Study

As part of the redesign of the study regulations as part of the HLbG amendment (2022), the study regulations in Catholic theology for elementary school, secondary school and grammar school teaching were revised to allow for curricular leeway.

The following were added Theological-interdisciplinary modules (= TiMs) have been designed in which courses from different theological disciplines are coordinated in terms of content and methodology and build on one another This thematic-theological structure of the course is a benefit for students and teachers alike.

For students, a thematic-theological rather than a scientific-disciplinary structure is clearer and more meaningful in terms of content. Curricular coherence can be designed much more effectively here. The module overview gives them an insight into the central topics to be covered that are relevant to theology and teaching practice.

Lecturers, on the other hand, are required to coordinate more closely with their fellow lecturers when designing courses and taking module examinations, and at the same time benefit from the fact that students - it must be possible to study a module in two semesters - attend or have attended thematically related courses in another theological discipline in a timely manner

Three TiMs are integrated into the teacher training course for grammar schools:

In TiM I: Speech of God includes courses in biblical theology, systematic theology, practical theology and religious education, each of which deals with central issues and subject-specific content from their own discipline on the overarching topic.

In TiM II: Ecumenical and Interreligious Competence a cooperative course between religious education and systematic theology with two lecturers each from the Protestant and Catholic institutes is structurally anchored, so that both confessional positions and disciplinary perspectives can be discussed in an interlinked manner. This module is also linked to professionally supervised excursions to the places of worship of the various religions.

The social situation requires such interreligious competence from religion teachers more than ever. This includes, on the one hand, knowledge of the theological content and religious practices of other religions and, on the other hand, self-reflection on Christian denominational content and positions, which is stimulated by encounters with others and contributes to a more reflective view of one's own point of view. The interreligious competence developed here transcends the subject boundaries of the theological disciplines traditionally represented in teacher training courses.

In TiM III: Sustainability and justice students can choose from a changing range of courses and set their own focus. Courses on the theology of creation and ecology can be selected here, as can concepts of religious education for sustainable development, socio-ethical topics, courses on gender research, inclusion and much more. Seminars that are already interdisciplinary in nature are also located here, and courses from other disciplines can also be studied and credited in this module.

Two TiMs are integrated into the teacher training course for secondary modern and intermediate schools:

Also the TiM I: Speech of Godwhich is designed in the same way as the L3 course.

The TiM V: Ecumenical and Interreligious Competence / Sustainability bundles the topics from TiMs II and III described above, but is somewhat less freely conceived in terms of its structure, as in addition to a course on ecumenism from the range of courses offered in Systematic Theology and the cooperative basic course on Interreligious Competence, the introduction in the field of Theological Ethics and Christian Social Sciences is prescribed.

In the teacher training course for elementary school, only one TiM is integrated, which can only be taken by students in the long subject:

In TiM IV: Ecumenical and Interreligious Competence / Sustainability there is a little more leeway again, as the third course on ecumenism, interreligious competence and/or sustainability is again freely selectable here.

Students of Catholic Religion as a teaching profession (L2-L4) and students of the BA minor in Catholic Theology can take two study profiles as part of their regular course of study and set content emphases in their studies accordingly.