Ceremonial tribute in Havana

In February 2020, biology didactician Prof. Dr. Franz X. Bogner received a great honour in Havana (Cuba): in the middle of the first Corona wave, he was appointed Visiting Professor. As a visiting professor, he mainly takes care of quantitative empirical research within the Alexander Humboldt Centre, which is located at the Pedagogical University Enrique José Varona. 

The formalities for the celebrations were simple due to the pandemic situation at the time, and contact restrictions were the top priority. Cuba was practically in lockdown by then. This year in spring, some two years later, the appointment as visiting professor was made up for with a ceremonial act. The appointment is a rare and great honour: it is the first time in the field of biology didactics for a German scientist.

Prof. Bogner works in Havana at the Alexander Humboldt Centre of the Enrique José Varona Pedagogical University, which was founded in 2019 under the auspices of the Bayreuth Centre for the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education: On the occasion of the last Bayreuth delegation visit to Havana, University President Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible had also signed the cooperation agreement between the two universities. The Bayreuth connection is also reflected in the name of Alexander von Humboldt, who is still highly revered throughout Cuba today - and who spent his important professional years in Bayreuth. The fame and esteem of the German private scholar has been preserved to this day from his South American expedition over two centuries ago.

As a visiting professor, Prof. Bogner's main focus in Havana will be on quantitative empirical STEM teaching research. A first research study has been submitted for publication together with the Cuban team in Havana, and another study is now on its way.

"Despite all the economic problems, education has an enormously high value in Cuba," says Bogner. "In this regard, the advice of the University of Bayreuth with its many years of expertise in holistic teacher education is appreciated; after all, STEM teacher education in Bayreuth has been treading groundbreakingly innovative paths for over 15 years." Keywords for this are the polyvalence of the degree programme, the increased integration of school practice or a solid compulsory multimedia training. The beacon of the University of Bayreuth is the MINT programme ELITE-Lehramt PLUS, which is unique in Germany and offers highly gifted student teachers a Master of Science degree.