Almost half of all teachers in Germany should do a different job from the point of view of the Passau school education professor Norbert Seibert. “Over 40 percent of teachers in Germany are actually not suitable,” he said Passauer Neue Presse. And the pandemic is driving that number up.
“For one thing, we haven’t had any face-to-face events at the university for three semesters. During that time, the failure rate for exams has almost doubled,” said Seibert. And: “You can’t learn social behavior at online zoom meetings. It starts with e-mails that I receive and which often only say: ‘Hello, call me. MfG’ and ends with that these future teachers don’t even know how to get in touch with students. “
In addition, due to the shortage of teachers, the state is sure to officiate graduates of primary and secondary schools – regardless of the average grade with which they pass. Lateral and lateral entrants are also recruited as teachers. “In short: the term ‘quality’ seems to be an oxymoron, a term that contradicts itself in all aspects,” said Seibert.
The fatal thing is: “The least trained teachers are currently being let loose on the weakest students, who also have massive knowledge gaps due to Corona.” In Bavaria, the inadequate teacher training prevents the profession – instead of preparing well for it, said Seibert. “That has to be changed because not everyone can be a teacher.”
In 2006, Seibert launched the “PArcours” program at the University of Passau, in which prospective teacher training students can check on a voluntary basis whether they are actually suitable for the profession.