Verena Plutzar

Verena Plutzar is a Lecturer at the Church University of Education Vienna/Lower Austria (KPH Vienna/Krems), affiliated with the Department of Language Education and Multilingualism under the Institute for Advanced Training. She holds a Dr. Phil. from the University of Vienna and an MA in Intercultural Competences from Danube University Krems. Her work focuses on multilingualism, migration, trauma, and transcultural communication in educational contexts. She co-founded the SprachenRechte network and contributed to the European Language Label-winning Language and Qualification Portfolio for migrants and refugees. Her current projects include research on multilingualism in schools (with Judith Purkarthofer) and language education integration in teacher training (with Sabine Zelger). She is part of the Competence Center for Intercultural Learning and the Mehr:Sprachigkeit! research area. Key publications address attitudes in teacher education, inclusive language policies, and trauma-informed pedagogy.

Education:

• Dr. Phil. (2010), University of Vienna
• MA Intercultural Competences (2004), Danube University Krems
• Magistra in German Philology and Art History (2000), University of Vienna

Research Interests: Multilingualism in education, migration and flight contexts, language policy, psychoanalytic perspectives on communication, and institutional power dynamics. She emphasizes practical applications of theory, such as developing training programs for educators and language policies.

Awards: European Language Label (2009) for the Language and Qualification Portfolio project.

Professional Roles: Director of multiple research projects including the KPH sub-project on language education attitudes and the Global Citizens? GCED project. She also represents KPH in networks like BIMM and voXmi. Her work bridges academic research with grassroots education initiatives in Austria, Kenya, and beyond.