The teaching profession
Being a teacher is one of the most important and exciting professions there is. Teachers face challenges, but also find fulfillment, meaning, societal relevance in their profession.
Teachers are there to support children, adolescents and young adults and prepare them to shape their own future.
More teachers are urgently needed. The profession offers attractive opportunities, a secure income, and often the possibility of becoming a civil servant.
I want to give young people the opportunity to try new things and discover their own strengths, and not just chase good marks.
What you can expect from the profession
The teaching profession is fulfilling. The work is never boring, but varied. No two days are the same.
At the same time, the job is demanding and highly complex.
Imparting and exploring knowledge
You not only impart knowledge to children and young people. You also advise, encourage, and empower them to think on their own.
In the teacher education degree programme at the University of Cologne, you will learn teaching methods and skills that will help you acquire new knowledge independently. You will then pass these skills on to your pupils.
Life-long learning
To succeed in your profession, you’ll have to stay up to date. It’s important to continuously expand your specialist knowledge and to develop new subject-specific didactic and pedagogical approaches. Only then will you be able to give your pupils the best possible support and prepare them for the future in an ever-changing world.
In the teacher education degree programme at the University of Cologne, you will build the skills and the research approach required to gain an in-depth understanding of learning processes and to design them in a targeted manner.
What you should bring to the profession
- A love of working with children and young people
- Social skills, sensitivity
- The willingness and ability to engage in dialogue
- Commitment, empathy, patience and confidence
- Open-mindedness and a high tolerance for frustration
- Enthusiasm and motivation
- Professional interest
- Interest in research
- Organizational skills, flexibility and a personal sense of responsibility
- High mental resiliency
Finding flexibility in your work
The teaching profession offers a varied daily routine, which is organized differently depending on the age of the pupils and the type of school.
Your tasks will range from teaching, supervising, lesson planning and grading papers to holding meetings with parents and managing conferences.
Despite working full-time (over 40 hours a week), you will enjoy a great deal of freedom and flexibility. You will organize your lessons and your working hours mostly on your own.
More than just teaching
Teachers have numerous opportunities to get involved beyond the classroom and to help shape pupil life:
- As a guidance counsellor, you’ll support pupils in various phases of their lives.
- As a trainee teacher, you’ll accompany student teachers during their practical semester or trainee teachers during their initial teacher training.
- You can also lead working groups, choirs, sports clubs or theatre projects according to your interests.
Take the online quiz
Would I make a good teacher?
Visit the CCT (Career Counselling for Teachers) website to decide whether teaching is the right career path for you. Learn more about your professional strengths and areas for development.
What we offer
Career prospects and employment opportunities
The Bachelor's and Master's teacher education programmes are professionally qualifying degrees that are equivalent to comparable non-teaching subject or education degree programmes.
There are many career opportunities open to teachers beyond a position in a school. This is because your degree programme will provide you with a comprehensive education, regardless of whether you’d like to become a teacher.
Prospects
What are my chances of being hired as a teacher?
Try out with the opportunity calculator provided by the NRW Ministry of Education. However, prioritize the type of school and subjects that interest you most.
Alternative careers after studying to become a teacher
Will you become a teacher? Or will you do something else?
The complete path to becoming a teacher
In North Rhine-Westphalia, it takes 6 years to become a teacher:
- Prerequisite is the general higher education entrance qualification (Abitur)
- then a 3-year degree programme with a Bachelor of Arts degree (6 semesters)
- followed by 2 years of study leading to a Master of Education degree (4 semesters)
- and 1.5 years of practical school training in a initial teacher training/traineeship (18 months with salary)
- Graduation with a state examination that qualifies you to work as a teacher