Teacher Profession in Transition: Ministry of Education Presents New Vision

This is the first time it has been shown "how diverse and creative this job is," said Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) in a press release. He promoted teaching as "one of the most important and meaningful professions," encouraging applications for teacher training programs.

The new professional profile aims to present a comprehensive ideal image of the profession in an ever-rapidly changing society, beyond personal memories and societal clichés. Teaching is placed on an equal footing with other tasks such as accompanying and supporting children and adolescents as "role models and talent scouts," co-designing the school in a team with other teachers, as well as personal development through lifelong learning. Fundamental attitudes in this vision include democracy, science, and open-mindedness, while challenges include cultural and digital change and internationalization.

The new professional profile is intended to provide those who want to become teachers with a comprehensive picture of the tasks of teachers. At the same time, according to the press release, it should serve as a basis for the design and development of the profession, training, further education, and strategic personnel development.

Teaching Profession: New Primary School Teacher Training from Autumn

At the University Colleges of Teacher Education (PH), which are primarily responsible for the training of primary school teachers, the admission and aptitude assessment procedures for the 2025/26 academic year are currently underway. The deadline varies by location between mid-May and the end of August.

This is the first cohort to begin primary school teacher training in its new form. The training is intended to become more practice-oriented again. Additionally, starting in autumn, it will consist of a three-year bachelor's and a two-year master's program, whereas previously the bachelor's lasted four years and the master's one year. New is also that by law, thematic focuses have been specified in the curricula, ranging from democracy education to inclusion and diversity, antisemitism prevention to digitalization.

For secondary school teachers (especially AHS, BMHS), the training, which is jointly offered by universities and PH in so-called networks, will not be converted to the new structure until 2026/27. It will then also consist of three years of bachelor's and two years of master's studies, making the training for secondary school teachers one year shorter. Here too, the application phase is currently underway, with registration possible depending on the network until mid-May or August.

(APA/Red)

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