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Introductory Workshop on Sustainable Lesson Design: Methodological Foundations and AI-Driven Planning with the DAFZ Constructor
Gina Do Manh & Mirjam Daum
TU Braunschweig
This workshop offers a hands-on introduction to fundamental aspects of sustainable lesson planning, targeting prospective and active educators with little to no prior experience in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The session is structured as a spiral-curricular journey, integrating elements from Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Design Thinking, and Deeper Learning. Participants will engage in collaborative activities to first deconstruct their understanding of sustainability and key competencies, engage with alternative pedagogical approaches and apply these insights in designing a lesson plan. Attention is further given to language-sensitive didactics, incorporating principles from Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) through the use of Cognitive Discourse Functions and translanguaging. A key component of the workshop is the introduction and practical application of the AI-based DAFZ lesson constructor. Participants will compare their "analog" lesson plans with a new sequence created using the constructor, critically reflecting on the tool's impact on cognitive load and the quality of the pedagogical outcome. Thus, the workshop provides the opportunity to explore how AI can support the development of future-oriented didactic practices in line with the goals of sustainable education.
Note for participants: To join the workshop, please bring an internet-enabled device, such as a laptop, tablet or smartphone.
Working language: English
Bildungspartnerschaft stärken: Erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit mit Familien
Melanie Schöler
Stadt Leipzig
Der Workshop befasst sich mit den grundlegenden Aspekten der Zusammenarbeit in Familien, insbesondere im Kontext der Bildungsarbeit. Im Zentrum steht das Verständnis des Kindes als Teil eines komplexen Systems, in dem Beziehungen und Interaktionen sich wechselseitig beeinflussen.
Ein wesentlicher Bestandteil erfolgreicher pädagogischer Arbeit ist die Einbeziehung der Eltern als Expert*innen für ihr eigenes Kind. Ihre Einbindung in die Bildungs- und Erziehungsprozesse fördert nicht nur das Verständnis für die Bedürfnisse des Kindes, sondern trägt auch zur Stärkung der Bildungspartnerschaft zwischen Familien und Bildungseinrichtungen bei. Der Workshop thematisiert insbesondere die Herausforderungen, denen sich Familien mit Migrationsgeschichte und potenziellen Sprachbarrieren gegenübersehen, da die Anforderungen der Institutionen oft zusätzlichen Druck auf diese Familien ausüben.
Ziel des Workshops ist es, praktische Impulse zu geben und Strategien zu vermitteln, um eine erfolgreiche Bildungspartnerschaft zu etablieren. Dabei werden Methoden vorgestellt, die den Dialog zwischen Sorgeberechtigten und Pädagog*innen fördern und die Integration von Familien in die Institutionen aktiv unterstützen.
Arbeitssprache: Deutsch
Learning through Artistic Interventions in Education: A Philosophical and Pedagogical Perspective
Dr. Simon Okwir
Uppsala University, Sweden
How can art aid the learner’s mind in discovering new ways of thinking, expressing, and understanding? Art has always been central to human learning, long before writing, people painted, sang, and told stories to make sense of the world. Unlike purely verbal or written methods, art engages multiple senses and emotions, creating deeper connections to knowledge.
This presentation will explore how artistic interventions, such as visual arts, narratives, creative media, songs and other, enrich learning by engaging students at emotional, cognitive, and embodied levels. Drawing on results from a teaching project at Uppsala University in Sweden, I will illustrate how art and narrative practices in the classroom can open alternative channels of communication and meaning-making.
The session is especially relevant for teachers working with learners who face challenges in speaking and writing, as it highlights how art can complement traditional forms of expression. Participants can expect to engage with three themes during this presentation
1. Why art? The philosophical role of art and beauty in education and activity
2. A practical example of artistic learning from Uppsala University
3. A critical discussion of opportunities and challenges in applying these methods within diverse teaching contexts
Working language: English
Sustainability Studies in Language Education: Between Barriers and Bridges
Prof. Dr. Holden Härtl
University of Kassel
This contribution highlights how concepts of sustainability are represented through language and how language-related study programs can offer systematic insights into these processes. Using the example of our newly established program in Sustainability Communication at the University of Kassel, it reflects on the challenges faced when integrating humanities perspectives into sustainability discourse. Particular attention is given to the potential of language education to foster interdisciplinary understanding and promote critical engagement with key societal issues.
