OECD Recommends Reorientation of Teacher Policy in Germany

22/09/2004 - Germany, like many other OECD countries, faces large numbers of teacher retirements over the next decade and urgently needs new policies to attract fresh entrants into the profession so as to ensure effective schooling for its young people.

 

This is the main conclusion of an independent review of Germany’s teacher policy led by the OECD. Germany is one of 25 countries taking part in an OECD project entitled Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers. Germany’s involvement was organised by the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Culture in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK).

 

The review team identified six strategic priorities for Germany, building on developments already under way in different parts of the country:

 

• Redefining the profile of the teaching profession to reflect broader responsibilities,
• Renewing initial teacher education and professional development,
• Assuring an adequate supply of quality teachers,
• Improving teachers’ career structure and incentives,
• Strengthening school and teacher evaluation and accountability, and
• Modernising school governance and management.

  The review team based its recommendations on extensive background documentation prepared by the German authorities, teacher unions and academic researchers and on other OECD work and research, complemented by a two-week visit to Germany in September 2003.

   

  Members of the review team included Dr Paulo Santiago (OECD); Dr Gábor Halász (Director General, National Institute of Public Education, Hungary); Dr Mats Ekholm (Director General, National Agency for School Improvement, Sweden); Dr Peter Matthews (Head of Inspection Quality, Office for Standards in Education, United Kingdom); and Dr Phillip McKenzie (OECD).

   

  During their visit to Germany, members of the review team focused on issues concerned with attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers in primary and secondary schools. They held discussions in Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Potsdam and Stuttgart with education authorities, schools, teachers, students, teacher education institutions, teacher unions, parents’ organisations, trainee teachers, researchers, and employers. The methodology that they used was the same as that used by the review teams that visited nine other OECD countries involved in the study.

   

  The OECD will draw on all of these reports to prepare an international comparative report on teacher policy, to be released later this year, under the title "Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers". The country note on Germany which will feed into this report is available on www.oecd.org/edu/teacherpolicy (click on “Country Reviews”). For further comment journalists are invited to contact Paulo Santiago (tel. (33) 1 45 24 84 19) or Phillip McKenzie (tel. (33) 1 45 24 92 27) in the OECD’s Education Directorate.