A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

The Teaching Profession and Teachers' Work Life

Female Teachers in Germany

The teaching profession in Germany was traditionally dominated by men. Beginning in the 19th century, when the introduction of compulsory education increased the demand for teachers, women were recruited to fill the additional positions. However, the number of women teachers remained low until the 1960s. Since then, the percentage of teachers who are women has risen steadily so that now more than half of all teachers are women (table 18).

Table 18—Number of teachers employed in Federal Republic of Germany, number and percent of women teachers, 1960-87i

The Teacher as Civil Servant

Depending on the length of the teacher-training program and the time individual students take to finish, some teachers may be 26 to 30 years old when they apply for their first teaching position. New teachers are appointed to a probationary position (usually lasting 3 years) during which they are observed in class on several occasions. At the end of the probationary period, teachers are eligible to become civil servants (Beamte). The majority of teachers are civil servants with tenure. In the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, for example, out of a total of 141,027 teachers, 129,750 (92 percent) are civil servants with tenure and 11,277 (8 percent) are nontenured employees (Schulz 1990).

As civil servants, teachers have to comply with the regulations for professional and ethical conduct developed for all civil servants. For example, civil servants must maintain impartiality, unselfishness, confidentiality, commitment to community support, and allegiance to the constitution. There is no special code of behavior written specifically for teachers.

Workload and Extracurricular Activities

The number of lessons taught per week varies from state to state and depends on school level. In general, teachers instruct from 23 to 28 lessons per week, each lesson lasting 45 minutes. In Berlin, for example, teachers have the following teaching obligation:

• 26.5 periods—Grundschulen;

• 25.5 periods—Hauptschulen and Realschulen;

• 24.5-periods—Sonderschulen; and

• 23 periods—Gymnasien, Gesamtschulen, and Berufsschulen.

Heads of schools (Rektoren) teach 4 to 11 periods a week depending on school type and size (Bergman & Ziemer 1993).

Throughout Germany, teachers may reduce their workload as they become older. At the age of 53, for example, the workload may be reduced by one period per week, at age 55 by two periods per week, and at age 58 by three periods a week (Bergman and Ziemer 1993).

The teachers' workload also includes time spent outside the classroom. Teachers typically spend several hours each afternoon preparing lessons and correcting and grading students' work. Field trips and school excursions also require teacher's time, as do school committees (Konferenzen) and parent-teacher meetings (Klassenelternversammlung). A study conducted in Hessen in 1972-73 indicated that teachers spent 50 percent of their work time teaching, 37.5 percent in class preparation and grading assignments, and 12.5 percent in miscellaneous activities such as attending committee meetings, writing report cards, and talking with parents and students (Schwänke 1988).

Teachers who supervise students' extracurricular activities, such as a theater group or the school newspaper, are relieved of some of their normal teaching periods in exchange for their time. However, this extra time off for school-related activities has been harshly criticized in Der Spiegel because the teacher's absence may result in canceled classes ("Projekte am Teich" 1990). German schools do not employ substitute teachers. When a teacher is absent, his or her classes are taught by other teachers in the school if they are available during those hours.

The Teacher's Workday

A teacher's workday typically begins between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and concludes for most teachers around 1 p.m. Gymnasium teachers at the upper level (11^th through 13^th grades) may return to school after a lunch break at home or remain at school during the afternoon in order to teach art or physical education. In some states, teachers at all levels also teach on Saturdays until 11:25 a.m., except on the first Saturday of each month, when there are no classes.

German teachers do not follow the same schedule each day, and they usually change grade levels from year to year. For example, a teacher who teaches French on Monday first and third hour has a different schedule on Tuesday; a Gymnasium teacher, who teaches upper level students (11^th through 13^th grades) this year might instruct fifth- and sixth-graders the next year, or might have a mix of upper and lower level classes.

At the beginning of every school year, each teacher is assigned a homeroom. A homeroom teacher not only teaches a particular subject but also handles the paperwork and various issues raised by students and parents in that class. Homeroom duties also include:

• Writing grade reports twice a year for students in his or her homeroom class;

• Arranging time at the beginning of the school year and after to meet parents and to elect parent representatives for the homeroom class;

• Meeting with parents as necessary to discuss issues such as classroom dynamics, or special topics such as sex education or class excursions;

• Supervising the students' election of a student representative; and

• Keeping a "homeroom classbook" in which are recorded lesson objectives and comments concerning students who behave disruptively.

Each school day has two breaks lasting 20 and 15 minutes, respectively, during which all teachers meet in the teachers' room to socialize and share experiences. Teachers also use the common teachers' room to prepare lessons or correct tests. Although teachers do not have their own desks in the teachers' room, every teacher does have a small cabinet in which to store books and other teaching materials. The teachers' room also has special books and magazines dealing with lesson plans and teaching techniques. Many magazines specialize in particular subject areas and practical techniques for teaching a subject in the classroom. In addition, teachers of particular subjects often use the teachers' room to discuss their subject matter.

