ETEN, which is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, was founded in 2000 and gained non-profit organisation status in 2018. The network counts more than 60 teacher training colleges and universities as its members, hailing from some 20 countries, including Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Türkiye and the USA. They are organised into eleven Thematic Interest Groups (TIGs), which facilitate the exchange of best practices and the implementation of joint third-party funded projects and mobility collaborations.
At its annual conference at NHL Stenden in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, the ETEN management board approved the University’s admission as the fourth German network member alongside FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Ludwigsburg University of Education and Leipzig University.
“This is a great opportunity to expand our network for the internationalisation of teacher training”, said Professor Christina Hansen, Vice President for International Affairs and Diversity of the University of Passau. “It not only opens up many opportunities for our students to expand their studies, but also offers many starting points for cooperation in the context of professionalisation research.”
“The University of Passau has made it a goal to internationalise its teacher education programmes. Joining ETEN is an important step in this direction”, said Ophelia Sabine Blake, ETEN Coordinator and contact person at the University of Passau’s Teacher Education Centre (ZLF). “The network offers a wide range of opportunities for informational exchange, research, cooperation and publications that are particularly beneficial for early career researchers working in international teacher education and training.”
In the ETEN network, teacher training colleges and education faculties of major European universities find an international and varied platform for cooperation and exchange.
Aside from ETEN, the University is also a member of another international teacher training network – the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions (INTEI). Founded in 2000 at the UNESCO Chair of York University in Toronto, Canada, INTEI’s goal is to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in teacher training programmes all over the world.
About the ZLF
The Teacher Education Centre (ZLF) is the coordinating centre for all matters relating to teacher education at the University of Passau. It is the primary point of contact for prospective and enrolled teacher education students, lecturers in the Teacher Education Programmes as well as school teachers, to whom it offers continuing professional development training. The ZLF also includes a placement office, which helps students arrange their practice teaching at primary and "Mittelschule" schools. With its various learning innovation labs, the ZLF offers exclusive opportunities to produce digital teaching and learning materials and to test modern, innovative teaching formats for the “classroom of the future”. Other areas of focus are the internationalisation of teacher training, the development of sustainability competencies (ESD - Education for Sustainable Development) and research. Over 40 contributors carry out a wide range of projects in nine ZLF divisions. In the current summer semester, more than 2,300 teacher education students are enrolled at the University of Passau.