German Language for Education

The main objective of the Bachelor's programme is to prepare professionals (both for German as a single field of study, and for German in combination with other fields) who have achieved high proficiency of language skills (B2 in language production and C1 in language reception according to CEFRL), profound and well-structured knowledge in language disciplines, literature in German, culture and institutions of the German speaking countries as well as the basics of methodology of German as a foreign language.

Along with the knowledge in general disciplines of pedagogy and psychology, students build up a foundation of skills and knowledge during the Bachelor's degree for performing the profession of assistant teacher of German at primary and lower secondary schools and in further occupations in the area of education.

Through studying for the Bachelor’s degree graduates gain the necessary competences that allow them to critically apply the use of their pedagogical and psychological knowledge in practice as a teaching assistant or other educational worker (e.g. free-time instructor in youth centres or after-school clubs, in various civic associations engaged in pedagogical activities) in an appropriate manner.

The degree develops students’ analytical and comparative skills, which enable them to understand the diverse pedagogical reality and to use subject-specific, pedagogical, and psychological publications in their work for planning, implementing and reflecting on educational activities. They develop communication skills important for communication and collaboration with pupils/clients, colleagues in the workplace, with parents of pupils/clients and with practitioners. An important benefit of the degree is the development of self-reflective skills that provide space for the development of attitudes towards one another, to educated individuals and to the profession: perception of the responsibility of the teaching profession, the acceptance of the moral obligations of a helping profession and its ethics.

The studies emphasise the principle of interdisciplinarity (interconnection of some pedagogical and psychological subjects); the principle of sequence and gradation of themes and courses, from the more general to the more specific. The concept is also characterized by the interdependence of theory and practice. An important part of the concept is the reflective teaching practice. The principles of reflection on teaching practice and self-reflection are related both to practice and to other experience-oriented subjects. An important part of the concept is also the promotion of inclusion, which is perceived as a cross-curricular theme (also supported by a separate course).

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• acquire language skills in German at level B2/C1 and can use them efficiently in everyday communication;
• describe and explain the system of language in contrastive perspective;
• describe and explain the literary and cultural heritage of the German speaking countries, they have achieved text interpretation skills and understand fiction and non-fiction in appropriate contextual frame;
• practice methodological training in teaching German as a foreign language that are appropriate for assistant teachers;
• practice the profession of a German language teacher assistant at elementary and secondary school and in educational work;
• cooperate with various teachers at school and under their leadership to plan, implement and reflect on the sequence of teaching and activities in relation to the appropriate school curriculum;
• describe and analyse an educational situation using special terminology and rules of effective pedagogical communication and to propose a change; use their knowledge and skills in communication with pupils, parents, teachers in the school context;
• use self-reflective skills to reflect on their actions: to better justify and evaluate their arguments, to give voice to their emotions and their connection to some behaviour or to critically review their own attitudes towards education;
• use basic methods and tools of ped. diagnostics to support differentiation and individualization, thus gaining data which is available for the support of an indiv. pupil. The results can be commun. to pupils, teachers, parents or other professionals;
• express his own conception of the education that he/she would like putting into effect in his/her future profession and give the reasons by arguments of the theory and practice for that educational conception;
• explain the basic principles of inclusive and special education; to reflect on their attitude towards diversity and its influence on their own teaching;
• explain the basic concepts of developm. and social psych. and identify potential develop. difficulties in social competences or pupil adaptation at school based on the knowledge of develop. and social-psych. aspects of pupil’s live in the classroom.

Skills graduates acquire in the fields of their Bachelor's studies provide them with full qualifications to work as assistant teachers of German at primary or lower secondary schools, or at language schools and in special and practical education. They can also take on jobs is free-time centres, in after-school clubs (specialized in language activities), or in public service or in the private sector, especially as experts equipped with high proficiency language skills.

• Teacher´s assistant

The system of compulsory teaching practice is aimed at developing the students’ professional competences and preparing them for the full-fledged role of a teaching assistant. The aim of the teaching assistant practice is to acquire the necessary skills for individual work with a pupil outside the process of teaching (tutoring at school in the pupils’ homes) and also when working with a teacher during lessons.

The teaching practice consists of a coherent system of consecutive subjects, which are taken from the third to the fifth semester of the degree. These are the subjects teaching assistant practice - tutoring 1, teaching assistant practice - tutoring 2, consisting of individual tutoring (60 hours), teaching assistant practice - teaching assistant 1 (60 hours) and teaching assistant practice - teaching assistant 2 (60 hours) and teaching assistant practice – teaching assistant 3. Overall, there 180 hours of teaching practice.

In the third and fourth semesters, the teaching practice is followed by the subjects self-experiential preparation for the profession 1 and self- experiential preparation for the profession 2, in which the students of the teaching assistant practice reflect (24 hours). Their aim is to enable students to have real experience with selected themes (see seminar topics) regarding personal and professional development through experiential learning with an emphasis on reflection; to encourage students to gradually take responsibility for their own learning process (self-directed learning); to enable students to become aware of and, if necessary, to revise their attitudes towards their future profession.

The system of teaching practice is regularly evaluated both through closed and open questions, both by students and the mentor teachers. The reflective seminars are also evaluated.

The final work of the student demonstrates the ability to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the course of study in working on a specific professional-pedagogical problem. The type of final thesis corresponds to the content and level of the given degree of study. The student chooses from the following types of works: a) theoretical-applied, b) theoretical-empirical (research), c) theoretical. The types of work and recommendations for their implementation are further guided by the APA manual. The length of the final thesis ranges from 81,000 to 130,000 characters, including gaps, i.e. 45-60 standard pages.

The standards for the implementation of the final theses at different departments are in accordance with the Dean's Instructions No. 1/2015 on implementation of the final work (Bachelor's, Master’s, post-graduate non-PhD and final works for Life-long Education) in the version effective from 1.11.2015.

The thesis follows the following goals based on the profile of the graduate of the Faculty of Education of MU. Students:

- demonstrate an awareness of the current issues of their field of study, they can clearly and comprehensibly define the topic of the final thesis and its objectives, describe the initial state of knowledge and propose appropriate methods of achieving their stated goals;

- work with appropriate primary and secondary sources of information, cite them according to a valid standard (APA) and in accordance with the ethics of academic work;

- through the creation of their own text they demonstrate stylistic competence, and the ability to create an academic text;

- demonstrate the ability to ask questions and solve problems, to formulate new ideas and conclusions that bring at least some new knowledge about the phenomenon being studied, or enrich the methodological (in the area of research) or methodical (in the area of education) procedures in relation to clearly defined target groups (pupils at primary and secondary school, groups with specific educational needs, etc.).

After completing the Bachelor's degree, students are invited to continue in the two-year Master's degree (Teacher of German as a foreign language at primary and lower secondary schools) at our department, or in other Master's degree programmes in education, philology or translation science at other faculties (see their requirements for entrance examinations).