The general public tends to believe that teachers have an easy life. Because teachers may be finished teaching at lunchtime, many people believe that teachers work part-time. Also, many are envious of teachers' vacations, which total 12 weeks: 6 weeks of summer vacation, 3 weeks at Easter, 2 weeks at Christmas, and 1 week in the fall (Stallmann 1990). Additional holidays vary from state to state. Teachers are not permitted to hold a second job either during school or vacation time unless the job is related to teaching, such as teaching an evening class. If teachers do hold such a job, they first must receive special permission from the regional school office, or Schulamt (McAdams 1993).

Inservice Training for Teachers

Long periods of vacation are also used as time for teacher inservice training, which some states require. Accordingly, numerous state institutions and academies offer teacher inservice courses. On the local and regional level, unions, universities, and miscellaneous private organizations offer additional courses. More than 450 institutions offer inservice courses (Schulz 1990).

Although many inservice courses currently deal with computer technology, environmental education, and issues concerning foreign students in the classroom, schools may organize their own inservice training programs to address other issues of great concern. To this end, schools invite experts to discuss how to tackle particular problems at school (Schulz 1990).

Teacher Assessment, Promotion, and Compensation

Teachers are evaluated every 4 to 6 years until they reach age 55. The assessment arrangements vary according to the type of school and the individual state. In Grundschule and Hauptschule (and Realschule in Nordrhein-Westfalen), an inspector evaluates teachers. On an agreed-upon date, the inspector evaluates lesson plans, observes lessons, and examines the teacher's assessment of students' work. After discussing the observed lessons with the teacher, the inspector writes a detailed report and gives the teacher a grade. The report includes an evaluation of the teacher's subject knowledge, teaching performance, professional behavior, and overall contribution to school and community. The observed teacher has the opportunity to comment on the inspector's evaluation and must sign the report to show that he or she has seen it.

Teachers in Gymnasium (and Realschule in Bavaria) are usually evaluated by the principal (Rektor), although often with the involvement of the subject specialist inspector for the area or region. Each of the regions of Bavaria has a head Ministerialbeauftragter who checks the reports written by the Gymnasium school heads about his or her staff. The periodic assessment of teachers' performance provides the state with a dossier that will be used in considering teachers for promotion and higher salaries (DES 1986). Opportunities for promotion are especially extensive for Gymnasium teachers.

Promotion is highly desired because it brings a salary increase, which is substantial when moving to a higher position such as that of director of a department or principal. Teachers who are civil servants enjoy good fringe benefits, such as supplemental salary for spouse and children, a pension, health care, the possibility for sabbatical, and personal leave of several years' duration. Pay is determined by a national pay scale for civil servants (Bundesbesoldungsgesetz), which takes the amount of schooling into account. Teachers are paid at the salary levels A?12 to A?16. At the lower end of the scale, elementary and Hauptschule teachers are paid at the A?12 level (in Hamburg and Bremen A?13). Realschule, Gymnasium, and vocational school teachers start at the A?13 level and may advance to a higher level by receiving promotions (Stallmann 1990).

Table 19 shows the pay range for teachers in 1994-95 according to federal policy (Statistisches Bundesamt 1995).

Table 19—Pay range for teachers according to Federal pay scales, 1994-95 in U.S. dollars

The pay level that applies to each teacher is determined by the level of the school and the position the teacher holds. Level A-12 is for Grundschule and Hauptschule teachers; level A-13 is for Realschule, Gymnasium, special school, and vocational school teachers, as well as Grundschule and Hauptschule teachers with graded positions. Levels A-14 through A-16 are for graded positions at all schools; Gymnasium and vocational school teachers are at an advantage, as they can receive standard promotion to level A-14, and can be graded up to level A-16 for higher administrative positions, one level higher than the highest positions at Realschulen and special schools. Grundschule and Hauptschule teachers can only be graded up to level A-14.

When teachers reach age 65, they are eligible for retirement. The size of the pension depends on the number of years worked. For example, a teacher with 35 years of teaching experience receives about 75 percent of his or her most recent compensation (Schulz 1990). Recently, however, many teachers have chosen to take early retirement because they feel frustrated and burnt out ("Horror Job Lehrer" 1993).

Teachers' Unions

Although teachers have the right to join a union, they are not allowed to strike because of their status as civil servants (öffentlich-rechtliches Treueverhältnis des Beamten). In 1987, about 65 percent of a total of 541,156 teachers in Germany belonged to a union.

The unions represent the professional, economic, legal, and social interests of their members. Their agendas include: development of school reform models, publishing magazines, organizing conferences, and conducting inservice training seminars. Union representatives also attend meetings at state education ministries regarding the training of future teachers; however, all decisions are solely made by the ministers of education (Schwänke 1988).

