David is studying Mathematics and Philosophy/Ethics to become a teacher at a German Gymnasium
Hi,
I'm David (pictured on the right), 23 years old and I'm studying in Würzburg to become a high school teacher (German Gymnasium) specialising in mathematics and philosophy/ethics.
How did I come to study mathematics for a teaching degree at German Gymnasium?
After graduating from high school, I didn't really know what to do, so I completed a voluntary social year at a school in Tübingen. There, in addition to other activities, I was given the opportunity to teach mathematics lessons on a topic of my choice. I definitely enjoyed teaching and working with children, so I decided to go in this direction professionally and study to become a maths teacher.
What do you learn in a teaching degree in mathematics for German Gymnasium?
The teaching degree programme for German Gymnasium comprises three subjects: mathematics, the chosen second subject and educational science. While mathematics and the second subject are studied in depth, i.e. with similar effort as in a Bachelor's programme, educational science only consists of a few modules. In mathematics, you are taught important technical knowledge (almost every mathematical fact is generalised, e.g. derivatives are not only carried out in one variable and not only in one dimension; this gives you a good background knowledge) and you also acquire didactic skills (concepts such as the fraction clock or the arrow method make teaching easier later on).
What qualifications should you have?
You should have an interest in mathematics, but I think it is very important to keep your goal - to become a teacher - in mind as a motivation. Because you need a lot of stamina to study maths. Or if you don't have it before you start studying, you will definitely learn it during your studies. However, if you enjoy solving puzzles, this is definitely the right choice of degree programme for you. And when you have finally found the right solution after a long period of work, this success is all the more rewarding.
What surprised me about my degree programme?
I was surprised that I sometimes sit in exactly the same lectures as Bachelor's students. I had expected that studying to become a teacher would primarily mean being shown how to teach, but this is only dealt with in the few didactics modules and partly in the practicals. A maths teacher training course is therefore primarily a maths course. I was pleasantly surprised by the pre-course at the beginning of my studies: difficult lecture content was explained to you in simpler terms and you were allowed to ask anything you wanted, there were no "stupid" questions.
How was the first year of studies?
The mathematics pre-course was my first opportunity to immerse myself in the student world and make my first contacts. The student union also organised first-year events that made it easier to start the new phase of life and gave me the feeling that I had arrived safely. The fact that the level of the lectures was not too high in the first few weeks also helped to settle in at an appropriate pace.
What opportunities are there to study abroad for a semester?
The Erasmus plus programme makes it relatively easy to study abroad (there is a lot of bureaucracy, but the International Office is relatively good at helping you). Every winter semester there is an information event where the procedure and the current list of partner universities are presented. I took advantage of this opportunity and spent the winter semester 2024/2025 at the Université d'Orléans. It was a really nice time and I can really recommend everyone to take up this offer to do Erasmus. Getting to know a different university system and the experience as an international student, as well as discovering the region (greater Paris area) was definitely an interesting experience.
