If I Were a German Teacher in New Zealand…
I’ve always dreamed of finishing my studies as a teacher to pursue my profession in a foreign country such as New Zealand. But is this even possible while having a different kind of educational background, not knowing the country-specific circumstances and customs and being trained to teach a group of adolescents in a way quite differently. In other words, there are diversities in the school systems concerning Germany and New Zealand.
For instance, probably there have to be distinctions in the quality of education, because New Zealand had done far better in comparison with Germany at the PISA rankings in 2009.
New Zealand took the 13th place in mathematics, the 7th place in science and the 7th place in reading. Germany, however, only made the 16th, 13th, and 20th place in these categories. This could possibly be due to the fact that New Zealand spends 6.7% of their GDP for their educational system. Germany, on the other hand, spends under 3% of their GDP for that.
For tertiary education, New Zealand’s citizens have the possibility to go to eight universities. Surprisingly, in Germany there are 108 universities people could go to.
According to the world university rankings of 2016, Germany has nine universities among the top 100, for example the LMU in Munich on the 29th place. Unfortunately, the biggest universities in New Zealand, the University of Auckland and the University of Otago, are ranked among the end of the top 200.
But the biggest distinction concerning Germany’s and New Zealand’s tertiary education are the student fees. Before the winter semester of 2014/15, Lower Saxony was the last German federal state, where their students had to pay student fees. Today, there are no payment obligations for students’ first-degree in Germany anymore. Since 2007, the average fees for New Zealand’s students lie between 2,500€ and 4,000€ per year. International students even have to pay 8,000€ per year in NZ.
There are also differences in teacher’s salary. The average of a teacher’s salary in Germany lies between 45,000 and 50,000€ per year. However, in New Zealand, it lies only between 28,000 and 46,000€ per year.
But back to my questions from the beginning. Is it possible for a German citizen to adapt himself to his new environment, to learn how to use foreign traditions and customs in class accurately, to feel confident enough using his language correctly and to be certain to ensure the quality of education?
In my opinion a German teacher will be able to fulfil these obligations, because a German teacher training is a long and difficult process, but it is also among the best in the world. There are good and bad teachers everywhere around the globe. Special attention should therefore be devoted to a good personality, a large amount of life experience, and, of course, a high quality in teaching skills.
