Internship semester
The practical semester , also known as the internship semester ( BPS ), is part of the main course at universities . It is intended to provide students with an initial insight into the economy , everyday school life (for prospective teachers / educators) or other fields of practice. For the duration of the practical semester, the students, depending on their course , should participate in the company or the school , and take on tasks and responsibilities. The practical semester usually ends with a lecture and a report, but this varies depending on the university.
Furthermore, the students are supervised by a professor . In special cases, for example if the student cannot find a job, the internship semester can also be completed at the university itself. However, this should be avoided, as the practical semester is intended to make initial contacts that can make your later career start much easier.
The internship semester can also be a semester abroad at some (technical) universities .
Practical semester at school
Baden-Württemberg
The internship semester is compulsory for all students who have started their studies with general subjects from the winter semester 2000/2001. With professional subjects, it is compulsory if the course was started in the summer semester of 2002.
It is integrated into the new structure of teacher training in the higher service with an 18 month preparatory service ( legal clerkship ). The aim of this is to interlink the phases of training more closely by dealing earlier with occupational-related issues in pedagogy and subject didactics .
In the practical semester, colleges, universities, seminars for didactics and teacher training and schools work together directly to train and support interns and complement each other.
The practical semester serves to provide professional orientation and strengthen the relationship to school practice for the teaching degree students. It is intended to enable students to get to know the entire field of activity at an early stage under professional supervision. The interns should familiarize themselves with everyday school life, with different teaching situations, with different teacher profiles and specific burdens of the profession and thus be able to get an idea of their suitability for the teaching profession.
The practical semester is basically also open to students studying for a master's or diploma degree , provided they are interested in teaching at school and there is sufficient capacity in the schools.
Block shape
The block form is the rule of the practical semester, because a coherent practical period offers the best opportunity to really get to know the school practice and to participate in school life in every form. The practical semester in block form begins at the beginning of the school year in September and lasts 13 weeks until the Christmas break .
Modular form
Those who cannot complete the practical semester in a block for technical reasons (e.g. due to the organization of studies in the natural sciences) or for other reasons can also choose the modular form with two modules during the lecture-free period . The first module lasts six weeks from the beginning of the school year in September to the beginning of the courses in the winter semester in October. This module is completed together with the interns of the block internship semester. The second module lasts seven weeks and takes place between the winter and summer semesters from mid-February to mid-April. The second module always followed the first module. It is completed in the spring of the spring following the autumn module, but no later than the spring of the following year, and takes place at the same school and, if possible, with the same training teacher.
The Jena internship semester
The Jena practical semester was developed by the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena . For general reasons, the Jena practical semester is placed as a didactic in the middle of the course - in the fifth or sixth semester. Students should have acquired basic skills in their subjects, subject didactics and educational science in the first four semesters before they embark on five months of school practice. But they should also get the chance to bring their practical semester experience to bear in their subsequent studies for at least four further semesters.
The Jena internship semester differs fundamentally from the internship semester in Baden-Württemberg, as it is firmly integrated into the university's studies and not delegated to the study seminars. It also differs from the practical semesters / core internships that are integrated into the master’s courses at universities in some federal states. The latter are relatively close to the completion of the degree and combine the content (non-formal) study and preparatory service.
More detailed information and evidence can be found in the main article Jena model of teacher training .
Bibliography
Kleinespel, Karin (ed.): A practical semester in teacher training. Concepts, findings and development prospects using the example of the Jena model . Bad Heilbrunn: Kinkhardt. 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ for Baden-Württemberg: https://www.lehrer.uni-karlsruhe.de/~za242/PS/PSHandreich.pdf
- ↑ See for Bremen: http://www.uni-bremen.de/zfl/praktikumsanmeldung/studienbeginn-ab-wise-201112/praxissemester.html ; for North Rhine-Westphalia: http://www.bzl.uni-bonn.de/dokumente/dokumente-1/rahmenkonzeption-praxissemester