Lilli Schmitt, Anika Greiß, Marlene Seeger and Romy Merkel are the winners of the Höchstetter Foundation Prize for the summer term of 2026. With this award, Heidelberg University of Education and the Klaus Höchstetter Foundation recognise outstanding achievements in academic dissertations at Master’s level each semester. The prize is worth 500 euros each. The laudatory address was delivered by Professor Dr Christian Rietz, Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching at the University, as part of the graduation ceremony for the graduates.

Innovative approaches to education and school practice

Lilli Schmitt completed the Master’s programme in Special Educational Needs Teaching at Heidelberg University of Education. In her thesis on the effectiveness of the so-called ‘Reading-Whilst-Listening’ method, she examines how the combination of reading and simultaneous listening affects the reading skills of children with special educational needs. The thesis combines a sound theoretical foundation with a methodologically rigorous empirical study. With its findings, Schmitt’s thesis makes an important contribution to the evidence-based development of reading support and provides valuable insights for school practice.

Anika Greiß is a trainee primary school teacher and, in her Master’s thesis, examines the significance of monolingualism in early foreign language teaching. In particular, Greiß explores how teachers, on the one hand, assess foreign language teaching organised largely as monolingual instruction and, on the other hand, implement it. She impresses with an extremely well-founded theoretical framework and an excellently conducted interview study, through which Greiß demonstrates the opportunities and challenges associated with teaching in English as much as possible. Through a supplementary comparison with current findings from French language teaching, the thesis also broadens the perspective beyond a single subject. The findings provide valuable insights for the initial and continuing professional development of teachers, as well as for the educational policy debate on early foreign language acquisition. 

Shaping a sustainable future: focusing on health, nutrition and the environment

Marlene Seeger is the first graduate of the Master’s programme in Municipal Health Promotion to be awarded the Höchstetter Foundation Prize. She shares the Faculty of Natural and Social Sciences’ prize with special needs teacher Romy Merkel.

In her Master’s thesis, Seeger examines how health, nutrition and sustainable agriculture can be considered and shaped in an integrated manner. The thesis stands out for its innovative research design: building on the One Health approach, Seeger uses so-called digital vision essays to enable trainees at the Higher Federal College for Agriculture and Nutrition (Salzburg, Austria) to describe their visions for the future. In her analysis, she identifies four types, each with different perspectives on how the transition towards an economic system and way of life that jointly takes into account the health of people, animals and the environment can be shaped. Her Master’s thesis provides important starting points for educational processes and the development of strategies that involve various stakeholders on the path towards a sustainable and health-promoting future.

School gardens as learning environments for inclusion and sustainable development 

Equally impressive was the work of Romy Merkel, who examines the potential of school gardens as learning spaces for inclusive, sustainable and health-promoting education. The focus is on how gardening can promote children’s learning, motivation and sense of responsibility, and what conditions teachers need to ensure successful implementation. Through the close integration of academic research and practical school gardening, as well as the use of a sophisticated mixed-methods approach, the study yields nuanced insights into learning processes and pedagogical design options. The findings provide valuable insights for school practice and demonstrate how school gardens can become vibrant learning environments where subject-specific learning, sustainability and inclusion are interwoven. 

The Heidelberg University of Education and the Klaus Höchstetter Foundation warmly congratulate Lilli Schmidt, Anika Greiß, Marlene Seeger and Romy Merkel on this award. They wish the graduates every success in their future endeavours.

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Text: Verena Loos
Image: Birgitta Hohenester