Cultural Diversity in Education

Not only do the students at Phorms come from all different parts of the world, but the teaching staff do as well. Phorms employs 769 members of staff, *who contribute their language, culture, traditions and diverse teaching methods to the schools and early-years groups.
AUTHOR: JASMIN WILCZEK | COLLAGE: MARTIN O'NEILL | 2017/1

 

Recruiting and onboarding process

Despite all this cultural diversity, the educators and teachers at our state-approved alternative schools have to adhere to the framework curriculum of their federal state. Whenever the Phorms Human Resources Department receives an application, their first step is to verify whether the foreign qualifications of the applicant are recognised in Germany. This depends not only on the type of foreign qualification but also on the federal state of the educational institution: in the Phorms schools in Hamburg and Berlin, foreign teachers need at least a Bachelor of Education and an additional bachelor’s degree in a subject such as English, Geography or Mathematics. British teachers additionally need a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education). After this first screening, an application is sent to the competent federal authorities, who decide on the recognition and teaching licence of the foreign teacher. Recognition refers to the equality of foreign and German teaching qualifications, and a teaching licence is an official permit to teach.

The Phorms Human Resources Department helps international educators and teachers apply for their residency and work permit and offers support for many other steps in order to make the onboarding process as easy as possible for them.

*as at January 2017

Learn more about the countries of origin of the phorms pedagogues:

Thembela Vischer, Nickolas Praulins, Julie Taricano, Trevor Ferdy and what makes their teaching so special


Read now: