Teacher working as ta - help me decide whether to retrain ... as a teacher

[ErnesttheBavarian]

I trained to be a secondary modern languages teacher and worked as such for a few years. Had many years break due to moving internationally and having loads of kids.

I am now living in Germany and returned to work 3 years ago working as a TA part time in a private primary school. The local rule for accepting foreign (or even other regional ) qualifications are very strict and mine are not recognised as acceptable to teach in promary as I am trained for secondary. However I can't work in secondary for several reasons.

As a TA I am now feeling extremely bored. However, there are big positives. I can work part time and I start and stop workk bang on the bell so have little stress and no prep which is useful as I still have a lot of family demands and my youngest is still little (7). But I am BORED.

If I wanted to work as a teacher again I would probably have to re do my PGCE, which would be an incredibly demanding year.

Then, assuming my school would offer me a teaching post, I would have obviously all the demands and much longer hours that I don't have, and I would have to work full time.

It's such a huge leap in time and effort. But I have just turned 46 so think I need to either act now or put up. I can't see myself still being a bored TA in 5 years time, but then I am wary or massively increasing the demands which would impact me and the family a lot.

So any helpful insights and suggestions?

I know nothing about ho schools work in Germany so the below may not be relevant.

Can you do some specialist TA training, leading intervention groups, working with hearing impaired, autistic, speech and language development. You will probably less bored and able to take on a higher level role with those additional skills or work out of a school doing it.

Do they have TAs in Secondary schools, the subject matter is more challenging and the needs of the children are very different to those of primary school age,

Thanks for the ideas, but unfortunately no, the role of TA generally doesn't exist in Germany at all, it's mainly in my school as it's bilingual, so every class has a mother tongue German coupled with a monther tongue English speaker (either combination can be the teacher or the TA). So only private bilingual schoosl would offer this so it'd be a similar role in all of them. I like my school, and it is one of the few that has the same school holidays as the state schools, so wouldn't be in a rush to change to a similar role.

I have asked for opportunities to do something more but there just aren't any as I am not German and don't have recognised qualifications.

The local rule for accepting foreign (or even other regional ) qualifications are very strict
So much for EU 'free movement of labour'

definitely. But they are also equally strict from other areas of Germany if that helps. Basic problem, is despite having QTS stating age range from 5 - 18, as my training was in secondary, they would only accept it for secondary. Except that for many reason I cannot and don't want to work in secondary, so if I want to work i primary I would have to retrain, and as far as I can see, that would entail doing the entire PGCE from scratch but at primary level obv.

A teacher at my primary has a secondary PGCE...😖

How long will you be there?

It's nothing to do with EU rules MrsGuy even teachers qualified in England are not automatically qualified to teach in Scotland. Different levels of study.

Indefinitely. Been here 8 years so far.

Are there different rules for international schools and are you near any?

You need to contact your state's federal government. The rules differ from state to state. In theory, your British teaching qualification should be recognised, but you train for one or the other in Germany and the courses are completely different and differ in length. (There are some states where you can study for Grund- und Hauptschule, but that's not the case everywhere.) I'm going to assume from your username that you are in Bavaria, so take a look here: Bayrisches Staatsministerium
What you need to ask them about is whether it would be possible to gain additional qualifications in Germany to help transfer your qualifications to become a primary school teacher. (Do you live near a university?)
Regardless of your qualifications, you will need to prove that your German language skills are up to scratch - both written and spoken.

Alternatively, are you close enough to any international or British curriculum schools? There are quite a few around in Germany.

Thanks for your replies.I'll try to get onto the ministerium to see if they can give me any firm answers. Not had much luck so far tbh.

I am good at German but don't feel confident enough to do the teacher training here at at which is why I was looking at PGCE in UK.

I am working in a private bi-lingual school presently, which is basically like an international school except our clientelnis probably different. Nevertheless rules for teachers are rigid and there's no side stepping them.

I guess my main question is. Do I stick with easy but boring life of a TA. Or do I work my arse off, and have to go full time (which I don't really want) to work in a much more demanding ( but satisfying?) role? What if I do it and I feel too overwhelmed and hate the pressure and demands?

How do I decide??

I totally get the dilemma. I worked part time delivering maths interventions for two years, it was blissful from a family point of view but I then decided to go back to full time teaching in a tough (EBD) school. No regrets, but you are right, I am working my arse off, sometimes it is overwhelming, and there is a lot of pressure.

It's a very personal thing, isn't it - I know very capable women who choose to do the TA role and put their family first. I seem to need more of a challenge, and there is a satisfaction in having your own class and developing your skills in that setting. And family life is manageable even if it is all a bit challenging sometimes.

My training year (8 years ago) nearly killed me but as I said, no regrets. Sounds like you have a pretty realistic idea of what it would involve, I'd say go with your gut and don't let your fears stop you if you decide it's for you. It won't always be easy but I don't think easy is always best for everyone.