Taking mobility into schools. Institutional mobility as a part of an inclusive school policy

Context

Many schools are trying to make mobility a reality, focusing on educational mobility (through networks with different school types), international mobility (exchange programs, school trips, exchange programs for teachers or on local or regional extracurricular networks such as cooperation with associations, libraries, artistic initiatives or workshops.

Prior research has shown that these learning environments are often seen as a complementary offer or as an ‘exception’ but not at an integral part of the everyday school life and thus as ‘normal’ learning environments. This problem also persists regarding approaches of inclusive teaching methods and institutional policies. Also, the success of these initiatives depends to a large extent on the commitment of individual teachers.

Therefore, the research project tries to focus on schools that achieve more than just this basic compensatory inclusion of mobility into their policy and programs, thus achieving what one may call ‘institutional mobility’.
 

Objectives

The Franco-German research team seeks to establish which structures foster or hinder mobility in schools. Proposals will be made as to how to integrate mobility, especially international mobility, into everyday life in schools. The results shall also be made available and usable in the context of (continuous) education for teachers and principals.
 

Methodology and procedure

The team of researchers conducts guided interviews and uses questionnaires. The additional use of videography depends on the cooperation of the respective schools.  Ten schools in France and ten schools in Germany will participate in the study. For interview partners, the research team choses the principals and, depending on the schools, also teachers conducting exchange programs, and possibly students. Participating schools with and without experience in mobility are selected on the basis of existing contacts from the network “Mobility of Mind in School Exchange” and among other schools keen to experiment. 
 

Publications

The collected data is analyzed by the Franco-German research team and presented in a final report. In order to assure knowledge transfer, concepts and educational material will be made available in such a way that they can be used in (continuous) education for teachers and principals. 
 

Members of the research team

Members of the research team in alphabetical order:

•  Prof. i.R. Dr. Marianne Krüger-Potratz, University of Münster
•  Christiane Montandon, Professor emerit. in Educational and Social Sciences, University Paris XII, Laboratoire LIRTES, Paris 
•  Frédérique Montandon, Lecturer in Social Sciences, University Paris-Est Créteil, Paris
•  Prof. Dr. Bernd Wagner, Faculty of Education, Leipzig University