A native of Berlin and Brandenburg by choice, he studied German and history at the University of Potsdam from 2013-2019 to become a teacher for secondary levels I and II and received his Master of Education in 2019. Following his studies, he completed his teacher training in the state of Brandenburg at the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium Fürstenwalde and passed the state examination for the teaching profession with the grade "very good" in January 2020. This was followed by tenure in the state of Brandenburg and the continuation of teaching at the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium. When he took up his full teaching position, he also taught the subject Life Studies-Ethics-Religion (LER) in addition to German and History. After the end of his teaching position at the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in July 2021, he has held the position of academic assistant at the junior professorship for Inclusive German Didactics under the direction of Prof. Dr. Giera since 01 August 2021. This task is connected with a PhD project. This focuses on the connection between the concept of scaffolding and the investigated writing, reading, and debating skills in the context of the school-based intervention study Fair Debating and Debating (see tab "Research"). His other interests also include the study of language education and support in the classroom from an inclusion pedagogy perspective.

Ms. Menike is a doctoral student under Prof. Dr. Winnie-Karen Giera, University of Potsdam and Prof. Dr. Thorsten Roelcke, Technical University of Berlin. A native of Sri Lanka, university lecturer and former international scholarship holder of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Ms. Menike completed her master's degree in German as a Foreign and Second Language/ Foreign German Studies at Friedrich Schiller University Jena in 2017. Immediately after completing her Bachelor's degree in German Studies at the University of Kelaniya, she started her first job as an Assistant Lecturer in German at the same university in 2008. After five years of teaching experience in German, she was hired as the first Lecturer of German in Tourism in the Department of Tourism Management at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka in 2013. Since May 2018, she has been working there as a Senior Lecturer in German. During her academic time, she has gained experience as a researcher in DaF/DaZ teaching, as an intern at ÜAG Sprachinstitut Jena, and student mentor in Germany and abroad. She has also worked as a lecturer in German for vocational education at Arugambay in Sri Lanka and as a guest lecturer at University College, Batangala and Sabaragamuwa University. In addition, she supervises bachelor theses, organizes conferences, and conducts baccalaureate examinations in German in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, she coordinated the Diploma of Tourism Management at Sabaragamuwa University. As an experienced university lecturer in Sri Lanka, she is enrolled as a PhD student with Prof. Dr. Winnie-Karen Giera at the University of Potsdam since the winter semester 2021/22. In her doctoral thesis (term: 2022-2026), she is investigating the development of German language teaching in Sri Lanka.