Improve teacher training

 

I have the highest respect for the daily educational work of teachers, especially in situations that are often not easy. Their work is important for Germany as an educational and business location.

Gerhard F. Braun, Member of the BDA Executive Committee, Chairman of the Education, Vocational Training Committee of the BDA and BDI

Good schools and good teachers are central to Germany as an educational and business location: The skills that the next generation acquires are crucial for the innovative strength of our economy. German employers are therefore involved in a wide range of initiatives.

Teachers have an important, responsible and challenging task. For this, they need high-quality training and further education that optimally equips them with the appropriate professional, pedagogical and didactic competences. However, prospective teachers often find that they are not really prepared for the actual demands of everyday school life. Theoretical and practical training content must be better interlinked.

The teaching profession must get out of its niche existence at the university!

Universities must take teacher training more seriously and value and support student teachers as a target group with its own profile. In view of the glaring shortage of teachers, there is an urgent need for more flexibility and opportunities for "late-comers" to transfer - both when changing from a subject to a teaching degree course and in the case of the precise qualification of lateral and lateral entrants with professional experience. The initial phase of a career at school also needs systematic support and supervision.

employer engagement
An efficient education system needs teachers with the best possible training who are happy to work in schools with modern equipment and who can rely on concrete support from politics and society.
German employers have therefore been committed to a high-quality school system for many years. Business education organisations offer further training for teachers; schools and companies cooperate in the SCHULEWIRTSCHAFT network. With profilehrkraft, SCHULEWIRTSCHAFT and BDA offer an online tool for the professional development of teachers. In the Studienkolleg, the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (sdw) systematically and comprehensively supports student teachers as the school designers of tomorrow.
Nine demands of employers for better teacher education
Employers see nine areas for action for teacher education and training:
  1. Avoid teacher shortage
  2. Improve framework conditions
  3. Improve learning outcomes
  4. Making digital learning possible
  5. Combining theory and practice
  6. Increasing flexibility and permeability between subject and teacher training courses
  7. Accompanying lateral and lateral entry of professional practitioners
  8. Valuing teacher education
  9. Designing in-service training as part of school development
In the BDA position paper "Improving teacher training! Nine demands of the employers", these fields of action are explained in detail and underpinned with to-dos for all those involved.


1. March 2024

Teacher Education