From the lecture hall to the classroom via India

Being authentic, not straightforward

When Jörg Firnkorn witnessed a violent altercation in Berlin-Neukölln a few weeks ago, he could have looked away. Two drunk men, two dogs, an aggressive atmosphere. Instead, he stopped, asked questions, tried to de-escalate the situation, even though he was threatened with punches. "Don't look away, stay objective, act soberly," he says. For Firnkorn, courage is shown in everyday life, not in pathos. He has been living in Neukölln for around ten years now, a district that he describes as a "small microcosm": rough, diverse, warm. "170 nations in one place. It's sometimes exhausting, but I like it."

As a visiting professor of business ethics in Kassel in the winter semester of 2016/17, he experienced an open, human atmosphere characterized by collegiality and genuine exchange. "I learned there how good teaching works," he says. Not from the top down, but in dialog. Two and a half hours in the lecture hall, microphone in hand, many students in front of him: "I've grown there". Discussion, contradiction, different points of view. For Firnkorn, this was university culture in action: encounters without hierarchy. And it is precisely this attitude that he still brings with him today, only the location is different.

Today, he is no longer in the lecture hall, but in the classroom. As a "LifeTeacher" at the Berlin education start-up LifeTeachUs, he visits schools two to three times a month. There he talks about courage - which is exactly what he had to display during a dispute in Neukölln - about values, life paths and how to find your own point of view. LifeTeachUs brings people with special biographies into schools. Schools can use an app to request the "LifeTeachers" at short notice, for example when lessons are canceled or on project days. The topics are checked and all teachers provide a police clearance certificate. "Every lesson that is not held is a failure," says Firnkorn. External perspectives can trigger something, arouse curiosity, initiate thought processes. "That's the magic of LifeTeachUs."

In the classroom, Firnkorn listens, makes connections and asks thought-provoking questions: about his own life as well as about artificial intelligence, for example, a field in which he has worked for many years. In a fifth grade class, he asks who has already used ChatGPT - all hands go up. "Think first, then AI," he warns. "If you only ever ask the AI, you forget how to find answers yourself." In a Berlin community school, he asks about courage: "Where were you courageous?" First silence, then stories, from jumping off the ten-meter board to small personal overcomes. "That gives me hope. This openness."

He also talks about himself. Of moments when he doubted, when something was difficult for him, such as being alone in a tent at night on his long bike trip to India. "Nobody wants a lecture from above. Being authentic means sometimes saying: 'I don't know that'." His path so far has been anything but straightforward. After his time in Kassel, Firnkorn decided to make a radical change. He quit his apartment and job, got on his bike and set off. Destination: New Delhi. 15,000 kilometers through 24 countries. "I wanted to get out of the familiar and into life," he says. He didn't leave the university behind; he took its questions with him: about values, responsibility, self-determination.

" ... then you don't have to wear a mask"

After his return, he worked for several years in the field of trustworthy AI, testing whether algorithms are non-discriminatory, robust and transparent for companies and start-ups. At the same time, he discovered extreme sports, runs ultramarathons in the mountains and meditates regularly. Firnkorn is now thinking about returning to science. A comeback to the University of Kassel, he says with a smile, would be conceivable. At the same time, he would like to continue his work as a LifeTeacher. In Kassel, he learned how to initiate discussions, make people think and open up new perspectives. This is exactly what he continues to do in the classroom today, supplemented by experiences far outside of traditional academic paths. "If you know who you are and what you stand for, you don't have to wear a mask."

This article appeared in the university magazine publik 2026/1. Text: Bastian Puchmüller.