Therefore, local authorities have trained teachers who are immigrants and refugees to address this "difficult problem."
When Igne Pizarro Krause moved from Chile to Germany, 33, she never imagined she could become a teacher. Before leaving her homeland, Igne had eight years of teacher training and two years of teaching experience. With that solid foundation, she was considered an "ideal candidate" to fill the severely 부족한 teacher shortage in Germany. However, Igne had to start from scratch.
Igne shared: “When I arrived in Germany, I was forced to start from scratch even though I had studied, practiced, and wanted to teach immediately. But the retraining program in Germany was really effective. It helped me understand and adapt to the new work environment, and it's great that I can continue this work.”
Like Igne, Natalia Zemlianskaia, a Ukrainian teacher living in Germany, also registered for the training course. Having taught English for 20 years in her homeland,
Natalia completed two additional years of schooling before completing an internship at a vocational school and subsequently being officially hired.
Currently, Natalia teaches not only English but also German to immigrant teenagers from Guinea, Türkiye, and Syria.
The training program that Igne and Natalia are attending is Lehrkräfte PLUS. This is a 12-month accelerated training program, implemented at the University of Cologne and four other universities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Each course has only about 20 students, from many countries such as Bosnia,
Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, or Syria. Over the course of a year, they study specialized German language, teaching methods, and specific German pedagogical knowledge, while also participating in practical internships at schools to gain hands-on experience.
This initiative was born out of a nationwide shortage of tens of thousands of teachers in Germany, particularly at the primary, secondary, and vocational levels. Meanwhile, many immigrants with years of teaching experience in their home countries are forced to take temporary jobs that are not related to their expertise.
According to Semra Krieg and Ariane Elshof, two education experts and co-founders of Lehrkräfte PLUS, the spirit of the program is clear. Germany cannot afford to waste this human resource.
Ariane Elshof stated, "We have many teachers from Türkiye, Syria, Ukraine, Brazil, and even Tanzania. Given the staffing shortage, the education sector cannot ignore these talents. They are genuine teachers, dedicated to their profession."
A study by the University of Potsdam on Lehrkräfte PLUS showed that the program was remarkably effective. The majority of participants felt significantly more confident entering the German school environment, their German language skills improved considerably, and their motivation to stay in the profession long-term was very high. Notably, the majority of participants recommended that other immigrant teachers enroll in this program.
Demand is therefore constantly increasing. According to Semra Krieg, on average, fewer than one person drops out of the program each year. For the next intake in August 2026 alone, the organizers have already received approximately 50 additional applications, even though the application deadline is still in January 2026.
Natalia believes that to adapt to school life in Germany, foreign teachers need to proactively observe and learn about the school culture, and seek out colleagues who are willing to support and listen. Above all, she believes that Germany needs more programs like Lehrkräfte PLUS, expanded to more localities and promoted more widely.
“When I arrived in Germany in 2022, I still wanted to be a teacher. The best thing about the training program was learning German and doing an internship, because I got practical experience even though my language skills weren't fluent yet,” shared Natalia Zemlianskaia, a Ukrainian immigrant teacher in Germany.
Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/duc-dao-tao-giao-vien-tu-nguoi-nhap-cu-post761630.html
Comment (0)