Page 51 - Vuosikirja 2024-2025

My Comeback at Tampere
Teacher Training School

My name is Katrin Hunger. I am a teacher egies for using multilingualism in foreign language
trainee from Germany. In the future, I plan to teaching and learning.
teach first to fourth grade pupils in the sub-
jects German (for both native and non-native speak- Only a few oral exams remain before I complete my
ers), Math, Science and English. studies. Many thanks to Kirsi and all the other won-
derful teachers at Tampere Teacher Training School,
During a study abroad at Tampere University in 2022, who are not only great role models for their pupils
I first got in contact with the German teacher Kirsi, but also for all teacher trainees, including interna-
who invited me co-teach her German learners. At that tional ones like me, who come to the school and take
time, I was already able to not only share interesting their first steps toward becoming inspiring educators.
facts about German schools and life in Germany with Norssi gave me the opportunity to gain practical ex-
my Finnish pupils, but also learnt about the Finnish periences that have profoundly shaped my teaching
school system myself. Shortly after returning to Ger- style and the way I view my responsibilities as a future
many, I began extending my studies by taking extra classroom and language teacher.
courses to learn how to specifically support German
as a Second Language Learners improving their aca-
demic performances.

In autumn 2024, I decided to do my mandatory in- Schultüten-lahjatuutit, joita harjoittelija Katrin Hunger askarteli
ternship in Finland again to step into the role of a 1.ja 2.luokkalaisten kanssa
foreign language speaker myself in order to better un-
derstand what it means for my own learners to start Have a wonderful summer break! Stay open-minded
a “new” language. This time, I co-taught all of Kirsi’s and curious about the world and its many languages
year one through four German pupils, as well as a few - this will make your life even more interesting. I will
of Anni’s German learners. I focused not only on play- definitely keep studying Finnish and stay in contact
ful ways of learning the German language through with Norssi. Maybe we will even start some exchange
word games, songs, movement, and crafts, but also projects between my future school and Norssi.
on giving pupils insights into how children begin pri-
mary school and when they transition to secondary Vielen Dank und bis bald! Kiitos paljon ja nähdään
school in Germany. I also had the chance to observe pian!
several lessons in other subjects, gaining a broad un-
derstanding of various teaching styles, methods and Katrin Hunger
relevant topics that will help me perform better as a
future classroom teacher.

In addition to my practical experience, I was also able
to collect data for my university research project,
which I conducted over the past few months, titled
“Multilingualism in English Class in Different Coun-
tries”. Thanks to several English teachers, I was not
only able to observe their English classes, but also
conducted interviews with Anna and Annika, who
shared opportunities, challenges and specific strat

51tamperen yliopiston normaalikoulu vuosikertomus 2024–2025