Vocational teaching: Teaching trainees and apprenticesOffspring welcome! The teaching profession for vocational schools not only has the most diverse composition of students, but also the most colorful spectrum of teachers – at least if you consider the training. There are many ways to enter the profession.
Again and again it is reported that vocational schools in Germany lack trained teachers. Degree programs at universities do not fully meet teacher needs – this is true for most types of schools in the vocational school system, such as vocational colleges, vocational schools, and vocational and technical academies.
Vocational school teachers often teach at different types of schools and must be able to adapt to different levels of performance and education at all times. Depending on whether they are currently facing a class with bank clerks or one with IT specialists. Flexibility is consequently one of the great strengths that an educator at a vocational school must have.
How to become a vocational school teacher?
Most vocational school teachers start out with a degree in teaching at vocational schools or corresponding courses of study to become a commercial teacher or vocational educator. Often, however, people with a specialized degree, such as engineering, also have good chances of finding a job in vocational schools. University graduates who have already worked in business for several years can also hope to be hired as teachers if they apply to a vocational school. Lateral entry into the teaching profession – this is how it works!
The preparatory service, which follows the study program, usually lasts 24 months, in some federal states only 18 months. Before entering the teaching profession, career changers are required to take part in continuing education courses that cover didactics, methodology, school law and school organization. Depending on the federal state, this procedure is a bit different. The ministries of education and cultural affairs of the federal states provide precise information on this.
Something is happening
At the moment there are still many gaps in the education system. This means that there is not a corresponding course of study for all 345 training courses. For some professions, there are no study opportunities for teachers at all, or they are only being established gradually. The Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, for example, has developed a course of study in "Media Technology for Vocational School Teachers" established in cooperation with the University of Hamburg. The vocational school teachers for media technology teach, for example, prospective media designers for image and sound, media designers for digital and print media, and event technicians.
Universities of applied sciences are also cooperating more and more with colleges of education and universities in order to equip a specialized course of study with the option of a teaching position at a later date. This is how the "Mechatronics plus" course of study is opening up The Offenburg University of Applied Sciences offers its graduates the opportunity to work in industry as well as in higher teaching positions at vocational schools. The teaching of vocational pedagogy. The PH Freiburg is responsible for subject didactics.
Those who have not yet studied for a teaching degree should find out more about Q master's degree programs. Q master's degree programs are aimed at graduates of non-teaching degree programs (with at least 180 LP) – also at universities of applied sciences. The master's degree builds on existing subject-specific knowledge and focuses primarily on acquiring the educational science and subject didactic competencies required for the teaching profession. The completion of the Master of Education enables the regular. Equivalent access to the teaching profession. Currently, the TU Berlin offers the Q-Master for the subject combination electrical engineering/information technology at vocational schools.