Shaping the future: teacher training needs a breath of fresh air and new approaches!

Shaping the future: teacher training needs a breath of fresh air and new approaches!

On July 23, 2025, an emotional graduation ceremony took place at the Catholic University (KU), where Klaus Meier, Vice President of the KU, congratulated graduate Ling Yue. Ling Yue is not only a newly qualified teacher, but also a certified psychological counselor and life coach. In her speech, she emphasized the challenge of supporting adults in their development, as they are often more difficult to change. Instead, she advocated for an early approach with children to create lasting change. During the pandemic, she thought about whether it was time for a fresh start in her life, which ultimately led her to start studying over 40 years ago.

The speaker looked back on her experiences in the lecture hall, surrounded by her younger fellow students. Despite the challenges, she mentioned the strength of the community, especially the support of other “mom students” who stood by her side. Her first in-person seminar after the Corona pandemic was about “Classroom Management”. There, the lecturer encouraged all students to be proud of their role as future teachers and to take the importance of the profession seriously.

Importance of teacher training

In her speech, Ling Yue emphasized the often underestimated importance of the teaching profession. She appealed to her fellow graduates to proudly bear responsibility for the future and to make visible the hope that they inspire as teachers. This is in line with the views of Institute for Educational Coaching, which highlights the role of teachers as crucial to the development of children and young people. Teachers not only provide academic support, but also offer support in personal challenges. Further training in consulting and coaching methods is essential in order to professionally support students in difficult situations.

The demands on teaching staff are continually increasing. Teachers must not only be technically competent, but also have social and emotional skills as well as skills in inclusion and in dealing with students' psychological problems. Training and further education therefore includes comprehensive specialist, methodological and didactic skills, which must always be updated through further training in order to meet the high demands of today's schools. The teacher training quality offensive, which runs until the end of 2023, shows the state's commitment to improving the academic training of teachers.

Challenges and future outlook

Social changes pose new challenges for the education system. Important studies such as PISA, IGLU and TIMSS emphasize the need for individual support and cooperation with parents. As part of the Quality offensive for teacher training, which was launched in 2015, 92 projects at 72 universities have sustainably improved the training of teachers. This initiative aims to optimize the structures at universities and promote closer integration between specialist sciences, specialist didactics and educational sciences.

A central goal of these measures is not only to increase the reputation of teachers, but also to create new positions at universities. Since 2015, a total of 500 million euros have been invested in teacher training to ensure quality in the long term. Teachers must be prepared for social challenges such as climate change and democracy education, which requires constant adaptation of teaching content and methods.

Ling Yue's combined experience and lived practice clearly show how important committed and competent teachers are for the future of our society. Teachers are more than just imparters of knowledge; they are paving the way for the next generation.