Transcultural Encounters in Spanish Teacher Education

The DAAD’s International Virtual Academic Collaborations 3.0 Program is funding the transnational project Transcultural Encounters in Spanish Teacher Education, which is being developed and run jointly by the University of Granada in Spain and strategic partner University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

The goal of the project is to integrate virtual forms of cooperation, meaning asynchronous and physical exchange between teacher training students from University of Hamburg and the University of Granada into the curricula of teaching training for Spanish at University of Hamburg’s Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Education and Sport Sciences (Melilla campus) at the University of Granada. Virtual cooperation also makes it possible for students and teachers lacking the financial means, with family obligations, care duties for relatives, or physical mobility limitations to gain international experience, fostering equal opportunity. A third goal for students and teachers at University of Hamburg, the University of Granada, and teachers at the University of Groningen is to use their digital and intercultural skills.

The following measures have been developed for this:

the development of an asynchronous online course through OpenOlat and a bilateral physical exchange for students of Spanish doing their bachelor’s at University of Hamburg or their master’s at the University of Granada;
the development and use of an e-portfolio for students to reflect upon their experiences
the use of digital collages
the development of an OER for critical cultural awareness using digital tools

Our project is designed to foster intercultural exchange, develop and use digital collaborative collages and e-portfolios, and to promote discovery of linguistic and cultural diversity and critical reflection.

The project runs from 1 August to 31 December 2023 with funding in the amount of €21,000.