DEHEMS project. Description of the Professional Domains EDUCATION. Country: Germany

Transcription

1 DEHEMS project Description of the Professional Domains EDUCATION Country: Germany 1

2 1 Which study fields/study areas are covered by this professional domain? According to ISCED 97 all study fields belonging to the group 14 on an ISCED 5a (first and second cycle) level will described in the following: Teaching studies (140) - Lehrerausbildung Education (142) - Erziehungswissenschaften Teaching studies for the arts (dance, art, music etc.) Teacher studies for vocational schools (146) - Berufsschullehrer Teacher education for kindergarten (143) - Erzieher (please see below) Special education - Förderpädagogik/Sonderpädagogik Therapeutic/curative pedagogy - Heilpädagogik (please see below) Study programs with the aim of educating kindergarten teachers are still very seldom in Germany. Traditionally, this field is covered by a three-year course at Fachschulen (advanced vocational program). Since the 2004 OECD report about the early education policy in Germany, one of the most discussed points is the upgrading (academisation) of the kindergarten teacher education. As a consequence of this discussion, the number of university programs (BA and MA) for kindergarten teaching has increased. Additionally, the overall duration of training was expanded to five years by raising the entrance requirements. In most states, applicants for a kindergarten teacher education need now a middle school exam/certificate as well as a vocational certificate of a at least two year training course preferable as "kindergarten assistant", "childcare assistant" or "social assistant". Independent of these changes, the training at Fachschulen belongs to the tertiary level and is classified as ISCED 5b. Overall, there are currently (2009) around 420 Fachschulen for kindergarten education and 66 study programs at Institutes of Higher Education (see details below). A similar situation can be described for "Therapeutic pedagogy". Here, vocational educational at Fachschulen exits parallel to academic education at university level. Both trainings belong to the tertiary level, whereas Fachschulen belong to ISCED level 5b. Still, the education at Fachschulen is the dominant way of becoming a therapeutic pedagogue as there are far more Fachschul-programs than programs at university of applied sciences. 2 Which types of institutions are offering this professional domain? Education and Teaching Studies are traditional offered by universities and Schools of Education. Universities of applied sciences are only in some cases offering teaching studies and only for vocational schools. Teaching programs for art and music are also offered by Art and Music Schools. Due to the three-level school system, which splits the school-system after a four year common elementary school into three tracks: 2

3 Gymnasium (12-13 years of schooling, academic focus) Realschule (10 years of schooling, "middle school" Hauptschule (9 years of schooling, vocational orientation) also the teacher education is differentiated into these three school types. Teacher education for Gymnasium is in all federal states only offered by universities. Education for Realschule, Hauptschule and Elementary school is also offered by Schools of Education. In some federal states, teacher training for elementary school and Hauptschule is summarized and the degree allows to teach and both schools. In some countries, like Hamburg, also teacher training for Realschule is combined with teacher training for Hauptschule and Elementary School and the degree allows to teach at all three kinds of schools. Schools for Education were mostly transferred into universities respectively integrated into universities since Today, there are only 6 school of education left all located in the federal state of Baden- Württemberg. 3 Please give a quantitative overview about the professional domain 3.1 Number of offered study programs Overall, there are around 2600 study programs in the professional domain of education and teaching studies. The high number is mainly caused by around 2400 study programs in the area of teacher education. The high number of programs for teacher education explains by the fact that normally each student has to enroll for two subjects which he or she wants to teach in school. Each subject (with the subheading: for teaching education) counts as single study program. German universities normally do not have a department for teacher training or a College for Teaching studies. This has only recently changed - there are now teacher colleges as pilot program at one or two universities (founded with private money) - in order to improve the teaching education. So far, students of teaching visit lectures at different departments (together with students who are studying the subject for another degree) and are only administratively coordinated by an office for Teacher education (Zentrum für Lehrerbildung). University of Applied Sciences are offering 34 mainly technical programs and only for teaching at vocational schools. Schools of Art and Music are offering around 50 programs, mainly educating school teachers for music and art. Education Studies/Sciences are only offered by universities. There are 56 Bachelor programs, 40 Master programs and 12 programs which are still leading to a Diploma or a Magister degree. Study programmes for early education (kindergarten teacher) are still rare but the number is increasing. There are overall 66 programs: 58 Bachelor programs and 8 Master programs. 6 of the Master programs are offered by universities. Overall universities are only offering master programs in the area of early education with the exemption of University of Erfurt which is also offering a Bachelor program. 3.2 Number of HEI offering the program Due to the high number of programs an exact number of HEI offering programs in the professional domain of teaching and education cannot be given. Overall, it can be estimated that all universities are offering in some kind at least one program in this domain (110 universities overall), additionally there 3

