Internationalisation at Home (IaH) through digitalisation? On the potential of virtual mobility in teacher education

In the teaching profession, students are increasingly called upon to align their educational activities with the constantly changing framework conditions of the 21st century knowledge-based society and to adapt their professional self-images accordingly. For this reason, it is essential that teachers lay a foundation for professional self-reflection already in the first phase of teacher education. One promising option for career-related reflection is the view of the “life-like as well as institutional or national horizon” through a study-related stay abroad. However, due to financial and time constraints, not all students are able to participate in such a stay abroad. In addition, there is currently a lack of convincing concepts that can harness the potential of teacher education internationalisation for the professionalisation of teachers. Therefore, this paper presents a model that enables teacher education students to gain international experience at home, focusing on professional self-reflection.