Anja Karen Kölling compleeted her university studies in Modern German Literature, Linguistics, Psychology, and Theatre Studiesat Freie Universität Berlin (graduating in 2007) and further expanded her academic profile by pursuing advanced studies in Applied Literary Studies and German as a Foreign Language (DaF).

She began acquiring international teaching experience in German as a Foreign and Second Language (DaF/DaZ) in 2000, including positions at the Casa de Cultura Alemã of the Universidade Federal do Ceará (Fortaleza, Brazil), the Deutsches Haus at NYU / New York University (New York, USA), University UFRRJ (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Università degli Studi di Milano (Milan, Italy), as well as at the Goethe-Institut (Berlin and Lisbon, Portugal) and the GLS Language School in Berlin.

After several years teaching welcome classes and German-language classes at Modeschule Berlin (Upper Secondary School, 2015–2018), she worked in adult education as a project manager and editor at Cornelsen Verlag / publishing company (2018–2020) and as a volunteer trainer at the Netbased Learning Institute Berlin. She has also designed and delivered freelance professional development courses and coaching for DaF/DaZ teachers. From 2021 to 2024, she served as a DAAD lecturer and instructor at Università degli Studi di Milano in Italy.

Since returning to Potsdam in 2024, Karen Kölling has focused her research and teaching at the University of Potsdam on innovative projects in German education, particularly the theory–practice transfer in multilingual, inclusive learning environments. Her doctoral project is situated in Design-Based Research and aims to combine qualitative and quantitative methods. The aim is to develop and evaluate theatre-based and embodied learning interventions for the advancement of pronunciation and reading competence (with a special emphasis on reading fluency and comprehension) for learners at the secondary level.

The Austrian-born academic began her studies with a Master’s degree in German Language and Literature at the University of Vienna, graduating in 2005 with a focus on children’s and young adult literature. During her studies, she worked as an educational and research assistant at the International Institute for Children’s Literature and Reading Research in Vienna.

Her professional career then led her to a bilingual training institute specialising in deafness and diversity, where she worked as a project manager developing inclusive educational programmes. After completing her teaching degree in special education, she joined the teaching staff of Vienna’s public schools.

Until 2022, she worked as a special education teacher at several schools in Vienna, focusing on reading and language development. In this role, she taught primary school children in inclusive and multilingual settings and initiated numerous projects such as Kamishibai theatre performances and early childhood literacy programmes.

From 2019 onwards, she played a key role in establishing the “Primary School Reading Department” within the Vienna Board of Education, contributing significantly to the professional development of teachers in inclusive contexts. Her dedication has been recognised through several awards from the Vienna Board of Education, and in 2016 she was nominated for the Reading Award for her project Reading Tandems in Multilingual Classes.

Since 2009, she has also worked as a freelance university lecturer and author in Austria and abroad. Her publications include a textbook on early literacy development in heterogeneous classrooms, as well as teaching materials and scholarly contributions to inclusive education.

In 2022, she took up a full-time position at the University College of Teacher Education in Lower Austria, in the Department of Diversity, where her work focuses on German and literacy didactics, inclusive teaching for D/deaf and hard of hearing learners and mentoring in school practice.

Since September 2025, she has served as Head of the Special Needs Department, focusing on educational support for D/deaf and hard of hearing young learners at an educational campus in Vienna.
In June 2024, she began her doctoral research on “Inclusive German didactics for children who are D/deaf or hard of hearing”.