The practical semester, which is the responsibility of the universities, is usually carried out in the third semester of the Master's degree course and comprises a time quota of around 400 hours. Students complete this practical part of their studies at an assigned school and take part in accompanying formats at the ZfsL at the same time.
Using the approach of research-based learning, students develop their first professional skills. The subject-specific, didactic and educational science knowledge acquired at the university is combined with practical work experience at a school. The students are supported by teachers as mentors who help them to plan teaching projects and carry out teaching sequences. The practical semester students get to know all areas of school work. They take part in teacher, subject and school conferences as well as in consultations and internal school training courses.
At the end of the practical school component, seminar leaders visit the students in the school and conduct a review and perspective discussion with them.