Birgit Schlachter

Birgit Schlachter serves as Senior Academic Councillor at Weingarten University of Education, where she has held progressively senior positions since 2012, culminating in her 2017 appointment to Senior Academic Councillor and completion of her habilitation in 2020. Her academic foundation includes a doctorate from University of Freiburg (2004) focusing on second-generation Shoah literature and dual state examinations for German and French secondary teaching.

Her research centers on literary understanding processes, particularly through her leadership in the PAuLi (Perspective and Tasks in Literature Teaching) project—a multi-year design research initiative developing perspective-understanding frameworks for literature classrooms. She has pioneered work on serial storytelling didactics, examining how book and television series function pedagogically across primary and secondary education levels. Her scholarship bridges theoretical literary analysis with practical classroom applications, especially regarding children's and youth literature reception.

Dr. Schlachter's scientific recognition includes fellowships from prestigious foundations including the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Her current research extends into designing literacy development modules for teacher training, particularly through the 'Starke Basis!' project focused on fostering independent reading habits. She actively contributes to academic governance as treasurer of Symposion Deutschdidaktik e.V. and serves as module representative for multiple German teacher education programs.

• Senior Academic Councillor since 2017
• Habilitation completed 2020 (Venia legendi for German language/literature didactics)
• PAuLi research project co-lead since 2020s
• Design Research methodology specialist