Hannah is studying to become a secondary school maths teacher

Hi,
I'm Hannah and I'm 24 years old. I'm studying to become a secondary school teacher with maths as my main subject at the University of Würzburg.

Before I started studying, I was a pupil at a secondary school myself. Even back then, I had the desire to study at some point. Initially, I did the Quali and the intermediate school leaving certificate at secondary school, and later the Abitur at a FOS/BOS.

I actually always enjoyed maths lessons and I often helped my fellow pupils when they had questions. Towards the end of my time at school, I focussed on becoming a secondary school teacher. In the end, I decided in favour of this type of school because not only are the subjects important here, but social interaction is also very important. Teachers at secondary schools support, motivate and strengthen young people in both their personal and professional development - and that's exactly what I wanted to do.

For the secondary school teaching degree programme, you choose one main subject and three didactic subjects. If maths is your main subject, you have the option of choosing two didactic subjects from "Group 2" and the third from "Group 3". You can find more details here: https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/studium/angebot/abschluss/stex/la-hs/. The educational science programme (EWS) is another focus of the degree programme. This area teaches the basics of education, school pedagogy and psychology. Another important part of the programme are the internships, which are completed at schools during the course. There you get a real insight into everyday school life, can observe lessons and try out small teaching experiments yourself. There is also a free area in which elective modules or additional qualifications can be taken. At the end of the degree programme, students complete a written admission thesis, which is a prerequisite for taking the state examination.

Most maths courses consist of lectures, which are concluded with an exam at the end. These are accompanied by scripts and exercises that repeat and consolidate the material from the previous lectures. Even in the first lecture, you will encounter theorems, proofs and corollaries - i.e. quite abstract mathematical concepts.

Similar to the primary school teaching programme, you quickly ask yourself at the beginning: "Why is all this necessary? I just want to become a secondary school teacher!" Matrix calculations in the CurriculumPLUS? Rather not. Such specialised courses primarily expand your own knowledge of mathematics. The didactic courses, on the other hand, deal directly with teaching: Here, typical student mistakes are analysed, lessons are planned, and designs are differentiated and clearly designed.

The content and tasks can sometimes take up a lot of time and energy. Perseverance and the motivation to become a teacher help you to master such phases and keep at it.

• Network with your fellow students. It is helpful to have contact persons in each course to exchange ideas, attend events together and support each other with questions or tasks, especially in stressful phases or if you miss deadlines.
• Don't put yourself under unnecessary time pressure. Keeping to the standard period of study is unrealistic for many. It makes more sense to only take as many courses per semester so that the workload is manageable.
• Working specifically with literature can also help you to better understand content at your own pace. Not every book on the reading list has to be bought straight away. Many works are only intended for in-depth study and can be borrowed from the university library or used as an e-book.
• The preliminary maths course is useful. It makes it easier to start studying. Once the lectures and tutorials have started, it is important to attend them regularly. Attending makes it easier to understand the material and helps you to stay on the ball.
• In addition, you should find out about the admission paper and the requirements for admission to the first state examination at an early stage to avoid time pressure later on.
• Support is also provided by university programmes such as JIM-Erklärhiwis, who are available at fixed times in the practice room and can help with questions about the current material.
• Last but not least, studying requires one thing above all: perseverance. There will be phases when content seems difficult or motivation wanes. This is completely normal - the key is to keep at it, seek help and not get discouraged.