Mrs Lorleberg, congratulations on winning the World Lion! What does this award mean to you personally?
Thank you very much! The award means a lot to me because it recognises a topic that has been close to my heart since I studied to become a teacher. Even back then, I experienced through internships abroad and exchange programmes how enriching international perspectives can be for personal and professional development - and at the same time how little this aspect has been taken for granted in teacher training to date. The value of international experience is often underestimated, especially in a professional field in which even a job change across state borders can be a major challenge. It is therefore all the better that the World Lion publicises how important openness, exchange and international perspectives are for the training of prospective teachers.

You coordinate the pilot projects "L-GrIn" and "L-GrIn+". In three or four sentences: What exactly is behind these projects - and what is special about them?
The DAAD-funded L-GrIn and L-GrIn+ projects are aimed at students who are studying to become primary school teachers or special needs teachers and enable them to gain study and practical experience at European partner universities and schools. In addition, we develop targeted Internationalisation@home offers to make international perspectives accessible even without a stay abroad. Our projects are particularly aimed at students who are not required to spend time abroad as part of their degree programme - and who often belong to groups with limited mobility, for example as first-generation students or due to employment or family commitments. Through clearly structured, interdisciplinary formats with curricular integration, security of recognition and financial support, we are able to reduce real barriers to mobility in a targeted manner.

What were the particular challenges in developing or implementing the project?
Of course, we encounter communication challenges during the course of the project - but these are usually less to do with cultural differences and more to do with personal or situational circumstances, as we are also familiar with from our collaboration with German partners. Overall, we experience a great deal of openness and willingness among our partner universities to jointly pursue international paths in teacher education. A central challenge that unites us all is to attract the comparatively less mobile group of student teachers to international programmes. In addition, while there are so-called mobility windows at some partner locations, in which students can regularly complete a stay abroad in the fourth semester, for example, and have it fully recognised, this is not possible in Wuppertal. Our teacher training students study at several faculties at the same time, which means that stays abroad have to be planned individually into the course of study. This requires a high degree of interdisciplinary counselling and coordination - especially with regard to recognition issues.

Was there a moment in the course of the project that you particularly remember?
The international work placement at the Université de Lorraine in France, which we offer during the lecture-free period in the winter semester, was one such moment. One student reported afterwards: "I'm no longer afraid to teach children who speak little or no German or English. I know that you can always find a way to communicate with each other - with your hands and feet if necessary." I am very moved by feedback like this because it shows that this prospective teacher will approach linguistic and cultural diversity in the classroom with openness, empathy and confidence - and pass this attitude on to the next generation as a multiplier. The best way to promote such attitudes is to have had your own experiences with foreignness.

Why do you think international engagement is so important in teacher training programmes?
When studying to become a teacher, many students are not initially aware of why internationalisation should be relevant to their future career - unlike in economics, for example, where stays abroad are linked to better job opportunities in the CV. Many prospective teachers have a specific school location or federal state in mind from an early stage. However, the aforementioned multilingualism in particular shows that international perspectives are also essential for teaching at German schools. Internationalisation goes far beyond dealing with migrant children: it offers the opportunity to get to know new didactic concepts, methods and teaching models - and to take away impulses for one's own school practice and school development. A critical examination of one's own education system often only arises once one has learnt about alternative concepts and structures abroad.

What skills do teachers need in an increasingly globalised world - and how do your projects help to impart these?
I deliberately avoid the term "imparting skills", as I am not interested in passing on something one-sidedly. Rather, our projects are about creating spaces in which students can actively engage with topics such as diversity, multilingualism and the design of teaching and learning processes - and thus develop and reflect on their own attitudes. They get to know other education systems and school concepts, scrutinise them and compare them with their own system. It is precisely this change of perspective that encourages curiosity and a willingness to embrace innovative approaches. In a rapidly changing society, it is crucial that future teachers are able to react flexibly, critically and reflectively to new challenges - also in order to further develop education in Germany, where structures are often still comparatively rigid.

How can the interest and commitment of student teachers in international topics be specifically promoted?
Low-threshold programmes that can be easily integrated into the course of study are key here. Short-term formats in neighbouring European countries - such as school internships or summer schools during the lecture-free period - lower entry barriers and also motivate students to spend longer periods abroad. A targeted approach is also important: international experiences should not only be reserved for student teachers studying foreign languages - they should be part of all subjects and fields of study. This requires a target group-specific information and counselling service and, above all, a clear anchoring of international perspectives in the curriculum. Ultimately, it is also about creating an awareness of why internationalisation is relevant for the future teaching profession.

Where do you see the greatest challenges - and the greatest opportunities - in the internationalisation of teacher training courses?
One of the biggest challenges lies in the programme structure: student teachers are usually enrolled in several subjects and faculties, which makes planning international formats complex. This makes it all the more important to work closely with lecturers from all subjects involved in teacher training - for example, to be able to offer English-language courses for international students (incoming students). Another challenge is the search for suitable partner universities abroad that have similar study objectives and curricula. At the same time, this aspect opens up great opportunities: long-term collaborations can create formats that enrich students and teachers in the long term - for example through physical mobility, through Internationalisation@home or through transnational research projects in teacher education. In addition, targeted internationalisation can make a significant contribution to increasing the attractiveness and visibility of teacher training courses - both in comparison to other courses and in competition between university locations. An internationally orientated curriculum and increased spatial flexibility can strengthen the BUW's competitiveness in the field of teacher training. At the same time, this will make an important contribution to combating the shortage of teaching staff.

What do you wish for the future of "L-GrIn" and "L-GrIn+" - and for international cooperation at the University of Wuppertal in general?
I hope that "L-GrIn" and "L-GrIn+" as well as international collaborations at the University of Wuppertal as a whole receive the attention and appreciation they deserve - especially in teacher training, which affects a large proportion of students at BUW. It is particularly important to me that the partnerships, formats and structures created as part of the projects continue beyond the funding period. This can only be achieved through close cooperation between all those involved in teacher training and through sustainable funding of the programmes. I hope that mobility and internationalisation@home programmes anchored in the curriculum will soon become a matter of course in teacher training courses in order to prepare future teachers for the challenges of a diverse and changing educational landscape in the best possible way.

What motivates you personally to work so intensively on international education projects?
Above all, I am motivated by the conviction that education is the key to understanding, openness and peaceful coexistence - especially in these tense global political times. International education projects create spaces for shared learning across national, linguistic and cultural borders. They offer the opportunity to sensitise future teachers to international and innovative perspectives at an early stage - precisely because many structures in our education system are not yet sufficiently geared towards the requirements of a diverse student body.