ALSO - information for students

In September, the preparation for the semester-accompanying internship will start, in which you as a student of Teacher Training - Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools or Gymnasium will not complete the block internship A or B as a block, but as a semester-accompanying internship over 2 semesters (one school year) in one of the internship schools. Together with others - in a group of 4 students - you will always accompany the same 5th grade class one day a week (excluding vacations and examination periods). Half of the 5/6 teaching units will be credited as work placement and the other half will be paid.

As part of a small team of 3-4 students, you "adopt" a class for one day throughout the entire school year, for the A internship . As a learning facilitator, you will be responsible for around 7 students. This will enable you to spend a school year practically dealing with pedagogical relationship work and classroom management in a small team. You will prepare the content for this day specifically for the respective group of students, and you will receive the basic structures from TU Dresden.
As part of the "class team", you will accompany the students in (1) promoting reading, (2) building skills for self-regulated learning in the context of e.g. learning offices and (3) in cooperative learning processes in formats such as project work. You will reflect on your work on site at the school in the "class team" and also with mentors (e.g. former teachers from the school who provide support on site).
The B internship can also be completed during the semester if you have already completed the A internship as an alternative teaching internship. You will work in a “class team” with A and B interns. For the B internship, you will implement your lesson plans in a different grade level at the same school.
At the university, you will continuously attend the collegial case consultation (course held every two weeks in a student-led peer format) parallel to the internship. The coaching provided by the ALSO team (via video conference and in person at the school) during the internship also accompanies you during the internship semesters. Through this support, you can use your experiences for your own skills acquisition. Before starting at the school, all participants receive a compact introduction to the teaching-learning formats.
On the project website, you will find an overview of the courses offered alongside the internship to support professional development.

The students will support schoolchildren in their learning and help them develop self-regulated learning skills. Without this student support, these schoolchildren would face canceled classes due to the severe teacher shortage in rural schools. Small teams of students (approximately 8–12 students per school, depending on the number of classes) support their school once a week. In doing so, they do not teach traditional subject-specific classes but instead practice other teaching and learning formats, such as project work or learning office activities. In the B internship, as in the traditional Block Internship B, their lesson plans complement this work.
During their studies, student teachers become familiar with schools in rural areas that may be suitable for their further professional development—for example, during their teaching internship or when starting their careers.

After enrollment in summer term, the internship starts with the winter semester 2026/27. The assignment in the schools begins in the week from 26.-30.10.2026 and runs until the end of the school year 09.07.2027.
Whenever there is school, i.e. no vacation, the students for this model are at one of TU Dresden's internship schools from mid-October. This means that they only spend four days a week at TU Dresden and one day at school during the lecture period. Except during university exam weeks, they are also at school during the lecture-free period and accompany the students.

The following internship days are possible in the 2025/26 school year: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. The selection of these days is coordinated with the courses in the various subjects for the teacher training program.

Half of the work done at the school counts toward Block A/Block B, and the other half is paid.

This continuous practice combined with supervised teaching-learning formats at TU Dresden will enable you to build competencies on acquired knowledge and necessary skills in school practice. In this format, you can reflect on your own attitude and develop action routines that you need to feel confident in acting with the students. As part of the "class team" of 4 future teachers you will initially focus on just 7 students. In this way, you can grow into the activities of a teacher and after Block A and B, you will be able to accompany 28 students with the experience you have gained.

In the following interview, two students who completed both internships A and B with ALSO talk about their experiences.

"That's exactly what I want - to be a teacher"

© Neue Lausitz

NEUE LAUSITZ, June 3, 2026
The TU Dresden’s Alternative Teaching Internship is entering its third round. Two students share what they’ve learned in the classroom—from teachers and from students alike. A conversation with Estelle Klinnert and Tom Kluge about how their fear of standing in front of a class has disappeared.
The ALSO Media Roundup features more insights into the school's and student's experience.

© TU Dresden

​Four schools in the Görlitz district participated in the pilot phase during the 2024–25 school year. In the 2025–26 school year, 15 schools participated in the districts of Görlitz and Bautzen, as well as in Saxon Switzerland/ Eastern Ore Mountains and the Ore Mountains district. In the 2026–27 school year, the program will continue at seven schools in the Upper Lusatia region.

• Görlitz Inner City Secondary School
• Löbau Heinrich Pestalozzi Secondary School
• Malschwitz Secondary School
• Neusalza-Spremberg Pestalozzi Secondary School
• Seifhennersdorf Secondary School
• Seifhennersdorf Oberland-Gymnasium 
• Elementary School in cooperation with Neusalza-Spremberg

The local authorities will be happy to provide you with overnight accommodation free of charge.

If you would like to participate in the alternative block internship A (semester-accompanying), please register as soon as possible in the OPAL course  ALSO - Alternatives Lehramtspraktikum Ostsachsen. Registration has been extended. Course registration stays open after June 15, 2026.
The number of participating schools depends directly on the number of bindingly enrolled students. Please note that (not only) the new schools in the project require a certain preparation time. Ideally, they can start planning before the summer break.
In order to enable timely enrollment and because the school year and the academic year do not have the same rhythm, the accompanying seminar is planned across semesters.

It is possible to switch from a block internship to a semester-long internship at any time.
If you choose the semester-long internship, you do not need to register on the Saxony Internship Portal; alternatively, you should cancel any internship position you may have already secured there.

Please register for the OPAL course ALSO - Alternatives Lehramtspraktikum Ostsachsen (Alternative teaching internship in Eastern Saxony).

An  information session is scheduled for June 1, 2026, for interested students, covering all the details regarding the schedule and procedures for the 2026–27 academic year. The project team and participating students will answer any questions about the semester aaccompanying A and B internships.

You can ask personal questions about individual organization and examination performance after enrolling in the OPAL course. You can also use the e-mail . Please include the following information: name, semester of study, teaching degree GS/OS or GYM (see also the form template by clicking on the e-mail address).