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01/20/2023 16:12

Academic standards for cross-sector and lateral entry into the teaching profession are not negotiable

Dr. Christoph Hilgert Kommunikation
Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK)

    English translation of the HRK press release dated 16th of January 2023

    The German Philologists' Association (DPhV) and the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) are expressly warning against lowering the qualifications of cross-sector and lateral entrants to the teaching profession in schools and lowering the future level of undergraduate teacher training because of the acute shortage of teachers in Germany.

    The German Philologists' Association (DPhV) and the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) are expressly warning against lowering the qualifications of cross-sector and lateral entrants to the teaching profession in schools and lowering the future level of undergraduate teacher training because of the acute shortage of teachers in Germany. The two associations are appealing to Berlin's Senator for Education Astrid-Sabine Busse (SPD), who will take over the presidency of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) today, to clearly reject any considerations to the contrary.

    "We do not need downward competition in the quality of our schools. We expect Senator Busse, as KMK President, to commit to safeguarding the existing qualification standards for the teaching profession across the Länder," explains the national president of the DPhV, Prof Dr Susanne Lin-Klitzing. In several federal states, draft legislation is currently being prepared that would only require a bachelor's degree as the final academic qualification for school teachers for cross-sector and lateral entrants in the context of the corresponding salary brackets – instead of the current master's degree or state examination. "If you are a teacher conducting school-leaving exams, you need a master's degree or the state examination as an academic requirement," says Lin-Klitzing. "Reducing the quality requirements for cross-sector and lateral entrants into teaching is detrimental to pupils. We expect the KMK not to allow this lowering of standards for teacher education."

    The German Philologists' Association and the German Rectors' Conference are calling on the KMK not to abandon the minimum requirements that it itself set and not to allow any devaluation of the master's degree and the two-subject study programme for the teaching profession.

    "Each phase of teacher education has its specific function," says HRK President Prof Dr Peter-André Alt. "Universities provide the science-based foundation of professional skills and the first opportunity to apply those skills in a reflective way, as well as scientifically based continuing and in-service training. At a time when interdisciplinarity and dealing with different subject cultures have become part of everyday life, the regression from a two-subject to a one-subject teacher training programme is a step backwards." He went on to note that quality-assured, academic teacher education with high academic standards for all teachers is indispensable for the challenges of the educational mission of schools – regardless of the entry route into the profession. The HRK previously commented on the quality parameters for cross-sector and lateral entry into the teaching profession in 2020.

    The HRK and the DPhV agree that cross-sector and lateral entrants to teaching need a demanding, science-oriented and pedagogical additional qualification at teacher training institutions. Subject-specific studies and didactics for two combinable teaching subjects must be interlinked at a consecutive master's level and be followed by an appropriate school-based training phase for the development of expertise. In the case of cross-sector and lateral entrants this can be done on a modular basis and can take place in parallel to classroom teaching. In the opinion of the two associations, it is imperative that the KMK assumes its responsibility to safeguard a high standard of education and educational equity.


    More information:

    https://www.hrk.de/resolutions-publications/resolutions/beschluss/detail/lateral... Text of the Resolution of the Senate of the HRK
    https://www.hrk.de/home/


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    Criteria of this press release:
    Journalists
    interdisciplinary
    transregional, national
    Science policy
    English


     

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