Like in all federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany, there is a shortage of skilled workers in the teaching profession in Baden Württemberg. The local Ministry of Education, which should actually have the task of solving this problem, has now launched an advertising campaign for the teaching profession, which is getting a lot of negative reactions from teachers in the federal state.
As part of the aforementioned campaign, two large posters have now been hung up at Stuttgart Airport. Actually, the campaign takes place under the motto "HURRAAA" and "Desire for change? Then become a teacher". Until now, no problem. But there are other slogans on the posters too. In addition to the conspicuously large "HURRAAA", there is also the statement "Landed and don't feel like working tomorrow? Do what you enjoy and become a teacher."
Putting up these slogans in the middle of the summer holidays conveys one message above all: teachers do the job because they don't feel like working during the holidays. For real, the fact that as a teacher you have a relatively large amount of vacation is a pleasant advantage of the profession. Some people might also object that it is not bad to advertise with this fact and make jokes about it. But in addition to the pleasant holiday periods, there are also all sorts of big problems in the teaching profession and in fact many teachers are exposed to a high level of stress in their job. Especially in recent years, the additional burden on teachers has risen continuously. The situation that the Baden-Württemberg state government, which is responsible for the fatal working conditions, is now launching a public campaign in which they make jokes about the working time, which amount to the statement, that teachers are supposedly lazy, is rightly causing great outrage among teachers.
A central problem of the teaching profession is the shortage of skilled workers. Due the bad working conditions, fewer and fewer people want to do the job, which increases the shortage of skilled workers. The consequences of this are an even greater workload for the remaining teachers, which then pushes many of them to quit, which increases the shortage of skilled workers again. A vicious circle that we can also see in other jobs like in the care work.
The bad working conditions for teachers have peaked in recent years. The government's corona policy also caused numerous restrictions and burdens at schools. The problems that already exist due to the shortage of personnel have been exacerbated under these conditions. Suddenly, the teachers all had to deal with all sorts of other problems. Despite the lack of digitization, online lessons suddenly had to be held. But the most schools did not have the means to do so, many teachers had to deal with it themselves and figure out how to enable digital teaching on their own. Constantly new Corona regulations, which change every few months, for the enforcement of which the teachers were responsible at the school, have been the rule in recent years. In addition, numerous lessons were cancelled during this time, but the curriculum had not changed. Many teachers were thus faced with the challenge of somehow get even more learning material into the minds of the students in even less time.
Even today, after the end of the Corona measures, there are numerous consequences in schools that are still noticeable. From increased aggressiveness and behavioural problems among children and teenagers to catching up on masses of missed learning material, the teachers have a lot to doo. In addition, there is also the schooling of refugee children. Mostly they have bad language skills but they are should be taught together with all other students in one class at the same time. And of course, the well known problems of staff shortages have not improved in recent years. Quite the opposite. The classes are far too large and constantly changing. School lessons get canceled but the content of which has to be reworked somehow.And there are many school lessons in which several classes have to be taught at the same time, etc. In addition, every teacher would also have to think about the situation of each individual student and the individual, appropriate pedagogical approach. This would be an urgent necessity, especially for students with problems. But in practice, there is almost never time for this, and if there some teachers make plans for it, they do it on the weekends and after work.
In short, the job as a teacher is not an easy job, but a really hard and exhausting one. Especially for those who want to live up to their social responsibility and provide their students with a good education despite the poor conditions. Accordingly, immediately after the start of the "HURRAAA" campaign, there was a clear public reaction from the professional associations of this field.
Karin Broszat, the leading woman of the Association of Secondary School Teachers, spoke about a scandal." Before this campaign, you didn't know how much stupidity could fit on a single poster,". she told the press, that the disdain for the teaching profession in Baden-Württemberg could not be expressed more clearly and unsophisticated. Gerhard Brand, the Baden-Württemberg state leader of the Association of Education and Upbringing also made it very clear, that this poster is a "slap in the face for all teachers"
The politicians reacted to these critics first of all very arrogant and defended this campaign. In the meantime, however, they felt compelled by the increasing indignation to row back and change the slogan on the poster. However, the general situation that has become apparent here does not change. The teachers continue to do a difficult job with poor conditions and the political leaders, who are responsible for these conditions are still sitting in their ivory towers and have no sense for the interests of the teachers. These bourgeois leaders will not change anything about the bad situation in the schools, unless the teachers force them to do. And the only way to do this is to fight together for better working conditions.
