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The kick-off event for the Language Education in the Immigrant Society funding line took place in Cologne on April 24, 2023. Over 50 participants from the individual projects, the meta-project, the BMBF and the DLR took part. 

The meta-project team introduced the objectives of the project – measuring the field of language education and dealing with transfer in this field. For this purpose, an initial thematic location of the funding line and an overview of the approved individual projects were given with regard to thematic priorities and transfer orientation. It was also explained how cooperation with and between the projects should be organized by the coordination office, how the specific interests of emerging researchers can be taken into account, what the research projects of the members in the research network are aimed at and how public relations work is planned.

In groups, the project representatives exchanged information about the status of their work, discussed open questions and problems as well as current challenges, which were then brought together in the plenary session. The focus was on giving and receiving feedback in the group, clarifying any open questions and also discussing current challenges. Those responsible for moderation and reporting finally reported in the plenary session on the reflections from the groups.

The day concluded with a reflecting team consisting of Dr. Birgit Pikowsky, head of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Institute of Education, and Hendrik Stammermann from the Hamburg State Institute for Teacher Training and School Development, who, as long-standing practical experts, gave critical feedback regarding the collaboration and the importance of projects and results for the transfer of practice. They want research projects to have more discursive strategies and early communication with practice, ideally already in the conception phase. This also includes the development of a common language and sensitivity to different system logics and language styles of the communities. On such a basis, they see great potential for collaboration with the state institutes and existing transfer formats in the federal states of the project locations.