This country profile is part of a collective effort by the network members to map matching practices across Europe. If you find it useful and want to refer to it in your own work, please refer to it as “Thilo Klein and Philip vom Baur (2019), Matching Practices for Trainee Teachers – Germany, MiP Country Profile 28.”

Relevant country background

In Germany, students usually pass two phases of studies in order to become a teacher at a public school. The first phase consists of theoretical education taking place at a university or an educational college. The second phase is a trainee teacher program composed of some practical training courses at a teacher seminar and a teaching position at a school. It requires each student to be assigned to a seminar, which then determines at which school in its district the student will be teaching. Students enter the second phase after completion of the first phase and a successful application to the trainee teacher program.

This country profile is part of a collective effort by the network members to map matching practices across Europe. If you find it useful and want to refer to it in your own work, please refer to it as “Herzog, Sabrina and Thilo Klein (2018), Matching Practices for childcare – Germany, MiP Country Profile 26.”

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Background on the German childcare system

In Germany, policies concerning kindergartens and daycare are governed by federal and state law and implemented at the municipal level. Framework policies at the national level are laid out in Volume VIII of the Social Insurance Code (Achtes Buch Sozialgesetzbuch – SGB VIII) [1]. The legal framework is specified at the state level, meaning that each of the 16 states (Bundesländer) has its own state law for kindergartens and daycare (also known as “Kita-Gesetze”). Furthermore, each municipality is responsible for enforcing federal law as well as state law, but can decide for itself how to apply it.