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Research Project VI FöWiTec Poetry Case

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Inclusive Multilingual Creative Writing: A Multimodal Poetry Suitcase

Creativity is a key competence for shaping the future and was surveyed by the OECD for the first time in 2022. But how can linguistic creativity be promoted as a future competence among students?

To this end, the Chair of German Didactics is working on a poetry case in an inclusive context. With the help of the poetry suitcase, young people are to be motivated to write creatively while utilising their multilingual potential.

The potential of the poetry case project was also recognised outside the department: The idea of the poetry case was awarded the FöWiTec innovation grant in December 2024 (see gallery below). The funds provided by Potsdam Transfer and UP Transfer GmbH enable innovative projects to transfer research work into practical applications. In this context, the idea of the poetry suitcase was honoured in the area of ‘social transfer’.

 

Poetry case on 'Market of Opportunities' at 'University meets School'

On 11 June 2026, student staff members Michelle Marschalek and Charlize Williams, accompanied by Prof. Dr Winnie-Karen Giera, presented the multilingual poetry kit to interested visitors at the ‘University meets School’ event held at the Bildungsforum Potsdam. The audience included, amongst others, teachers from various types of schools and educationalists specialising in different subjects. The multilingual poetry kit was presented as a creative teaching and learning tool containing various materials and prompts for writing in several languages. At the stand, ways in which it could be used in the classroom were explained. The presentation was interactive, featuring examples from the poetry kit and introducing creative writing prompts. There was also a discussion with teachers and other interested parties.

The aim of the project is to promote creative writing skills in inclusive schools and to highlight multilingualism as a resource in the classroom. The event provided a suitable platform to present the concept, to offer ideas for school practice, and to gather suggestions from practitioners for the further development of the kit.

Sara Hauser and Winnie-Karen Giera receive FöWiTec Innovation Award for Poetry Suitcase

How can linguistic creativity be promoted as a future skill in students? For this purpose, Sara Hauser was working on a multilingual and multimodal Poetry Suitcase. This contains numerous materials that are intended to enable (prospective) teachers to design innovative and inclusive literary learning and writing processes with students. Through the use of all their (linguistic) potential, adolescents should be encouraged to express themselves artistically and to feel empowered in their self-efficacy.

The potential of this project was also recognized outside the department. We are very pleased that the Poetry Suitcase was awarded within the framework of the FöWiTec Innovation Fund.

On 10 December 2024, Prof. Dr. Winnie-Karen Giera and Sara Hauser accepted the award from the President of the University of Potsdam, Prof. Oliver Günther, Ph.D., in the Science Floor of the Potsdam Education Forum.

The funds provided by Potsdam Transfer and the UP Transfer GmbH enable up to 5 innovative projects annually to transfer research work into practical application. In this context, the idea of the Poetry Suitcase was awarded in the "Societal Transfer" category.

Material drafts and exercises for the first prototype of the Poetry Suitcase were developed and tested by Sara Hauser from 2019 to 2024 as a writing coach with 224 students from various school types, with the two mini-books "Wo mein Herz ist" and "Fuck(ed) Up" already being created. These texts are part of the future suitcase. Prof. Dr. Winnie-Karen Giera and Jas Veeh will further material drafts in a co-constructive process with  students of the University of Potsdam, teachers, students, and graphic designers in school-university collaborations transfer into a prototype of the Poetry Suitcase in 2025. In addition to financing the material costs, the FöWiTec grant enables the employment of a student assistant who will support the project until March 2026.

Kontakt | Project manager

Prof. Dr. Winnie-Karen Giera