Why is your book unlike any other?
It is the result of not only international but also interdisciplinary teamwork: the contributions were developed collaboratively by colleagues from the fields of language, natural, social, and educational sciences, as well as sports and music education, and research management. Everyone had to be willing to question familiar concepts from their own discipline, university, and national context and engage in dialogue. As a result, many innovative ideas emerged.
You are publishing with the University of Potsdam Press – and thus open access. Why?
Publishing in open access is beneficial for academic discourse. We hope for wide reach because our publication will be freely accessible to all interested parties. This also makes it easier for our international partners to share the book with their networks.
Who should read your book – and when?
Anyone interested in the internationalization of teacher education, who works in teacher education, or is involved in internationalization efforts in academic administration. Many of our ideas and insights provide guidance on how international cooperation can succeed and what is needed to make it work.
What was fun about making the book – and what wasn’t?
We were inspired by the variety of ideas, activities, and implementation strategies presented in the contributions. As researchers and educators primarily based in individual disciplines, looking beyond our own fields gave us new insights into the academic discourses of other disciplines and showed us that education for sustainability requires both subject-specific and interdisciplinary approaches. The most challenging part of the publication process was, of course, incorporating corrections and adhering to uniform formatting requirements – but that is part of every publication.
On a scale of 1 to 10: how good is your book?
That is for others to judge. We are confident in the result. Working on these topics was great fun for everyone involved, and we believe the ideas we share are forward-thinking for future developments. We hope others will see it that way too.
If you could: would you give your book an award – and if so, which one?
Yes, for the collaboration with and coordination of so many contributors, we – together with all our project partners and contributors – would deserve an award for international cooperation in teacher education.
And finally, 3 sentences about yourselves…
As editors, we worked together in the DAAD project at the University of Potsdam from 2021 to 2024. Stefanie Goertz made invaluable contributions as project coordinator. Britta Freitag-Hild is a professor of English didactics at the University of Potsdam and led the DAAD project from 2021 to 2022. Isolde Malmberg was professor of music education and didactics in Potsdam from 2020 to 2024 before moving to the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Linda P. Juang is a professor of inclusive education at the University of Potsdam, focusing on issues related to migration-related diversity.
“Ten Questions for a Book” opens the door to Potsdam University Press and regularly presents new publications. “The Influence of the Border and the Limits of Influence: Educating Teachers for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship: Internationalizing Teacher Education in the Context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals” is available online here and can be ordered as a book here. Further new publications from the university press can be found here.