Working language: English
Learning by Design in the Generative AI Language Classroom: GenAI-by-Design for Teaching and Learning
Dr. Gabriela C. Zapata
University of Nottingham
As generative AI (GenAI) becomes increasingly integrated into second language (L2) teaching and learning, critical questions emerge regarding responsible adoption, transparency, and student agency. This presentation introduces GenAI-by-Design, a pedagogical framework developed through multi-year, mixed-methods research in the United States and the United Kingdom. Grounded in Learning by Design and UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Students, the model positions GenAI as a dialogic, ethically scaffolded component of the classroom ecology rather than a substitute for human judgment and action. The presentation outlines its tenets, offers examples of classroom applications, provides suggestions for L2 practices, and demonstrates how principled, research-informed pedagogy can support ethical innovation and critical engagement with GenAI in L2 education.
Working language: English
The underutilized power of the Mindset
Dr. Isabel Rimanoczy
PRME Working Group on Sustainability Mindset
In the Keynote talk, Dr. Isabel Rimanoczy will invite participants to get a closer understanding of the power of the Sustainability Mindset Principles to accelerate a transformation towards a more sustainable life, from the environment to society.
The talk will be complemented by an Action Lab. Designed following the Action Reflection Learning methodology, the Action Lab will invite educators to explore the value of the Sustainability Mindset resources for their personal and professional context and prepare some strategies to use in the classroom.
Working language: English
Decoding Structures, Dismantling Norms: Gender Equality in Language Learning through the Lens of Structuralism and Post-Structuralism
Dr. Sergey Alushkin
TU Braunschweig
This interactive workshop consisting of two parts invites future foreign language educators to critically examine the interplay between language, power, and gender equity through the frameworks of French structuralism and post-structuralism. Guided by a philosopher specializing in these traditions, participants will explore how conceptions of language—from Saussure’s rigid langue/parole dichotomy to Derrida’s deconstruction of fixed meaning and Foucault’s analysis of discursive power—shape pedagogical approaches to gender representation in language learning. The session begins with a participatory icebreaker, prompting attendees to dissect gendered linguistic structures (e.g., grammatical gender, inclusive pronouns) in diverse languages. A concise theoretical overview will juxtapose structuralist views (language as a stable system) with post-structuralist critiques (language as fluid, politicized, and identity-shaping), emphasizing thinkers like Barthes, Butler, and Kristeva. Participants will then engage in small-group activities to design classroom exercises that challenge binary or exclusionary language norms, such as reimagining textbooks through a deconstructive lens or crafting dialogues that subvert gendered speech acts. A collaborative debate will address real-world tensions: Can inclusive language coexist with prescriptive grammar? How might teachers navigate resistance to linguistic evolution? The workshop concludes with reflective dialogue, empowering participants to articulate strategies for fostering equity in their future classrooms. Attendees will leave equipped with theoretical tools, practical resources, and a critical awareness of their role as agents of linguistic and social change.
Learning Outcomes:
Understand structuralist/post-structuralist theories of language and their implications for gender equity.
Develop strategies to critique and redesign gendered linguistic content in teaching materials.
Cultivate reflective practices to address power dynamics in language pedagogy.
Working language: English
Multilingualism for Diversity: Creating Translingual Spaces
Dr. Marina Sokolova
Dr. Marina Sokolova
University of Lisbon
This workshop will introduce attendees to the linguistic aspects of code-switching, explaining how language switching is governed by the grammatical rules of both languages involved. It will then focus on language processing and encourage participants to predict how code-switching might affect sentence pronunciation and interpretation. These predictions will be discussed in relation to experimental data gathered through self-paced reading, eye-tracking during reading, and elicited production tasks. In the final stage, participants will form discussion groups to identify potential advantages and disadvantages of using code-switching in the language classroom.
