Innovative seminars
Seminars: Observing/developing inclusive teaching in practice
As of the 2012/13 school year, Saxony has 4 model regions for testing inclusive teaching, where the teachers primarily look for methods of teaching for an individualized, cooperative class structure. This means that pupils are taught specifically according to their differing special education needs. As part of the “OBSERVING INCLUSIVE TEACHING IN PRACTICE” seminar, participants will examine the teaching styles employed in these model regions and analyze the learning status of individual pupils. These analyses lay the foundation for the “DEVELOPING INCLUSIVE TEACHING IN PRACTICE” seminar. By holistically interpreting the results of the first seminar from the perspective of developmental theory, this second seminar centers on developing learning environments that are as inclusive as possible and in line with the individual needs of the school’s pupils.
Interdisciplinary seminar: Learning math in heterogeneous conditions
The objective of this seminar is to develop a way for refugee children and adolescents to gain initial experiences learning a key subject in German – in this case math. Students will develop environments for learning math pursuant to the concept of inquiry-based learning. Then, they will apply their ideas in practice and map out their considerations for the conditions of learning a specific subject with an added focus on language in a heterogeneous group of pupils.
“Inquiry-based learning is a process of independently seeking and discovering knowledge which is new to the learner. Inquiry-based learning occurs in an autonomous, yet structured process, which can span from a discovery that can be tangibly experienced to a systematic exploration to an approach characteristic of scientific work” (Reitinger 2014: 45).