Faculty of Behavioural and Cultural Studies Education Studies

The particular focus of the Education Studies programme at Heidelberg University, with its emphasis on education and counselling, as approached from the perspective of life-long learning, provides students with a highly socially-relevant education and excellent professional prospects. The linking of research to practice results in an outstanding interdisciplinary curriculum. Interest-based opportunities for specialisation allow students to determine their own individual areas of specialty and to hone their professional profiles.  

Courses are centred on current research findings, providing  students with insight into the scientific activities involved in empirical educational research (research-based teaching). This includes the use of innovative and interactive teaching and learning formats (e.g. Journal Clubs, blended learning, project work) as well as skill-based testing formats (e.g. poster presentations, portfolio evaluation). The courses offered are augmented by courses taught by instructors currently actively working in the industry – providing students with opportunities for beginning establishment of a network for future career prospects – as well as visiting scholars from other countries, who lend an international perspective. In addition, as part of the Education Studies degree programme at Heidelberg University, a window of time for studies abroad is built into the programme, giving students the opportunity to gain a more in-depth international perspective.  

Opportunities for collaboration also exist within the context of the Erasmus exchange programme at universities in Graz, Austria, Jyväskylä, Finland, Limerick, Ireland, as well as at the Linnaeus University, Kalmar and Växjö in Sweden.

Everything at the Institute for Education Studies can be found under one roof: Lecture hall, seminar rooms, instructors’ offices, examinations office, and secretary’s office – and, there are numerous spaces that lend themselves to exchanges with other students or with instructors. The institute's library possesses an excellent collection, and the individual and group learning spaces located within it provide students with optimal conditions for study. The “Café da lang” (Café that way) at the basement level of the Institute for Education Studies is open to all students and provides a space for recreation and discussion.