Work placements in Munich for Early Childhood Education students
20/01/2014
The first nine students who took part in this experience, which forms part of the Erasmus Work Placement programme, left for Munich in July. Once the work placement period ended, six of them were offered professional contracts to continue to work at the centres in which they had done their work placement. Those who participate in the programme receive language training both before they go and during their stay in Germany. The education centres of Munich decided to work with the UAB, the first university in Spain to put into practice this type of project, thanks to its outstanding position in the field of educational sciences.
The city of Munich needs more teachers than it can currently hire. This made them think of searching for early childhood teachers who had studied at the UAB. The project began in the 2012/13 academic year with an agreement with the Faculty of Education, which was signed after a visit to Munich from the coordinators of the Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education. Students spend a six-month stay in Germany under the Erasmus Work Placement programme, a programme aimed at helping European university students do work placements in other countries.
To be eligible for a work placement in the educational centres of Munich students need a basic knowledge of German, minimum Level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Students who need to learn or improve their level of German can do so at the UAB Language Service, and benefit from the grants offered to students participating in the Erasmus Work Placement programme.
Once in Germany, students continue to take German classes thanks to grants by the Munich City Council in order to reach Level B2, the minimum level required before signing a work contract. Thus, once the work placement period ends, students from the UAB have the opportunity to work in a public education centre in Munich.
After this year's first experience, a new group of students will carry out work placements in Munich. At the moment, 14 second-, third- and fourth-year students from the Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education are getting ready to participate in this project in the coming years.
Visit from German educators
On 28 and 29 November 2013, 14 teachers, regional service directors and members of teaching departments in Munich visited the UAB Faculty of Education to renew contacts with lecturing staff working on the projects, to talk about continuing the programme and presenting it to the students at the faculty. They also visited three education centres to learn about how the system works in Catalonia.
The heads of regional services decided to begin this pioneering project with the UAB thanks to the outstanding results, both locally and internationally, the university has demonstrated in academic training in the field of educational sciences. They also valued the faculty's firm commitment to fostering the internationalisation of its centre and helping its students acquire language skills, as can be seen by the first degree in Primary Education to be offered in English.
More information:
Faculty of Education