Philip Balling, M.Ed.

Teacher Educator and PhD Researcher 

Philip Balling completed his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education degrees in English and Music (focus: Jazz/Pop Drums) at the University of Cologne and the Cologne University of Music and Dance. Since 2021, he has been teaching at Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium Bensberg, including advanced classes, project courses, and as a class teacher for Years 5–7. His responsibilities at school comprise coordinating the Erasmus program, working on school development, and organizing Cambridge C1 exams.

Since August 2025, Philip has been working as a moderator in teacher training for English for the Cologne local government. In February 2026, he joined the English Language Education team at the University of Bonn as part of a secondment. In his teaching he is passionate about intertwining theory and practice to enable students to become confident English language educators. His PhD research revolves around teaching and learning with biographies and their potential in culture- and genre-didactics to develop biographical literacy.

His research interests include task-based and genre-based language learning, teaching and learning with biographies, cultural learning, fostering critical literacy, alternative forms of assessment and digital transformation in English Language Education.

Contact

Rabinstr. 8, Room 02-057
53111 Bonn

Mail: pballing@uni-bonn.de 

Office hours: appointment via email

Academic Profile

- task-based and genre-based language learning

- cultural learning

- teaching biographies

- critical literacy

- alternatives forms of assessment

- digitality and multimodality

2026 – present

Teacher Educator and PhD Researcher (Abgeordnete Lehrkraft) in English Language Education, University of Bonn (50%)

Dissertation: (De)Constructing life narratives – Teaching biographies in the EFL classroom (working title), Prof. Dr. Ricardo Römhild, University of Bonn & Prof. Dr. Frauke Matz, University of Münster
2025 – present Moderator in Teacher Training (Fachmoderator) for English for the Local Government of Cologne (Bezirksregierung Köln)
2022 – present

Teacher of English and Music (Studienrat) at Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium Bensberg, Bergisch Gladbach

- Erasmus+ Coordinator

- School of Diversity Coordinator

- School development, talent development
2021 – 2022 Teacher Trainee at Zentrum für schulpraktische Lehrerausbildung Engelskirchen
2019 – 2021 M.Ed. Student of English Studies, Music and Educational Studies; Teaching Degree Master of Education, University of Cologne and Cologne University of Music and Dance
2014 – 2019 B.A. Student of English Studies, Music and Educational Studies; Teaching Degree Bachelor of Arts, University of Cologne and Cologne University of Music and Dance
2013 – 2014 Student of Systematic and Historic Musicology, University of Hamburg
2011 – 2013 Junior student (Jungstudent) of Jazz/Pop Drums, Lübeck University of Music

Edited Volumes

- Lippert, S. & Balling, P. (fc. 2027) Special issue: Biographies – Narrating lives (working title). Der fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 205/2027.

- Balling, P., Fischer, N., Hascher, T., Quenzel, G., Richter, S. (fc. 2027) Special issue: Emotionen. Schüler:innen. Wissen für Lehrer:innen.

Articles

- Lippert, S. & Balling, P. (fc. 2027) (De)constructing life narratives. Biografien kritisch lesen und selbst gestalten. In: Lippert, S. und Balling, P. (Eds.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 205/2027.

- Balling, P. & Lippert, S. (fc. 2027) Biografisches forschen mit dem textuellen Netzwerk. Methode im Fokus. In: Lippert, S. und Balling, P.  (Eds.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 205/2027.

- Balling, P. & Lippert, S. (fc. 2026) Mit KI als Schreibtutor Evaluationsphasen gestalten. Methode im Fokus. In: Ludwig, C. (Ed.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 203/2026.

- Lippert, S. & Balling, P. (fc. 2026) „My summer of magical moments: Travelogues über eigene Sommererlebnisse mit sprachlicher Unterstützung eines KI-Tutors schreiben“. In: Ludwig, C. (Ed.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 203/2026.

- Balling, P. & Lippert, S. (fc. 2026) “Distant music – Musikalische Erinnerungsräume in James Joyce's The Dead ergründen und eigene musikbezogene Bedeutungen in multimodalen soundscapes gestalten”. In: Delius, K. & Krengel, F. (Eds.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 201/2026.

- Lippert, S. & Balling, P. (fc. 2026) “Mindful together – In einer blended mobility eine geführte Meditation aufnehmen und durchführen”. In: Delius, K. & Krengel, F. (Eds.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 201/2026.

- Lippert, S. & Balling, P. (2025) “My Political Awakening – In einem virtual exchange-Projekt einen Politik-Podcast produzieren“. In: Schocker, M. & Müller-Hartmann, A. (Eds.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 197/2025.

- Balling, P. & Lippert, S. (2025) “A dreamer, a doer, a real-life go-getter – Ein Lyrikbuch über zivilgesellschaftliches Engagement schreiben.” In: Schocker, M. & Müller-Hartmann, A. (Eds.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 197/2025.

- Balling, P. & Lippert, S. (2025) “#heartbreak #toxic love. Digitales literarisches Lesen: Per BookTok Geschlechterstereotypen in Colleen Hoovers Romanen dekonstruieren.” In: Ludwig, C. (Ed.), Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 193/2025, S. 41-48.

 Teaching Practice

- Balling, P. & Lippert, S. (fc. 2026) Context Themenheft: Speaking up for Global Goals. Berlin: Cornelsen.

- Balling, P. & Lippert, S. (2026) Handreichung zu Jerry Crafts Graphic Novel New Kid. Berlin: Cornelsen.

- Balling, P. & Lippert, S. (2025) Context Themenheft: Listening In – Recent developments in the English-Speaking World. Berlin: Cornelsen.

- Balling, P. (2025) Collaboration on: Vorschläge zur Leistungsmessung: Context NRW Listening Leistungsmessung – Aufgaben zum Hörverstehen. Berlin: Cornelsen.

09/2026 Thinking and Designing Futures (Symposium), University of Cologne [with Sebastian Lippert]
05/2026 Democracy education with complex tasks (Workshop), Lecture/Workshop Series: Current Issues in English Language Teaching, University of Bonn [with Sebastian Lippert]
02/2026 BNE und Demokratiebildung im Englisch-Fachseminar (panel discussion), English subject leader conference (Fachleitungstagung) of the Cologne local government, ZfsL Leverkusen [with Sebastian Lippert]
11/2025 Digitales Schreiben im fremdsprachlichen Unterricht – Generative KI als Co-Autor für den gezielten Einsatz sprachlichen Feedbacks (Workshop), Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium Bensberg [with Sebastian Lippert]
09/2025 (invited) Virtual Exchange im Englischunterricht aus der Perspektive von Lehrkräften: Gelingensbedingungen und professionelle Kompetenzen (Symposium by Dr. Katharina Delius & Prof. Dr. Britta Freitag-Hild), 31. Congress of the German Association for Foreign Language Research, University of Kassel [with Sebastian Lippert]