“Great Job” – Largest Teacher Offensive of the Second Republic

Polaschek envisions a new picture of teachers who “must meet the demands of the 21st century”. For example, social exchange with young people plays a much greater role than in the past and new ways of communicating certain topics such as political education, etc. will also be explored. This new image must also be reflected in developments and reforms, for example in school quality frameworks, school management profiles and new curricula, which the minister wants to reform a year before the new version just completed comes into effect. Polaschek also wants to ask what tasks the school can perform. The debate on curricula showed that expectations were very high and that the school was not able to meet all expectations.

Demonstrate the attractiveness of the profession
To attract more people to the teaching profession, schools must also be positioned as an attractive place to live and work. Austria has a very good school system, which is far too undervalued in society. The teaching profession should be promoted more strongly among students, for example as part of career orientation or through visits to project days at particularly innovative schools.

Recruitment campaign
The strategy should also have an intense focus on human resources management and recruitment. With a campaign worth 600,000 euros that will start in the coming weeks, the ministry wants to appeal to different target groups in print media and on social media. Interested parties should also find out on the Internet how to get into the school system and who and where are being sought. A needs calculator shows which subjects are in demand and where a lot of staff is needed. In order to improve the recruitment of personnel, the processes in the education departments, for example in the application process, need to be improved.

Already teaching after the bachelor
The third element of the strategy is the announced revision of teacher education. The aim should be that every lecturer starts working part-time as a full-time lecturer after completing the bachelor’s and master’s degree. The change of primary education teacher training from the current four-year bachelor’s and one-year master’s degree to a three-year bachelor’s degree plus two years of master’s degree has already been decided. According to Polaschek, the corresponding change must be decided in 2023 and the new training can then start in 2024/25. However, the obligation to obtain a master’s degree should remain in the interest of quality assurance.

To improve the transition to work, the hands-on course content needs to be improved. In addition, it should be checked whether, in addition to the classic two-subject programme, subject bundles such as Science are also offered, of which the graduates can then be deployed in several subjects. This could reduce non-specialist education.

Long-term focus
According to Polaschek, the strategy should not be limited in time, but should be a sustainable and long-term focus of the work of the education department. For him, the description of the “largest teacher offensive of the Second Republic” is not too high. So far only selective changes have been made, “this combination has never existed before”. In addition to the campaign, Polaschek also wants to tackle the part-time rate among teachers, which is quite high at a third. Those who want to work more can do so and part-time workers are encouraged to take more classes.