs of Inclusive English Teacher Education: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study Examining the Attitudes, Beliefs and (Reflective) Competence of Pre-Service Foreign Language Teachers', TESL-EJ, Jg. 22, Nr. 4. <http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume22/ej88/ej88a6/>

Blume, C, Roters, B, Gerlach, D & Schmidt, T 2019, 'Didaktische und methodische Ansätze zur Entwicklung der fachdidaktischen Inklusionskompetenz von angehenden Fremdsprachenlehrkräften', HLZ Herausforderung Lehrer_innenbildung - Zeitschrift zur Konzeption, Gestaltung und Diskussion, Jg. 2, Nr. 3,  S. 296-322.

Blume, C, Kielwein, C, Kötter, M, Schmidt, T & Trautmann, M 2019, Inklusiver Fremdsprachenunterricht (FU). in C Falkenhagen, H Funk, M Reinfried & L Volkmann (Hrsg.), Sprachen lernen integriert - global, regional, lokal: 27. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Fremdsprachenforschung in Jena, 27.-30. September 2017; Kongressband. Beiträge zur Fremdsprachenforschung, Bd. 15, Schneider Verlag Hohengehren, Baltmannsweiler, S. 441-444, 27. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Fremdsprachenforschung - 2017, Jena, 27.09.17.

In preparation:

Benitt, N., Blume, C., Eßer, S., Gerlach, D., Roters, B., Schmidt, T., & Springob, J. (Hrsg.) i.V. Perspektiven inklusiven Englischunterrichts: Gemeinsam lehren und lernen: Dokumentation zur Tagung vom 20. und 21. September 2018 an der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg. www.inklusiver-englischunterricht.de: Netzwerk Inklusiver Englischunterricht.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Torben Schmidt
Universitätsallee 1, C1.120
21335 Lüneburg
Fon +49.4131.677-2616
torben.schmidt@leuphana.de