At a recent discussion on the future of German outreach and advocacy, one message came through clearly: teachers are already doing an enormous amount with limited time and resources. Any new initiative, network, or outreach programme needs to answer a simple question:
What’s in it for teachers?
As we listened to colleagues from universities, schools, and language organisations share their experiences, it became clear that the most successful outreach activities are not necessarily the biggest events or the most ambitious projects. Instead, they are the ones that make teachers’ lives easier, support their students, and fit within the realities of school life.
Teachers Need More than One-Off Events
One challenge that was raised repeatedly was the tendency to focus on individual events. While university visits, lectures, and outreach days can be inspiring, their impact is often limited if they are not part of a wider programme. Teachers need support that lasts beyond a single afternoon. Several speakers emphasised the importance of creating progression pathways that help students move from Key Stage 3 through to GCSE, A-Level, and eventually university. Without that continuity, even excellent outreach activities can struggle to have a lasting effect. For teachers, this means access to sustained partnerships rather than constantly having to search for new opportunities each year.
High-Quality Resources are Gold Dust
One of the strongest messages from the discussion was that curriculum-linked teaching resources remain one of the most valuable forms of support universities can offer. Teachers are under significant time pressure. Creating engaging materials from scratch is often impossible alongside planning, marking, administration, and pastoral responsibilities.
This is where universities can make a real difference.
Researchers have expertise, specialist knowledge, and access to fascinating content that can be transformed into classroom-ready materials. Whether linked to German history, literature, politics, culture, migration, sustainability, or current affairs, these resources can help bring authentic content into lessons while supporting curriculum objectives. As one participant suggested, we should perhaps spend less time reinventing outreach events and more time thinking about how to curate, organise, and share high-quality resources that teachers can immediately use in the classroom.
Professional Development Matters
Another recurring theme was Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Many teachers would welcome greater access to subject-specific CPD, particularly opportunities that allow them to engage with current research and developments within German Studies. University departments are ideally placed to provide this. From online seminars and workshops to in-person study days, stronger collaboration could help teachers stay connected to developments in the subject while also creating valuable professional networks. Importantly, CPD should not be seen as an “extra”. For many teachers, it is a key way of maintaining enthusiasm for their subject and bringing fresh ideas back into the classroom.
Student Ambassadors Can Be Powerful Allies
One particularly interesting area of discussion focused on student ambassadors and mentors. University students often have a unique ability to connect with younger learners. They can speak honestly about their experiences, challenge misconceptions about language study, and provide relatable role models. For teachers, ambassador programmes can bring additional capacity and energy into language promotion activities without placing extra pressure on school staff. Several participants suggested that universities could go further by sharing training materials, toolkits, and resources for ambassadors. A more coordinated approach would reduce duplication and help ensure consistency across different programmes.
Making the Case for Languages
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing language teachers today is convincing others of the value of language learning. Many schools face competing priorities, and languages are not always at the top of the agenda. This is why access to evidence, evaluation data, and success stories is so important. One idea discussed was the sharing of common messaging and statistics about the benefits of language learning. Universities and language organisations often have access to research that individual schools may not. By providing teachers and school leaders with robust evidence about employability, intercultural competence, academic outcomes, and student progression, the wider languages community can help strengthen the case for German and other languages.
Learning from What Already Works
The discussion also highlighted several examples of successful collaboration, including the Cambridge German Roadshow, Languages for All, Routes into Languages, the Oxford German Network, and the Queen’s College Translation Exchange. What these initiatives have in common is that they recognise collaboration as a long-term commitment rather than a one-off intervention. They connect schools with universities, researchers, students, and employers while providing practical support for teachers. Rather than creating entirely new structures, many participants argued that we should build on these existing networks and learn from their success.
Looking Ahead
One proposal that generated considerable interest was the idea of creating stronger regional university–school networks across the UK, potentially building on existing structures such as NCLE hubs.
For teachers, such networks could provide:
- Easier access to outreach opportunities
- Curriculum-linked teaching resources
- Subject-specific CPD
- Student ambassadors and mentors
- Employer and alumni speakers
- Opportunities to share good practice
- Stronger professional networks
- Evidence and evaluation tools to support advocacy within schools
Above all, these networks could help reduce the sense of isolation that many language teachers experience. My main takeaway from the discussion was that successful outreach is not simply about attracting students to university language courses. It is about creating genuine partnerships between schools and universities that recognise the expertise of teachers and respond to their needs.
If we want to strengthen the future of German in the UK, supporting teachers must be at the centre of the conversation.