Kick-off event for the academic year 2017/2018

School of Diversity – Diversity of Schools

On Wednesday, 11 October 2017, all new entrants of the teacher education programme in the North East Schools’ Group were welcomed at a kick-off event for the new academic year 2017/2018 in the Main Ceremonial Chamber of the University of Vienna.

The event took place under the heading "School of Diversity – Diversity of Schools", and was opened by Christa Schnabl, the Vice-Rector of the University of Vienna. Afterwards, the head of the Centre for Teacher Education, Lutz-Helmut Schön, gave insights into the Austrian education landscape. During the lecture, the students were asked to take part in votings via smartphone and help shape the presentation. The results of the votings were broadcast live. This gave viewers the opportunity to compare their own experiences directly with illustrative statistics on the diversity of Austrian schools. Three teachers from Syria reported on the two-semester certificate course for teachers with a refugee background offered by the University of Vienna, in which they participated. The course gives refugee teachers the opportunity to gain initial experience in the Austrian school system.

After an enlightening conversation with Eva Vetter, deputy head of the Centre for Teacher Education, about “welcoming culture” (in German: “Willkommenskultur”), migrants in the classroom and "migration literature", Julya Rabinowich read excerpts from her texts: Dazwischen: Ich and Spaltkopf.

The duo Tronicello was responsible for the musical accompaniment, and delighted the audience with a mixture of electronic music and cello. At the end of the event, all those who were interested could exchange ideas with experts on the teacher education programme, while enjoying finger food and drinks. There were eight thematic tables, where students could ask questions about the general organisation of their studies and study contents.