Crisis management in schools: Regensburg discusses solutions and concepts

Crisis management in schools: Regensburg discusses solutions and concepts

On March 13, 2025, the 9th interdisciplinary theory-practice theme day took place in the Vielberth Building at the University of Regensburg. This event was organized by the Regensburg University Center for Teacher Training (RUL) and the partner schools of the University of Regensburg (PUR) and was entitled “Crises and conflicts in schools and society – prevention and intervention”. Over 200 participants, including teachers from Bavaria, school management, members of the school supervision as well as students and employees of the university, took part in the day, which turned out to be a platform for professional exchange on current challenges in the education sector. University of Regensburg reports that The program included two plenary lectures and more than 20 workshops.

The event was opened by Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel, President of the University of Regensburg. The first plenary lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Mandy Singer-Brodowski and dealt with “Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as an approach to the pedagogical treatment of multiple social crises”. This is particularly relevant because schools are required to prepare students for key social issues such as climate change, species extinction, digitalization and democracy education. These challenges were initially not adequately addressed in the Quality Offensive for Teacher Training (QLB) of 2013, but were expanded through various projects and the support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Quality offensive for teacher training highlights that ESD and democracy education are now integral parts of teacher training.

Lectures and workshops

The second plenary lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Ursula Münch, who dealt with the challenges and protection of the democratic constitutional state in times of crisis as well as digital escalation and manipulation. Participants also had the opportunity to actively participate in the over 20 workshops offered on the topics of crisis management in the classroom, non-violent communication and dealing with controversial topics. These formats are crucial for promoting future teachers’ media expertise and arming them against disinformation.

As part of the reflection, the participants came together in plenary to discuss their findings from the workshops and lectures. The results were presented by Prof. Dr. Rainer Liedtke, a board member of the RUL. This marks the 9th theme day of this series, which has been running regularly since 2013, with the next event planned for 2027. The aim of these interdisciplinary theme days is to promote professional exchange between those involved in teacher training and to provide new impetus for the challenges in schools.

Perspectives on teacher training

In view of societal challenges, teacher training is increasingly being supported by projects that integrate sustainability and ethics into training. The “BNE-BOX” and the “Critical Literacy for Climate Action” (CL4CA) project enable adequate training and critical handling of information. Innovative formats were developed in collaboration with the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). The Conference of Ministers of Education further sheds light on the necessity of these approaches to create sustainable teaching methods and emphasize the importance of transdisciplinary collaboration.

For further information about the event, those interested can visit the website www.ur.de/rul/tt2025 visit.