Stefanie Frisch could have made a career in research and the world could have been a bit healthier. She studied molecular medicine and dealt with tumors; she has worked in parallel in laboratories and biotechnology companies, mentoring other students and thinking about a doctorate. But then, after completing her master’s degree, she “stumbled upon this special measure by pure chance,” she says on the phone. Among other things, teachers were sought for the vocational school center in Amberg. Newcomers welcome. “A very secure job compared to research,” says Frisch, interesting and close to home. Without further ado, she signed on for two years as a trainee teacher. Since autumn she has finished her training and teaches health sciences at the FOS/BOS Amberg – not as a temporary assistant, but as a normal teacher. “I was welcomed with open arms,” she says.
People like Stefanie Frisch are currently in great demand in Bavaria: specialists who are giving up their old career paths to close the numerous teacher gaps in the schools. In order to attract more lateral entrants, the Ministry of Education even started a campaign. This also includes a hotline that interested parties can contact from March onwards. There, for example, taster internships at schools should be arranged for them. Poaching at home instead of in other federal states, as recently propagated by Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU). That can work, but it won’t be enough.
Stefanie Frisch originally studied molecular medicine. Today she teaches at the FOS/BOS in Amberg.
(Photo: private)
Stefanie Frisch is one of the faces of the campaign, a role model for retraining. That was already possible before, a good 300 people throughout Bavaria have started teaching in this way in recent years. This is now to be expanded. For example, a new program for middle schools is aimed at previous support staff with a university degree. Previous teaching experience is not necessary for the other school types, but it is helpful.
To put it simply, career changers need a master’s degree and only come to teacher training when they do their traineeship. During these two years, they attend additional pedagogical courses, but otherwise complete the same seminars and teaching exercises as traditional student teachers. The Ministry promises on an information website that anyone who has children – not unusual for career changers – should be able to complete the traineeship part-time. A later appointment is also possible. However, one does not want to give a guarantee of employment after passing the second state examination.
The Bavarian Teachers’ Association (BLLV) assumes that around 4,000 people are missing from the schools in the Free State. So there would be a need for support, no matter where it came from. Even so, not everyone in the schools cheered when the ministry’s campaign was launched – which was also due to its title, “Teacher at Heart”. Some teachers understood this as if they had been teaching for years without putting their heart and soul into it. Others first want to see what’s in store for staff, students and parents. The linguistic blur between “lateral” and “lateral entrants” adds to the confusion, although the two are only comparable to a limited extent. The Ministry defines lateral entrants as temporary teachers who teach on a substitute basis without having previously completed the preparatory service.
BLLV President Simone Fleischmann is also torn to a certain extent. In view of the “state of crisis” in the schools, “it is obvious that others must also support us,” she says. “Better one person in front of the class than nobody.” Basically, she is happy about everyone who discovered her passion for teaching. However, lateral entry should not tempt politicians to cut back on the quality of teacher training in the long term. Some education experts put it more drastically. From her point of view, career changers could not catch up as much in educational science and didactics in the two years of preparatory service in order to keep up with the regular teachers later. Occasionally there is even talk of “cheap teachers” – a term that does not do justice to those affected.
Bureaucracy and payment are not exactly attractive for career changers
In any case, Minister of Education Michael Piazolo (FW) relies fully on the new old target group as one of several measures to counteract the shortage of teachers. His house expects a “number of applicants in the middle three-digit range” by autumn 2023. Even then, however, the gaps in the schools would not be closed, but only smaller in certain areas – and that only in two years, after the end of the training.
The campaign also makes it ambitious because it fights against the shortage of skilled workers in the private sector. Those who are reasonably mobile in choosing their place of residence can choose their employer in many sectors, including all kinds of bonuses and benefits. Compared to this, the prospect of school bureaucracy and the pay in the traineeship are not exactly enticing, criticize lateral entrants as well as interested parties. In the two years, the salary is around 1600 euros gross per month, depending on the salary level and without supplements. You have to be able to afford retraining in the truest sense – especially if you already have children or are paying off a property.
Lateral entrant Frisch is satisfied with her decision. She enjoys working with young people, she can pass on knowledge and experience. This allows Frisch to report first-hand when students are interested in medical insights and laboratory work. She thinks her CV can also be encouraging: because it shows “that everything in life doesn’t always go in a straight line” and that detours don’t have to be a bad thing. She herself, says Frisch, would at least walk her tortuous path again.