Extract

Henrike Schön, Anne Sliwka

Abstract

The article offers an insight into the complex problem area of strategic internationalization of teacher education as exemplified by the experience of the Heidelberg University of Education. This paper discusses three major issues: the state of the debate regarding internationalization, the obstacles and difficulties which counteract that implementation as well as the major forces driving it’s implementation. This discussion highlights the difficult relationship between the demands of globalization and diversity in school life on the one hand and the yet to be established curricula for the internationalization of teacher training as a criteria of quality on the other hand. Finally, several aspects of the internationalization strategy of the Heidelberg University of Education are presented, from which the authors expect major advances in the training of teachers. The goal of teacher education must strive to sensitize teachers in the 21st century to adopt” global identities” and empower them to become cross-culturally competent to communicate and to act.

I.

The fundamental question of global identities in the 21st century asks what personality traits and skills are implied by this term. The definition of such traits and skills will have consequences in the context of university and school education and will require the internationalization of teacher education. In the second decade of the 21st century nothing less than training with an international focus can be organized for the training of young teachers. University faculty must address the...