4 might be around 100 universities of applied science in this area as well as 50 Schools of Art and Music. So, there are around 260 HEI offering programs in the area of teaching and education. 3.3 Number of enrolled students (increasing/decreasing?) There is no information about enrolled students as time-series but about graduates. Since 1990 the number of teaching study graduates has increased with a slight stagnation around , since then it is increasing again. Table 1 Number of enrolled students in the field of Education and Teaching Studies (winter 2007/08) TOTAL Uni FH Female Foreign Teaching Studies No info No info 65% 3,0% Education % 4,0% Special education % 1,5% Arts and Music (teaching) % below 1% TOTAL % No info Source: Destatis (Fachserie 11, Reihe 4.2), table 08, table Number of graduates (last available cohort) The number of graduates can only be differentiated for Education Studies and Special Education. A detailed overview about Teaching Studies (including teaching in arts and music) cannot be given as in these fields the statistics only give the information about degrees in the area of teacher education (including Teaching-Bachelor, Teaching-master and State exams) Table 2 Number of graduates in the field of Education and Teaching Studies (winter 2007/08) Total Bachelor Master Other PhD PhD quota Teaching Studies n.i. n.i. n.i. n.i. n.i. Education Studies % Special education % Arts and Music (teaching) n.i. n.i. n.i. n.i. n.i. TOTAL % Source: Destatis (Fachserie 11, Reihe 4.2), mainly Table PhD quota Traditionally, the PhD quota in Teaching and Education is not very high. The highest percentage of graduates earning a PhD can be found in Education Studies. In the more "practical" teacher education, most graduates pursuit a career in school and do not pursue a PhD after graduation. 3.6 Gender distribution Education and teaching studies is traditional a "female" dominated area. On average 70% of the students are female (see table 1). 4

5 3.7 Quota of foreign students and students with a migration There is no information about students with a migration background provided by the Federal Statistical Office, but it offers statistics about "foreign" students. Overall the quota of foreign students enrolled is relatively low. The highest percentage of foreign students is enrolled in Education Studies which is maybe due to the academic orientation of this subject. All other programs, aiming to educate future teachers, have a quota of 3 percent and lower (Teaching studies: 3 Percent, special education: 1,5%, Teaching in Arts and Music = below 1 percent). A possible explanation is the German system of employing teachers as civil servants. Even so the system is changing and it becomes more difficult to gain a civil servant status as teacher, it is more complicated for a person without German citizenship (but EU-citizenship) to become a civil servant of the German state. 1 4 Please give for each study program covered by the professional domain a short descriptions refering to the following aspects 4.1 Education Studies (Erziehungswissenschaften): General description and duration Education studies deals with the research about learning processes as well as the theories, methods and techniques of knowledge transfer. Theory plays a major role in courses from the very beginning. What is education? How does one learn to learn? How does a child s social origins affect the way they grow up? These are the types of question which are covered in the first two years. Training and education systems are also studied in a historic and international context. There is relative freedom to choose one s options in education science. During the first phase of the course come the discipline s basics for example, history, general education, social policy and introductions to academic work. In many places a month long "research placement" forms part of the program, and may take place in a youth centre, a nursery, a youth welfare office or a company. 2 In the later semesters, the students specialize. Specialisations may include social education, adult education, school education, special education, early learning or media education. In this part of the program, project seminars and work is often included in the curriculum. For example, the students might assess a support program for people dependent on alcohol or drugs. In order to understand the work of educational institutions, which graduates of educational studies will often lead as managers later on, also legal issues are part of the curriculum. The duration of the study depends on the attained degree. The classical "Diploma" or "Magister"-degree took on average five years (even so, education science are well-known for long-time students). The now starting implementation of Bachelor and Master programs changes the duration to a 3 year Bachelor and a 2 year Master program. The general conversion to the Bachelor/Masters system is proceeding but rather slowly in education science. Some of the new Bachelor courses, such as those at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Bochum, reflect the trend towards having two specialisations. On the one hand they ask 1 An EU-citizen can become civil servants since 1993 in certain areas like teaching (see: 2 The description of "educational studies" is copied from the CHE-Ranking (English version): 5

