Language model

If we take the special linguistic and cultural heritage of the local area, as well as its school system, into consideration, the degree course in Primary Education is divided into three sections: one for the training of teachers who will work in the German-language schools, one for the Italian-language schools and one for the Ladin-language schools. When students pre-enrol, they only have to choose which section they wish to enroll for; there is no language test.

If they wish, students enrolled in the Italian ad German section can follow classes and take exams from the other section. This approach has introduced an optional multilingualism to the degree course, whereas the courses for Social Work and Community Educators have a compulsory multilingual approach.  This is due to the fact that the professional areas in which graduates will work have different language needs. Education in South Tyrol is divided following the province’s language groups (so people training for Italian-language schools will have little or no professional use for German and vice versa) whereas this division does not exist for the social or health areas. Achieving multilingualism and multiculturalism represents a huge challenge for the Faculty as well as attempting to consolidate its position in the fields if research and teaching.