Changing perspectives through experiences in a different context

The University of Teacher Education Zug has established partnerships with education universities all over the world to offer its students and staff manifold opportunities for professional exchange and collaborative learning, especially in the context of migration and globalization.  The associated change of perspective and the broadening of personal horizons both deal with a core focus of internationalization in teacher education: the development of competencies for dealing with migration-related diversity in Swiss school settings.

A partnership in Kosovo

In early 2018, the University of Teacher Education Zug and the Kadri Zeka University in Gjilan established their partnership. This partnership resulted from a cooperation project aimed at building an Albanian-Swiss network «Netzwerk Erst-, Zweit-, Interkultur (NEZI) – Netzwerk albanischer Sprachraum» where representatives from the two universities first met. The cooperation is interesting for the University of Teacher Education Zug for many reasons, one reason being the fact that many children in Swiss schools have roots in Kosovo.

IZB is responsible for maintaining the partnership, organizing the student exchange and coordinating the professional discourse among the academic staff of both institutions. Mutual visits had been proven important to get to know and understand the two institutions and their unique context.

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Study Trips

In the fall of 2019, the study trip for students from Zug to Kosovo was successfully conducted for the fifth time. The goal of the study trip was to provide insights into Kosovarian schools and everyday life of people in Kosovo for the Swiss students. IZB conducted mandatory preparation and follow-up meetings for the students to enrich their knowledge on migration, to reflect on their concepts of normality and its implication for their own teaching.

During the study trip the students visited schools and worked with the students from Kosovo in multicultural teams on an educational topic of their choice. The future teachers were accommodated in families of their fellow students.

In December 2019, students from Kosovo visited the University of Teacher Education for the first time, launching the first study trip to Switzerland. The students from Zug accommodated their buddies from Kosovo and accompanied them during a week through everyday life of people in Switzerland. An important goal of the partnership was achieved with this exchange programme: students from both universities had the chance to experience a different reality and enrich their perspectives. The study trip to Kosovo and the students' visits in Zug will be continued in the future.

Academic exchange

The PH Zug (represented by IZB) and the University of Gjilan are connected via professional exchange within the cooperative project «Learning Cultures in Universities» (LECU) of the PH Zurich. The project focused geographically on the exchange between universities in Switzerland, Albania and Kosovo. The main focus was on didactics of higher education and its implementation in different contexts. The programme concluded in November 2021 with an International Symposium.