K-WIR thesis project

Bastardo Grotesk in use for K-WIR, a thesis project by Celina Grundmann and Leave Mieruch, with Prof. Linda Hintz and Prof. Marc Guntow from the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd.

K – WIR is a cross-media communication concept for aspiring teachers to promote awareness of gender-sensitive teaching and learning spaces. It includes a combination of striking media in the university’s room, low-threshold access in the form of an educational game and a profound, digital offer for knowledge transfer.

Prospective teachers in Germany are often not aware of the relevance of gender-sensitive classrooms or do not feel enlightened enough in their studies regarding gender and sexual diversity. K-WIR wants to generate attention and visibility in order to show prospective teachers that queer students are often not considered in everyday school life. The goal is to reduce uncertainties about queer people, topics and ways of life through self-reflection and the promotion of empathy.

The first point of contact takes place in the university public as part of project weeks, seminars or events. Posters, adhesive films and stickers pose open, self-reflective questions as fragmentary food for thought. At the same time, visibility for the topic is achieved in the university. Interactive posters promote your own questioning and dialogue between students. In addition, questions from the educational game are taken up on the interactive posters in order to draw attention to them.

The playful information transfer takes place in the form of a discussion round. Students have the opportunity to put themselves in fictitious characters in order to discuss different issues from their perspective. The basis for discussion addresses gender and sexual diversity at school. During the game, the budding teachers are subliminally confronted with topics and challenges that could later be relevant in their everyday life as a teacher. Argumentation cards and a compact glossary convey background knowledge during the course of the game. The game ends with a joint reflection to exchange information about the newly gained knowledge. The game leads the students to the website, where they can share their thoughts and experiences from the discussion with other students.

The website serves as a digital extension to deepen knowledge transfer. It includes an extensive glossary with explanations of terms that can be filtered by subject. In the area of knowledge, students can find out about gender-sensitive teaching. The contents of the website, the game and the posters can be found in compressed form on the Instagram channel.