TU Dresden's Center for Teacher Education and Educational Research (ZLSB) and Dresden’s State Office for Schools and Education (Landesamtes für Schule und Bildung, LaSuB) have joined forces to organize the annual conference on teacher training in Saxony on February 1, 2025. Promoting cooperation between those involved in teacher training in Saxony is the ultimate aim of the conference. The event will take place under the patronage of the State Minister of Science Sebastian Gemkow and the State Minister of Culture Conrad Clemens.

"The conference marks an essential milestone for the future of teacher training in Saxony," says Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow, emphasizing the importance of the event.
The Rector of TU Dresden, Prof. Ursula Staudinger, corroborates this sentiment: "For TU Dresden, teacher training is a core task in which almost all faculties are involved. I am therefore delighted that the very first annual conference will be held here, at TU Dresden." In the coming years, the conference will be hosted in turn by the universities in Leipzig, Chemnitz and Dresden that are involved in teacher training in Saxony.
State Minister of Culture Conrad Clemens highlights the lasting significance of this event: "All institutions involved in teacher training share the responsibility for the qualification of professional teachers for our students. In the years to come, standardized cooperation between teacher training institutions will be established throughout Saxony. The annual conference marks the official start of this process."

A focus on quality teacher training

In the Free State of Saxony, as is the case in the whole of Germany, teacher training consists of several phases. The first phase involves the teacher training degree program at a university. After completing this course, the budding teachers-to-be complete a preparatory stage. The State Office for Schools and Education assumes responsibility for the second phase, which takes place at training schools and state training centers. While the academic foundations of the subjects to be taught as well as educational science are at the forefront of the degree program, the focus of the preparatory stage shifts to practical teacher training.

For the teacher training to be a success, it is important that the content of the second phase builds upon the knowledge acquired in the first and that they are interwoven in an especially coherent way that enables a gradual but continuous accruing of skills. As the two phases are the responsibility of different institutions, the required close coordination poses a challenging hurdle. At the same time, however, it is the key to improving the quality of teacher training. The goal of "bolstering the partnership between the first, second and third phases of teacher training" has therefore also been incorporated into the strategy paper of the Saxon State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs "Bildungsland Sachsen 2023."

With this in mind, the aim of the conference in Dresden is to advocate and cultivate the fruitful exchange and cooperation between representatives of the Saxon universities and the State Office for Schools and Education at all of its regional locations. This will be the first time that such a large number of stakeholders involved in teacher training from the entire federal state have assembled to coordinate their efforts. We are expecting around 400 participants, which includes teachers from almost the entire spectrum of schools, subjects, disciplines and specializations.

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Contact:
Liaison office for teacher training
Center for Teacher Education and Educational Research (ZLSB)
TUD Dresden University of Technology
Tel.: +49 351 463-40193