In my teaching I seek to open constructive and safe learning spaces that encourage asking questions, seeking, providing and receiving feedback, experimenting with new concepts and developing enthusiasm for learning and critical thought.
My teaching philosophy and practice are grounded in the view that language teacher education should initiate a lifelong professionalisation process, and build reflective agency, principled expertise, critical diversity literacy and knowledge in critical language education and critical language testing. Students learn to make literature-based, evidence- and social-justice-oriented pedagogical decisions, and to adapt those to diverse classrooms. I seek to establish a learning context that enables my students to provide high-quality foreign language education through which their learners can become active and responsibly participating citizens of a democracy and a diverse society in constant flux.
Building on a socio-constructivist understanding of learning, I design seminars around traditional and current issues in foreign language teaching and learning and ISLA. My seminars focus, amongst others, on professional competence of language teachers and, closely connected thereto, authentic professional tasks, including textbook and teaching materials analysis, assessment design, feedback practices, and the critical interrogation of new developments such as AI in education. With integrating the latest research evidence, I seek to empower students to be able to translate conceptual knowledge as well as reflective practice into their own teaching practice. Formative assessment is central: I teach students to work with transparent criteria, to use rubrics as learning tools, and to interpret performance data responsibly, including issues of bias, objectivity, reliability, and validity.
In supervision, I support students in developing a context-, research- and social-justice-sensitive way of critical thinking, in devising feasible research questions and robust research designs that draw on qualitative approaches (e.g., interview and narrative data, qualitative content and thematic analysis) and quantitative approaches (e.g., survey development, testing, and basic psychometrics), and in communicating findings clearly to academic and practitioner audiences. A multi-stage approach to assessment is thereby crucial, as I want to not only mentor students in acquiring subject knowledge and research skills, but also in enabling them in developing transversal skills that build the foundation for their future language teaching practices.
My classroom practice is dialogic and inclusive: I value diverse backgrounds and multilingual resources, cultivate constructive peer feedback, and create structured opportunities for active and critical participation. Across courses and mentoring, my aim is sustainable and equitable professional learning that empowers future educators to improve language learning opportunities for all students.
Individuelles Lernprojekt für Studierende nicht deutscher Muttersprache II (Erweiterung produktiver Sprachkompetenzen in DaF C2) (BA DaF-Seminar, Université de Fribourg, FS 2025)
Analyse von Lehrwerken und Lernmaterialien (MA DaF-Seminar, Université de Fribourg, HS 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025)
Innovationen und Traditionen beim Sprachenlehren und -lernen [Masterveranstaltung Didaktik 3] (BA DaF-Seminar, Université de Fribourg, HS 2024, 2025)
Individuelles Lern-/Lehrprojekt für Studierende deutscher Muttersprache II (BA DaF-Seminar, Université de Fribourg, FS 2023, 2024 and 2025)
BA Sprachkurs III: DaF für Lehrpersonen (BA DaF-Seminar, Université de Fribourg, HS 2023, 2025)
Sprachlehrkompetenz: Berufssprachliches Handeln im Unterricht verstehen, reflektieren und optimieren (MA DaF-Seminar, Université de Fribourg, FS 2023 and 2025)
Current Topics in English Studies (MA Seminar, St.Gallen University of Teacher Education, HS 2019 and 2020)
Supervision Experience
MA-theses
Rohner, S. (2023). Antisemitismus und Corona: Analyse von Interviews zur Veränderung der Erscheinungsart und Wahrnehmung von Antisemitismus durch die jüdische Gemeinschaft in der Schweiz infolge der Covid-19 Pandemie. (co-supervision)
Gantenbein, G. (2021). Entwicklung videobasierter Aufgaben: Entwicklung videobasierter Aufgaben zur Erhebung mündlicher, berufsspezifischer Fremdsprachenkompetenzen von Lehrpersonen auf der Sekundarstufe I. (co-supervision)