More German in the City: High School Partnership Receives New Round of Funding

Following a successful start in fall 2017, our partnership with the University of Toronto Schools (UTS) has been awarded funding for another edition in 2018. Thanks to the generous support of the Milestones & Pathways fund, we will send a new cohort of graduate student interns to UTS and expand to new schools in the GTA. In addition to reaching out incrementally to new schools, in the next phase of this experiential, work-integrated learning initiative, advanced undergraduates will have the opportunity to shadow, assist, and receive mentoring from graduate students. The experience will allow undergraduate students to gain work experience in education, help them make career choices, develop professional contacts, and promote a sense of community responsibility and citizenship. Benefits for the school community include: enhanced instruction through enthusiastic undergraduates, bridging teaching gaps (many schools only have one German instructor), enriched extracurricular experiences, and increased quality of contact hours (student-teacher ratio).

Undergraduate interns will be selected on the basis of excellent average marks in German courses, a proficiency level of at least B1/B2 in German, and an interview process. On the model of our graduate-level initiative, undergraduates will receive qualified support for their work-related learning experiences, including a preparatory boot camp and reflective activities.

The iPRAKTIKUM team looks forward to continued collaboration with UTS German teacher Nicola Townend and Natasha Jamal, Co-curricular Learning Coordinator at the U of T’s Centre for Community Partnerships.

Helena Juenger and Stefan Soldovieri, Project Leads