Two Years a Teacher: Genehmigung
by Olivier Cleynen
Probably the least fun part of being a high school teacher in Germany is becoming one to begin with. All of the teachers I have met recounted their training as immensely stressful and disconnected from the reality of the job. In this sense I was lucky to jump on board directly from my former job as a University researcher, right into the classroom on day one. Nevertheless, the process of becoming qualified —obtaining the Genehmigung, the approval of the state— is not trivial either. In this article, I would like to quickly describe what the process entails by recalling my experience as a foreigner in Sachsen-Anhalt in 2022–2024, hoping it can help someone else.
Private high schools in Sachsen-Anhalt (this includes all the non-profit ones) are able to hire unqualified teachers directly and assign them to classes immediately, providing a qualified teacher watches over. The school then requests that the state education authority approves the hire. As a teacher, you will only obtain time-limited work contracts until you obtain this stamp of approval.
Going through the process of Genehmigung as a foreigner will test your patience more than a bunch of thirteen year-olds on the last class before the Christmas break. For me the timeline went as follows:
- T=0 Start — signed 1‑year contract and immediately started teaching
- T+1 month — submitted basic paperwork
- T+2 months — the state school authority required more paperwork. Immediately required deadline extension.
- T+3 months — granted deadline extension by the state school authority
- T+4 months — submitted extended paperwork
- T+9 months — submitted written lesson plan, first official classroom observation by school leadership
- T+10 months — granted temporary authorization by state school authority
- T+10 months — submitted full lesson report, second official classroom observation by school leadership
- T+12 months — signed another 1‑year work contract
- T+16 months — submitted written lesson plan, classroom observation by a state school authority representative along with school leadership
- T+18 months — granted permanent authorization by the state school authority. Work contract commuted to permanent contract.
As you can see, this is a daunting timeline and it can be discouraging. This is boss-level bureaucracy, and the sheer duration of the process is not in line with how the world works outside. Don’t feel insulted, even when instead of a congratulatory note for becoming accredited, the state school authority just sends you a bill of 216,10 euros. You have to see beyond the obstacles — the process does not define who your are professionally, your work in class does.
Seek help. Your school leadership and your colleagues should be there to support you. This is a cultural test much more than it is a skills test, so connect with peers and let them advise you. I was very lucky in this respect at the Internationales Stiftungsgymnasium Magdeburg, but if you are out of luck, ChatGPT is extremely good with helping humans navigate bureaucracy and professional silos.
Have a functional approach to the problem. You already are a teacher, you are already doing the job, and now the state is acting as a gatekeeper. So essentially you are talking with someone who can only say no.
- Rule #1 about talking to people who can only say no is: do not talk to them. Here this means keeping all communication with the state at an absolute bare minimum. Less is better.
- Make it more difficult for them to say no by eliminating any opportunity for easy dismissal. Check all their boxes: your work does not need to be perfect but it needs to be complete. If they want a line in the report table that says Didaktische Reserve, you are going to give them one.
- Show your best work. It’s totally fine to re-arrange schedules so that your classroom visits coincide with your most convincing work. Everybody does it and you don’t even need to hide it. You want good, but not fancy (no surprises).
Nurture your professional culture all along. The state’s way of seeing things can be permeating. Since your work culture won’t be nurtured from the administrative side, take care of it elsewhere. Read books, talk to interesting people, stick around excellent peers. As Emma Alvarez Gibson writes, it’s about the work, it’s about the work.
I attach below the lesson plan submissions that got me through — feel free to take inspiration. Good luck!