Communicator Award Goes to German Language Education Expert Petra Anders
Berlin-based researcher honoured for outstanding communication work promoting reading and language skills in primary education / Award ceremony on 30 June in Hamburg
This year’s Communicator Award presented by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and Stifterverband goes to German language education expert Professor Dr. Petra Anders. She receives the €50,000 prize in recognition of her outstanding science communication aimed at promoting reading and language skills at primary school level. Made up of science journalists and communication experts and chaired by DFG Vice President Professor Dr. Johannes Grave, the Communicator Award jury praised Anders for her commitment to communication that opens dialogue with a wide range of target groups and makes a major contribution to the education debate in Germany. The Communicator Award will be presented at the DFG annual meeting in Hamburg on 30 June .
Professor Dr. Petra Anders
© Peter Rigaud
Petra Anders conducts research into German language teaching and didactics in primary education. Her work bridges theory and practice in a variety of ways, consistently following a multimodal approach that includes images, films and other forms of expression.
In order to make her research accessible beyond academic circles, Anders uses creative formats to quite literally give students, artists, children and teachers a voice of their own. Among other things, she has introduced the use of poetry slams as a literary format for schools, also analysing this approach from a scholarly perspective. In addition to developing an innovative poetry slam for primary school children, she launched the Praxisschock-Slam – an annual event at which student teachers team up with practising educators to write and perform texts about their experiences in the school system, presented live on stage at Berlin’s GRIPS Theatre. The format aims to spark dialogue on urgent issues facing schools and reach out to education policymakers. Discussions are made available to the public through blogs and YouTube.
“Petra Anders always grounds her communication formats in research findings while at the same time challenging conventional approaches to didactics,” the jury stated, praising her ability to tailor content and media to different audiences and objectives. In her research, Anders has shown that the linguistic concept of multimodality – the use of multiple sensory channels to convey information – can enrich inclusive German language teaching. She has opened the door to using multimodal media in primary schools, including spoken language, gesture and facial expression, videos and music to foster cultural self-expression and reading comprehension.
The jury described Anders as a communicator who demonstrates the need to go beyond traditional didactics to strengthen language skills as tools for participation and empowerment – particularly in a society shaped by migration. In recent years, she has contributed to this in many ways, including developing a job shadowing programme for student teachers, a widely followed Instagram channel for German language education, and a centre of excellence for digital poetic education that enables primary pupils to engage with aesthetics in digital learning environments. She has also established a visiting lectureship in poetics at HU Berlin that is awarded exclusively to poetry slammers, bringing ambassadors of the slam scene into the academic world.
“Petra Anders regards participation in science communication as interaction, giving different groups the opportunity to bring their own topics to the table and help shape the dialogue,” stated the jury. It also praised her for going beyond the comfort zone of venues like the Humboldt Forum by actively engaging in education debates and working in challenging settings such as schools in socially disadvantaged areas.
The Communicator Award – Science Award of Stifterverband has been awarded every year since 2000 and is regarded as Germany’s most important prize of its kind. The award goes to researchers who are particularly creative in their science communication, taking innovative, courageous paths and addressing their target groups in suitable and effective ways. They must also recognise the societal dimension of their research and contribute their knowledge to public debate, opinion-forming and decision-making processes. The prize money supports the recipient’s public engagement activities and enables them to implement new projects. The jury selected this year’s award recipient by means of a multi-stage selection process out of 49 applications and nominations. The award will be presented at the end of June by DFG President Professor Dr. Katja Becker and Dr. Volker Meyer-Guckel, Secretary General of Stifterverband.
Further Information
For information on the Communicator Award, see: www.dfg.de/communicator_awar(interner Link)
Media contact:
Svenja Ronge, DFG Press and Public Relations, Tel. +49 228 885-2109, presse@dfg.d(externer Link)
Peggy Groß, Stifterverband, Press Officer, Tel. +49 30 322982-530, presse@stifterverband.d(externer Link)
Programme contact at the DFG Head Office:
Dr. Jutta Rateike, Press and Public Relations Officer, communicator-preis@dfg.d(externer Link)