6 students to study the management of further education organisations, and on the other hand to develop tools to assess educational programs Formal general curricula elements like practical training period Almost every university includes a six-month placement. Depending on one s area of specialisation that may be done in a workshop for the blind, working in youth psychiatry, in an adult education centre, in a prison, in a drug advice centre or in other educational institutions. 4 See Degrees and certificates; state of art particularities 4.2 Teaching education including Special education and teacher education for vocational schools General description and duration Teaching education encompasses a theoretical and practical part. Besides of two subjects (like biology and mathematics), the students want to teach in school later on, the curriculum includes pedagogy (general and school pedagogy), psychology, sociology and technical didactics. Practical experiences in school are part of the curriculum. Normally, the amount of practical training (and pedagogics) is highest for students planning to teach in elementary school and Hauptschule, whereas teaching students for Gymnasium have a stronger academic focus in their studies. Duration: Teaching education for elementary schools: 7 semesters (3,5 years) Teaching education for middle school: 7 to 9 semesters (3,5 to 4,5 years) Teaching education for "Gymnasium": 9 to 12 semesters (4,5 to 6 years) Teaching education for vocational schools: 9 semesters (4,5 years) Special education: 9 to 12 semesters (4,5 to 6 years) Formal general curricula elements like practical training period All programs for teacher education include at least two practical trainings during the course of study. The length of practical period depends on the institute and the chosen school-track (normally, study programs for elementary school teachers include more and longer practical work than study programs for Gymnasium). Schools of education have the highest percentage of practical training during study. Besides of the practical trainings, teacher education often includes practical oriented seminars which are taught at least partly directly in the school. The main practical training period is the "Referendariat" which follows after the first state exam or master degree (see description 6.1) 3 The description of "educational studies" is copied from the CHE-Ranking (English version): 4 The description of "educational studies" is copied from the CHE-Ranking (English version): 6

7 4.2.3 Degrees and certificates; state of art particularities The traditional degree is the state exam which is organized and conducted by the state authorities and NOT by the university itself. 5 Please summarize the general impact of Bologna on this study field as well as the general issues discussed in this regard Overall, the Bologna process had a major influence on the teaching education in Germany. First of all, the Europeanization process leads to academisation processes like described for the kindergarten teacher education and curative pedagogy. The newly introduced 3 year Bachelor programs made it much easier to offer programs in these areas. Secondly, teacher education is in contrast to all other state-examined subjects (like medicine, law, pharmacy), the only subject which is in the middle of the transfer process to the "new" degree structure (so far, two thirds of all study programs have changed to the BA/MA structure). Despite of this progress, there are many discussions concerning the teacher education. One of it, is the structure and relation of the Bachelor and master programs. Two alternative models are discussed: Sequential - the Bachelor program covers one or two subjects but is not specific for the teacher education. Becoming a teacher is one option, but also other options are open (Polyvalent model). The Bachelor program does not include any pedagogical parts; these are than part of the following master education. Integrative - Both (BA and MA) degrees include subject-relevant and pedagogical parts. The advantages and disadvantages of both models are widely discussed. The sequential model offers the possibility for Bachelor graduates to change into a "non-school" working environment. At the same time the separation of academic content (like biology or English) in the first cycle (Bachelor) and its didactics in the second cycle (Master) is strongly criticized. Opponents of the integrative model argue that a Bachelor including two subjects and education relevant courses is not a degree leading to employability and a consecutive master is a necessary in order to find a job on the labour market. 5.1 Please describe the role of stakeholders in this professional domain In regard to the teacher education, the state is the main player (please see above). In the process of the Bologna reform the accreditation agencies are gaining influence. 5.2 Are there any stakeholders outside HEI which have an influence on content and structure of the professional domain? If yes, what kind of stakeholders? Yes, the state (see below) 5.3 Does the state play a major role as influential stakeholder? (e.g. in Germany certain subjects are state examined whereas the HEI defines the content of exams in most fields) Yes, the German state is a major player in the teacher education. It is not only the main employer of the later teacher (only 6% of German schools were private in 2006), but it has also a strong influence on the teacher education. Before the Bologna Reform all teacher education students needed to pass two state exams; the first at the end of their university study and the second at the end of the "Referendariat - practical training period". Both state-exams are organized and conducted by the state authorities (Staatliche Prüfungsämter oder -kommissionen der Länder) and NOT by the university itself. Currently (2010), this procedure is in the process of change. As one consequence of the Bologna reform, the 7