Working Language: English
Eudaimogenetic Thinking as a Basis for Educational Approaches in the Field of Minority and Regional Languages
Renata Shamsutdinova & Anneget Martin
BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
The eudaimogenetic paradigm according to Juliane Noack Napoles (2024) is characterised by its avoidance of group-related, problematising attributions and its focus on an anthropological orientation instead. The (subject-oriented) approach focuses on the conditions for a flourishing life and the recognition of human vulnerability. The paradigm takes its starting point in three modes of being, ‘being given’, ‘being oneself’ and ‘being with’, which are pedagogically addressed through ‘being different’. The aim is to be able to move self-determinedly in the ‘flow’ of one's own life. In this way, the individual's power of definition and action is strengthened and focused on a ‘for what’ rather than an ‘against what’.
The learning of minority and regional languages in adulthood fits particularly well into this pedagogical paradigm. It enables adults to explore their own identity, build a sense of community (Rosiak 2022), appreciate global diversity and strengthen historical and cultural connections. Such learning processes can also have a healing effect, for example in coping with traumatic experiences (Skrodzka et al. 2020), which underlines the close connection between language acquisition and the eudaimogenetic understanding of education. In this workshop, we will show how the eudaimogenetic paradigm can be successfully applied as an educational approach using the example of adult learning of minority and regional languages. This will give
participants the opportunity to learn how they can use eudaimogenesis in their own educational practice.
Noack Napoles, J. (Hrsg.). (2024). Gelingendes Leben ermöglichen –eudaimogenetische Zugänge zur Sozialen Arbeit (1. Auflage). Beltz
Juventa.
Rosiak, K. (2023). The Role of Language Attitudes and Ideologies in Minority Language Learning Motivation: A Case Study of Polish Migrants’ (de)Motivation to Learn Welsh. European Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(1), 26–52. https://doi.org/10.1515/eujal-2021-0018
Skrodzka, M., Hansen, K., Olko, J., & Bilewicz, M. (2020). The Twofold Role of a Minority Language in Historical Trauma: The Case of Lemko Minority in Poland. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 39(4), 551–566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X20932629
Working language: English
Transformative Language Teaching for a Sustainable Future: Why this Matters and How to Achieve It
Prof. Dr. Minna Maijala
University of Turku
Due to the growing demand to incorporate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD, UNESCO 2021) into curricula, sustainable development (SD) and sustainability have become prominent topics across various disciplines, including language education and its research (e.g., de la Fuente 2021; Maijala et al. 2025). The most effective way to achieve the goals of SD in education is through ESD, which is holistic, context sensitive, and learner-centred.
In language teaching, sustainability and ESD are not as closely tied to traditional teaching practices as they are in subjects such as science and geography, allowing opportunities for diverse teaching approaches. Although there is currently no consensus on how ESD should be integrated into language teaching, various approaches, such as interdisciplinary instruction and the development of transversal competencies, can be adapted to different educational contexts. ESD promotes learner-centred pedagogies, including project-based and task-based learning, which enrich the learning process. These methods have also been already widely applied in language education (e.g., Maijala et al., 2024).
This keynote will explore the role of sustainability in language teaching compared to other subjects. I will introduce our theory-based interdisciplinary model for transformative language teaching (TLS) for sustainability (Maijala et al., 2024). Drawing on our previous empirical research, I will demonstrate how the goals of SD can be integrated into language teaching and how interdisciplinary and learner-centred sustainability education can be practically implemented in language teaching and learning. I will present the initial findings from studies investigating language teachers’ and learners’ attitudes towards ESD implementation in language teaching. I will also reflect on the challenges language teachers and learners face when sustainability becomes an integral part of their language lessons. In addition, I will discuss the broader potential of language education to contribute to a sustainable future, with possible implications for language policy, curriculum development, and the design of teaching materials.
References:
de la Fuente, M.J., ed. 2021. Education for Sustainable Development in foreign language learning: Content-based instruction in college-level curricula. 1st Edition. Routledge, Research in Language Education. New York: Routledge.
Maijala, M., N. Gericke, S.-R. Kuusalu, L.M. Heikkola, M. Mutta, K. Mäntylä, and J. Rose. 2024. Conceptualising transformative language teaching for sustainability and why it is needed. Environmental Education Research: 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2023.2167941
Maijala, M., Kuusalu, SR., Ullakonoja, R., eds 2025. Transformative Language Teaching for Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-85493-4
UNESCO. 2021. Education for Sustainable Development lens: A policy and practice review tool. Available from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000190898
Working language: English
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