02-22-2023

From the Altmühl to the Nile: KU teaching degree students teach Egyptian children

For two years now, the Chair of German as a Second Language at the KU has been cooperating with the German Protestant High School (DEO) in Cairo, which KU students have now visited on site during an excursion to Egypt. As part of the partnership with DEO, prospective KU elementary and middle school teachers teach Egyptian fourth- and fifth-grade pupils in small groups online once a week. Here, a special focus is placed on the promotion of oral language proficiency. Originally introduced during the pandemic to compensate for language acquisition problems in distance learning, the model is now firmly established. On the University’s side, it is integrated into a specialized didactic course led by Professor Tanja Rinker and is thus guided and reflected upon as regards content. Especially in view of the fact that teachers specializing in German as a second language will be constantly confronted with different cultures and languages, this collaboration also promotes their intercultural skills.

The collaboration is mainly targeted at school students who grew up primarily speaking Arabic and who only transfer to the DEO at the end of elementary school. They then have to learn German within a very short time in order to be able to follow the lessons. It is worth noting that at the beginning of the school year, they do not yet know a word of German. Through their diligent work, however, the children rapidly increase their knowledge of German, so that they are then even able to hold simple conversations.

At DEO in Cairo, KU students had the opportunity to meet school students, whom they had previously taught online, in person and sit in during class.

During their visit to the DEO, students now got the chance to get to know "their" students personally, to experience them in their learning environment and generally to immerse themselves in Egyptian culture and its characteristic features. The program included shadowing sessions during lessons, as well as students teaching their own classes. This gave them the opportunity to directly apply and try out the skills they had acquired in theory. In addition, they had opportunity for close exchange with the local German teachers that was highly beneficial for both sides. In addition, a language proficiency survey was conducted in one class.

"It was nice to be able to spend so much time at the DEO. We built a much closer relationship with the children than would have been possible in the online format. We were also able to learn incredibly much for our future careers by sitting in lessons being held", says student Lisa Eberle. She and other fellow students were accompanied by Dr. Anna Fiona Weiß, Akademische Rätin at the Chair of German as a Second Language. She says: "This was our second time at DEO, but it's a great experience every time. Our students learn incredibly much. They are very motivated to work with the children from fourth and fifth grade, but also the cooperation with the DEO and its teachers works great. I believe it’s a great win for all parties involved.”

Of course, a visit to the pyramids was also included on the agenda.

Of course, the field trip also included a cultural program. The students visited the pyramids and the Sphinx, took a camel ride and a felucca ride. A meeting with cultural attaché Felix Haala at the German Embassy was also on the agenda. After four exhausting but very beneficial days at the DEO, the students spent two more days in Hurghada on the Red Sea to process the impressions of the trip and reflect on their experiences.

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From the Altmühl to the Nile: KU teaching degree students teach Egyptian children

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