Making teacher training more attractive

The expert commission includes representatives of the teachers' associations, academics from teacher training at the Bavarian universities and a member of the Bavarian state students' representation. The Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Science support the work of the commission. According to the ministries, the commission has the task of developing proposals to further develop teacher training and make it even more attractive. In the entire teacher training programme, the practical phases in particular are to be intensified. It should be possible to change courses of study more flexibly during the degree programme. The chairman of the committee is Prof. Dr. Martin Huber, Vice President of Teaching and Students at the University of Bayreuth. He explains the details here:

UBTaktuell: What brought you to the commission?ission gebracht?

Prof. Dr. Martin Huber: I was appointed to the commission as spokesperson for the Vice Presidents of Teaching at the University of Bavaria and was elected chairman by the members of the commission. I bring to the commission my many years of experience from the Teacher Education Working Group, which was established in 2017 as a joint working group of the University of Bavaria, StMWK and StMUK. I am therefore particularly pleased that the Minister of Science and the Minister of Education have now jointly established an expert commission and have given it the clear mandate to prepare science-led proposals for the further development of training structures in teacher education. All members of the expert commission are united by the will to further develop the training of our teachers in order to keep this profession, which is so important for our future, attractive in a rapidly changing world.

What is your task in the Commission?

The Commission brings together top-class expertise from teacher education and the everyday professional life of teachers. My task as chairperson is to bring the potential of the experts from the teachers' associations, the researchers from teacher education and - not to forget - the students' perspective to bear in the best possible way in the cooperation for a future-oriented further development of teacher training.

How does the Commission work?

The Expert Commission meets regularly for several days during the course of a year, to which it will also consult other experts on specific topics. Two central topics on which the commission will develop proposals are 1. further development of teacher training through new possibilities for intensifying accompanied practical phases and 2. possibilities for increasing flexibility when changing between teacher training courses and from other courses of study into the teaching profession. The challenge of further increasing the attractiveness of teacher training, so that more young people choose this study programme and as many of the student teachers as possible also pursue the profession, accompanies the working meetings of the commission as a cross-cutting theme. The expert commission works confidentially for the duration of its work and consultation and will pass on coordinated proposals for the further development of teacher training to the state government as a basis for decision-making.