New Chair of Didactics of Geography: Gabriele Schrüfer

Gabriele Schrüfer passed the First State Examination for teaching at grammar schools in the subjects of geography and economics & law, at the University of Bayreuth. After her traineeship and the Second State Examination, she was able to gain three years of experience as a grammar school teacher before she completed her doctorate at the University of Bayreuth in the didactics of geography, on intercultural learning in geography lessons. In 2010, she accepted her appointment to the University of Münster (WMU). There she developed the main foci of 'Global Learning / Education for Sustainable Development', ''Africa' in geography teaching' and 'Geography teaching in the digital age'.

She hopes to expand these fields of research in Bayreuth as well. Above all, the renowned African studies of the University of Bayreuth offer her a wide range of tangents from which to proceed. Prof. Dr. Gabriele Schrüfer’s research raises the question of how geography lessons should be designed in a world with many different, interwoven global challenges, full of uncertainties and complexity, and what skills teachers need in order to prepare students for their future in a globalized world. One major preoccupation of hers is to put theoretical knowledge into practice and make it bear fruit in geography lessons.

"It was during my studies at the University of Bayreuth that my great enthusiasm for geography was first awakened. I am pleased that, by returning to my home university, I can pass on this enthusiasm to future geography teachers," says Prof. Dr. Gabriele Schrüfer.