Since 2017, teachers with refugee experience have been prepared to work at a school in Germany through the one-year qualification program Teachers Plus. Initially, the program was offered exclusively at the universities of Bielefeld and Bochum. As part of the DAAD program "NRWege ins Studium: Leuchtturmprojekte", funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia, the existing program was also extended to the universities of Cologne, Siegen and Duisburg-Essen from 2020 to the end of 2022. Teachers Plus consists of a language course, pedagogical-intercultural qualification, subject-specific and subject-didactic offerings, and a school-based practical phase. 

The research project examines which competencies the participants of the program develop and how significant the individual program components are for the development of competencies. The research is based on a mixed-method study design and includes written surveys of participants as well as individual and group interviews. In addition, people from the follow-up program "International Lehrkräfte Fördern" (ILF) as well as lecturers from the individual qualification modules will be interviewed. The first results of the project will be presented in an interim report in March 2022.