German Trainees' Reflections on Two Approaches to Initial Teacher Training

Two German native speakers come to England to undertake a course of initial teacher training. They complete the course successfully. Instead of seeking and finding jobs as teachers, however, they return to Germany to undertake a second course of initial teacher training. This is unusual. This article reviews their reasons for taking two routes in two countries leading to the same goal of qualified teacher status and their experiences of these routes. It uncovers interesting issues relating, for example, to teaching in an education system in which one has not been educated oneself, perceptions of workload, differences in approaches to mentoring in Germany and England, differences in the perceived status of trainees in each of the two countries and the impact of pupil behaviour and collegial support. In spite of the sample being small, the reflections of these two trainees provide messages which teacher trainers would be unwise to ignore. (Contains 5 notes.)