Üdvözöljük – we welcome Dr. Krisztina Kovács, guest lecturer from Hungary
DAAD-funded Visiting Lectureship at the Institut für Grundschulforschung (Institute for Primary School Research) in winter term 2020/21
Dr. Krisztina Kovács of the Hungarian Szeged University is spending the winter term teaching and researching at the Institut für Grundschulforschung. Her stay is being funded by the DAAD’s programme for funding foreign guest lecturers (Förderung ausländischer Gastdozenten zu Lehrtätigkeiten an deutschen Hochschulen), which Dr. Günter Renner of the institute has successfully applied for. During Dr. Krisztina Kovács’ stay, she is running three courses with a focus on elementary education, inclusion and dealing with heterogeneity in international comparison.
“One great aspect of my work,” says Dr. Krisztina Kovács, “is that I spend a lot of time with young people. I find it exciting to see how enthusiastic they are about theoretically founded and practice-oriented pedagogical topics. It gives me great pleasure to contribute to the students’ competence development and to train them to become future primary school teachers in the field of elementary education and to be able to provide inclusive education for pupils with special educational needs in international comparison”.
With her expertise and international experience, Dr. Kovács brings interesting impulses to the institute. Here you learn more about her:
Dr. Krisztina Kovács is a college associate professor at the faculty for teacher education ‚Gyula Juhász‘ of Szeged University, southern Hungary. She has already taught as a guest lecturer at various foreign university institutions, supported by Erasmus- and Ceepusdozierendenmobilität programmes. She graduated from Szeged University as a primary school teacher of German and pedagogy (2003), humanities and secondary school teacher of pedagogy (2005), secondary school teacher in health care (2013), special needs teacher in the field of children and adolescents with mild mental retardation (2013). She completed her doctorate in education there at the end of 2013. She has been working at the university since 2006 and in elementary education at the Institute of Applied Pedagogy of the University of Szeged since 2014.
Her main areas of research are
- professionalisation of Hungarian primary school teachers compared to Germany,
- history and development of special education in Hungary compared to Germany,
- the competences of mentors in teacher and educator training,
- inclusive education and inclusive teaching for children with special needs.
“With these topics, I can explain the paths from separation to inclusion of slightly mentally handicapped pupils in a historical context.”, she explains. “One focus of my work is to understand how, in this process, the German model influenced the development of Hungarian teacher training and the first auxiliary schools in Hungary.”
Dr. Kovács continuously publishes her research in books and journals on a national and international level and regularly lectures at national and international conferences and symposia. She is an editorial member of the Hungarian journal Docere and the German IDE-Online Journal (International Dialogues on Education: Past and Present). She is a member of the Commission of the BA Training for Infant and Early Childhood Education and the Szeged Educational History Working Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
As an Erasmus- coordinator she has been working continuously since 2014 to establish and maintain international contacts and cooperations. The Faculty of Education ‚Gyula Juhász‘ of Szeged University and the Educational Sciences at FAU have been Erasmus partners since 2017. What is special about this partnership? “In my experience,” says Dr. Krisztina Kovács, “FAU and its Institute for Primary School Research is an internationally active and cosmopolitan place for research, study and teaching. My research interest and the courses on the research foci and the educational profile of the IfG fit together well.”
Overall, Dr. Kovács says she benefits from the cooperation with the Institut für Grundschulforschung at FAU in multiple ways; academically as well as personally and linguistically. One such perk, for example, is the chance to improve her teaching in the field of elementary education, inclusion and heterogeneity in an international context, as well as strengthen her international thinking and develop her research interests.
Dr. Kovács will be staying at FAU for the upcoming summer term. She is especially looking forward to sharing her experiences and knowledge with students and to broadening their pedagogical horizons: “It is particularly important to me that students can take away motivation and impulses from the courses. I am also hoping that the productive collaboration will be reaffirmed and the successful partnership between the Institut für Grundschulforschung and the Institute for Applied Pedagogy at Szeged University will continue and deepen in the future. I am happy to be working in such a stimulating environment and very pleased to keep collaborating with competent, creative and innovative individuals.”, Dr. Kristina Kovács summarizes.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Krisztina Kovàcs.