Lehrerverein Ruhr e.V. (Turkish Teachers Association) was established in 2008 in Essen, Germany. Ruhr is the region where there are a lot of people of Turkish immigrant origin. The number of students with Turkish immigrant origin in Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg, Essen and Bottrop is more than that of German students.

Turkish language classes for children of Turkish origin were started 50 years ago in the province of North Westfalia (NRW). These classes are given the Provincial Education Ministry. The Turkish language teachers in these schools are employed by the Provincial Education Ministry. In the year of 1980, there are around 980 Turkish language teachers in the province. In time, the institutional organization of the Turkish language classes by the Province was changed. Turkish classes are given as Turkish as a mother tongue courses and as elective foreign language courses. In recent years, a decrease has been observed in the number of students who follow these classes. The attendance into Turkish as mother tongue courses is voluntary and into elective foreing language courses is compulsory. This negatively affects the number of teachers employed by the Province. Lehrerverein Ruhr e.V. was established to organize the Turkish language courses and to raise awareness about the home language maintenance among students and families. Lehrerverein Ruhr e.V. is also a member of the Germany Turkish Language Teachers federation.

Lehrerverein Ruhr e.V. works in close contact with families of Turkish immigrant. The executive board of Lehrerverein Ruhr e.V. consists of 12 Turkish-German bilingual primary and secondary school teachers. The members of Lehrerverein Ruhr e.V. are parents of Turkish immigrant origin, language teachers, German people who have interest in bilingualism and Turkish language and culture.

Since it was established, some of the activities organized by Lehrerverein Ruhr e.V. are as follows:

• German-Turkish bilingual reading activities for children
• Student-parents "Reading together" activities
• Story reading evenings
• Poem reading activities
• Reading with Young writers (for children aged 10-18)
• Bilingual reading and writing practices in schools
• Study Skills development Seminars at weekends (Education Academy)
• Seminars for Parents (20 different topics)
• Let's write together activities
• Parents Academy