8 master degree will replace the state exam. Hereby, the influence of the university on the kind, content and procedure of exams increases. Still, it is planned that the state will define criteria for this degree and will also only accredit each exam after a formal examination. Before the Bologna reform, the federal ministries of culture and education were another major player in the teacher education. They were the main regulator of the teacher education by defining the study and examination regulation. Since 2006, this regulations are replaced by centrally defined standards of teacher education. In contrast to the former study and examination regulation are these standards output oriented. They define the main educational goals and occupation related competences which should each student gain during its study. The standards form the core curriculum which is the basis for the individual curriculum of each university. The fulfillment of the standards shall be controlled by accreditation agencies. The standards were defined by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (abbr.: Kultusministerkonferenz - KMK) which unites the ministers and senators of the federal states ("Länder") responsible for education, higher education and research as well as cultural affairs. It is based on an agreement between the Länder. 6 Please describe the transition process 6.1 Is the transition process individualized or is it defined by national legislation? The transition process for teaching education graduates is strictly state regulated. The university education finishes with the first state-exam. Afterwards the graduates apply (at central offices of the federal states) for their "student teaching/teacher training" (Referendariat) period. This period takes between 18 to 24 months depending on the federal state. The graduates have during this period the status of a "civil servant on probation" (Beamter auf Widerruf). In the first two months of this period the graduates follow one or several teachers in their lessons (sitting and listening) and also overtake own lessons (teaching experience) later on- up to 17 school-hours (à 45 minutes) a week. The teachingexperience splits into lessons in which the regular teacher sits in the background and evaluates the lesson afterwards (informally, no exam). These lessons are called "Ausbildungsunterrricht " - training lessons). Finally, the graduate has to prepare and teach lessons on its own (including preparing the tests, speak with the parents etc.) - the so-called "eigenständiger Unterricht" (independent lessons). Additionally, they are part of an accompanying seminar program (normally in three subjects: pedagogy and subject-related didactics in both teaching subjects) as well as school-relevant knowledge (like school-law etc.). The Referendariat ("student teacher training") finishes with the second state exams. The graduates (or "Referendare") have to hold one lesson in each subject which are evaluated, hand in one written thesis and have to pass one oral exam. The successful second state exam allows to apply for teaching positions at German schools. The purpose of the "Referendariat" is to impart teacher relevant competences: stress resistance, planning competence as well as competences necessary to develop, plan and teach good lessons. In the frame of the Bologna process, it is planned (and partly already done) to replace the state exam by exams which are organized and conducted by the university parallel to the study program - according to state-regulations 5. Additionally, the introduction of the master degree will shorten the "Referendariat" to months. 5 It is planned that the exams will also be formally reviewed by a state authority. 8

9 See above 6.2 Are there any additional elements/exams/working periods required to become a full member of the profession? (e.g. like in medicine in most countries) 7 Are there any domain specific data sources or regular research conducted (e.g. surveys, statistics by an association); Please describe? Besides the European TALIS survey (Teaching and Learning International Survey) there are several minor teacher surveys in Germany covering different topics (like teacher health, teacher training courses). In the following only those studies shall be presented which are covering career paths of teachers: Project PERLE: "Career tracks of teaching education graduates" (Wege von der Hochschule in den Beruf") is a longitudinal study in which teaching graduates of the year were surveyed four times in a seven year period. The main research question was the influence of personal characteristics on the professional success. At the first survey (telephone interview) 3000 graduates were contacted and 88% participated. At the later dates of data collection fewer graduates were re-contacted (around 1000). Overall, 67 Percent of contacted graduates participated in the second to the fourth data collection. Two main results shall be reported here (Lipowsky 2003) 6 : 32% of all contacted graduated did not go into teacher jobs but decided to pursue another career (= non-teachers) Non-teachers are more satisfied with their job than their fellow graduates 8 Is the Life Long Learning Process in any way regulated/demanded? If yes, who regulates it and what are the general rules? Life Long Learning courses are offered in all federal states - mostly coordinated by central state-owned institutes 7 for teacher education. But also private provider and universities are offering courses. Until the end of the last century, the teachers were strongly encouraged to participate in Life Long Learning but there was no legal obligation to do so. Still, teachers could (and can) take days-off for course participation or there were "Life Long learning" days in which all teachers participated in a course and the school was closed. Since the "PISA shock" more federal states have introduced a mandatory training system for teachers. In Hessia and Bavaria, for example, each teacher has to collect a certain number of credit points (in a certain time period) in order to fulfill the legal requirements for Life Long Learning. In the other federal states, the school leaders are responsible for the further training of their teachers. As the schools are regularly evaluated, the school leaders are "controlled" respectively this activity. The first three or four years as young teachers (introduction years) are in particular focus of training course providers. In these years, specific courses are offered targeted towards this group. School leaders are in particular encouraged to send their "teaching beginners" to these courses. 6 Lipowsky, F. (2003): Wege von der Hochschule in den Beruf: eine empirische Studie zum beruflichen Erfolg von Lehramtsabsolventen in der Berufseinstiegsphase. Bad Heilbrunn, Obb.: Klinkhardt. 7 Staatliche Akademien, Landesinstitute oder wissenschaftliche Institute für Lehrerfortbildung 9