During the conference, the MZL presented its Jean Monnet project “EU goes School – Teachers as EU Ambassadors: EGS-LAB” at Goethe University Frankfurt.
On December 1 and 2, 2025, project staff members Vivien Schroeder and Karl Tschida from the MZL’s “EU goes School – Teachers as EU Ambassadors” (EGS-LAB) project took part in the final conference of the Jean Monnet project “Fit4EU” at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. The conference focused on the theme of “Ways of professionalization for target group-oriented European education” and brought together around 40 subject specialists, subject didactics experts, teachers, and other experts from the field of politics and society.
The project “Fit4EU – Innovative and sustainable professional development for teachers for target group-oriented EU education” aimed to strengthen political European education in the classroom through target group-specific training courses. As part of the training courses, teachers were taught both subject-specific and cognitively stimulating methods for teaching Europe-related content. At the same time, their specialist knowledge of European integration was updated and deepened in a practice-oriented manner. Originally based at the University of Göttingen, the project was continued at Goethe University Frankfurt with the appointment of Prof. Oberle as project manager. While the previous team remained in Göttingen, Andrea Zeller and Lisa Beck-Vogt took over the continuation of the project in Frankfurt.
The two-day closing conference offered a multifaceted insight into current research findings and practical experiences in the field of political education about Europe. In addition to presenting the results of the Fit4EU project, numerous experts presented their scientific and didactic work and discussed the challenges and potential of modern professionalization for teachers. The conference was characterized by an intensive professional exchange that brought together the different perspectives of science, school practice, and continuing education.
During the conference, the EGS-LAB team also had the opportunity to present its Jean Monnet project, which is currently in its second funding phase. “EU goes School” aims to encourage (prospective) teachers to reflect on their personal attitudes toward Europe and to expand their conceptual knowledge of the EU and how it works. In addition, the project focuses on promoting didactic skills to enable teachers to design well-founded learning opportunities about the EU for students in the classroom.
The presentation included an introduction to this project idea, the key findings (including an e-learning program, university seminars with accompanying excursions, and corresponding dissemination), and an outlook on future project plans. Afterwards, conference participants had the opportunity to try out the e-learning program themselves—both on a PC and using VR glasses provided—so that they could ultimately pass it on to their university/school/institution as multipliers. Potential listeners and possible discussion partners were also recruited for the new EGS-LAB podcast, which will be released in January 2026.