Germany has three main unions—the Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft, or GEW (Union of Education and Science), the Verband Bildung und Erziehung, or VBE (Union of Training and Education), and the Deutscher Lehrerverband, or LV (German Teachers Union)—which differ in size, composition, and political opinions.

• The GEW is the largest union, having 200,000 members, 130,000 of whom are teachers. In contrast to the other two unions, the GEW represents people of various educational professions, such as professors, in addition to teachers.

• The VBE represents 100,000 teachers, mainly from Grundschule, Hauptschule, and Sonderschule.

• The LV represents 120,000 members, mainly from Gymnasien, Realschule, and Berufsschule.

Political differences exist among the three unions. The GEW, for example, promulgates the Gesamtschule as an alternative to the "three-class school system" (Dreiklassenschule), which reinforces, in the opinion of the GEW, existing social stratification (Schulz 1990).

In the past, the GEW helped reform teacher training by strongly recommending at least six semesters of mandatory university study for all future teachers. In addition, the GEW fought for and achieved better compensation for Grundschule and Hauptschule teachers (Körfgen 1986). Currently, the GEW demands, among other things, a reduction in the average teaching load, and equal compensation for teachers in states of the former East Germany.

Teacher Employment and Unemployment

Primarily, the grade earned on the Second State Examination and the demand for a particular subject combination determine an individual's chance of finding a position as a teacher. Teachers are hired by states and work as civil servants; therefore, the demand for new teachers is strongly influenced by trends in school enrollment. When school enrollments drop sharply, as they did throughout the 1980s, there is an oversupply of teachers, and significant unemployment results. For example, in 1980, the German labor office reported that there were 7,390 fully trained teachers who were unemployed. This figure rose sharply, to a high of 25,012 in 1985, and then began to decline (as enrollments rose, especially at elementary schools), finally reaching a level of 13,200 in 1992 (KMK 1993a, 1993b).

Teacher unemployment is a problem mainly for beginning teachers. Although school enrollments strongly affect teacher employment, social and political factors operating together also influence the employment factor. For example, working conditions, such as class size and number of hours in the school day, along with salaries and retirement policies, may affect teacher unemployment. However, in practice these conditions are set in large part by the political and economic climate (Stallmann 1990).

Other less tangible factors also play a role in teacher unemployment. Specifically, the reduction in teacher unemployment between 1985 and 1992 was accomplished, according to the KMK, partly through the high degree of willingness of unemployed teachers to retrain for other professions. This fact, combined with the increase in the number of positions for new teachers, especially at elementary schools, is responsible for the reduction in teacher unemployment between 1985 and 1992 from 4.1 percent to 2.7 percent (KMK 1993a).

Summary

Even in the face of high unemployment, many students choose to become teachers in Germany. Primarily, students choose this career path because they wish to work with children and teach subjects of interest. However, some students enroll in a teacher- training program because they were not accepted into a different field of study or because they could not make a career decision.

Students wishing to pursue a teaching career must commit themselves to a long period of training. Training programs for elementary and middle school teachers last at least 6 years, while programs for Gymnasium or vocational school teachers last at least 7 years.

Teacher-training programs consist of two phases: academic training at a university and directed student teaching in a school, accompanied by seminars. Despite the years of training, many student teachers complain that they do not feel adequately prepared for their future career. Students often criticize the discrepancy between theory and practice in their training. Reform efforts to integrate university studies with directed student teaching in a one-phase teacher-training program have failed.

Once students finish their long training and enter their first teaching position, they are largely on their own. There is no master teacher assigned to assist the beginning teacher during the first roller-coaster year. After a probationary period normally lasting 3 years, teachers are eligible to become civil servants with tenure. Thus, the majority of teachers in Germany are civil servants. As such, teachers are obliged to comply with regulations for professional and ethical conduct that have been developed for all civil servants.

Normally, teachers teach 23 to 28 lessons per week, depending on state regulations and school level. The teaching load of elementary school teachers is by far the heaviest, typically consisting of 28 periods per week. The principal also is responsible for teaching a few periods each week. If a teacher is absent, classes are covered by other regular teachers; substitute teachers are not used.

Teachers at all levels and in all school types have opportunities for promotion, but Gymnasium teachers enjoy the greatest possibilities for advancement. Roughly two-thirds of all teachers in Germany belong to a union. The three major unions are the GEW (Union of Education and Science), with 130,000 member teachers; the VBE (Union of Training and Education), with 100,000 members; and the LV (German Teachers Union), with 120,000 members. The number of unemployed teachers reached a peak of around 25,000 in 1985, and has since fallen sharply as school enrollments have increased and some unemployed teachers have entered other professions.

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[Teacher Preperation and Teachers' Lives in Germany - Part 2]

[Teacher Preparation and Teachers' Lives in Germany - References]