Getting to Know Your International Contact-Part 2 Week 5

My International contact name is Frau Doktor Anika Schmidt. During our discussions I wanted to get to know more about the early childhood field and what qualifications are required to teach in Germany. My contact and I communicate through email and due her busy schedule she tried to answer as many questions as possible.

Frau emphasized that in Germany there education system is known for having high quality. However, in the Early Childhood Sector there seems to be some on going issues. As mentioned in a previous blog Germany requires or rather have strong morals about mothers who return to work before their child is 6. Germany government believes that children should be at home during their fundamental years. The government does not make it easy for working mothers. Availability full-time childcare in Germany is very scarce. For children 5 and under only 1/3 of them actually receive full-time childcare. Due to the availability mothers are forced to return to work only part-time and working still is very hard or impossible. Frau states, Germany provides publicly-subsidize to childcare facilities in preschool but they come with many restrictions for the parents. In preschool children are only given a half of a day and in kindergarten children are required to go home for lunch. Lunch is not made available for them and the government requires a two hour lunch for the children. This is hard for working mothers because they have to work around the schedule the government provides for them.

Frau states getting the required training and certifications to work with children was challenging. Before she could teach she had to obtain her Bachelor's degree first. Once graduated she entered her Masters program but she also had to register for certification program. In Germany, in the education field the required work consist of hands on approach with children, curriculum, and dissertations. At the end of the studies students are required to take a exam, write a dissertation, and have a exam working with children. She stated that at times it was overwhelming because  of the time frame that assignments were due. In addition, she states the hardest task was completing her German knowledge and language exam. No teacher is allowed to teach without scoring a proficiency score on the exam. Germany requires you know the culture as well as the language.

When asked about issues of equity and excellence she replied with the following comments. Currently, there are no large issues regarding quality. The only topic of discussion is access and further help for single and full-time working parents, increasing the number of guaranteed hours for Early Childhood Education, further integrating Early Childhood Education into the social structure of German culture.

As I continue to read emails from Frau I'm learning that in every part of the world their is always something to be done in regards to better the education system for all children. While she may have found the course work and certifications overwhelming it felt good to know that Germany has high expectations for educators. Not just anybody can work with children. Getting your Bachelor and Master degree is highly important and you also have to prove that you are capable of working with children with the hands on approach. A new insight that still has me at WOW is that in kindergarten children are required to go home for lunch. I thought to hours was a bit long but I understand that meal time with families is important for the German culture.