Precise institutional supply pathways to address faculty shortages in German vocational schools

Academic access flexibility reform: fexible horizontal admission paths

Traditional vocational schoolteacher education courses in Germany have high requirements for learners' academic backgrounds and practical experience. To further expand the student source, attract more talents with a professional background and work experience to join the teaching staff, and increase the stock of vocational schoolteachers, Germany has relaxed the admission conditions for teacher education and launched a horizontal admission plan. Horizontal enrollment refers to the entry of students not majoring in teacher education into teacher education majors for study. Through this unconventional path, learners are incorporated into preparatory teams of vocational schoolteachers. In the traditional training path, vocational schoolteachers need to complete teacher education courses at the undergraduate and master's levels, strictly following the two-subject principle (Zwei-Facher-Prinzip)—that is, having the qualifications to teach in two professional fields. The "Recommendations on Addressing the Shortage of Teachers" issued by the SWK (Ständige Wissenschaftliche Kommission) in 2023 clearly stipulate that students entering the field horizontally need to complete a preparatory service period that includes theoretical study and practical teaching, usually over 1-2 years, and pass a second national examination before they can obtain the teaching qualification (SWK, 2023). It is worth noting that the "Measures for Attracting More Teachers and Structurally Supplementing Teacher Training" issued by the KMK in March 2024 achieved a policy breakthrough (KMK, 2024a). This document establishes a "single-subject teacher qualification certification" system, allowing those who meet the following conditions to enter the preparatory service period: (1) possessing a university degree not related to education and (2) completing a single-subject master's program. This move not only breaks through the traditional framework of teacher education but also significantly broadens the admission channels through the diversification of qualification certifications.

Under this guidance, the horizontal admission paths implemented by federal states mainly include the following three models. First, the regular horizontal admission model allows graduates of university master's degree programs and equivalent degrees to participate in regular preparatory courses, which are also completed by teacher candidates with undergraduate qualifications. The degrees obtained from these courses are usually equivalent to or recognized as teacher-related degrees (Trampe, 2024). Second, the part-time horizontal enrollment model allows graduates of university master's programs and equivalent degrees to participate in preparatory courses. However, such preparatory courses are qualification certification measures specifically established for the target group, and preparatory services are completed concurrently with school service activities (Trampe, 2024). Third, the horizontal admission model with a specific subject-learning background allows students who have completed a bachelor's degree program in the field of engineering at any university to enter through horizontal enrollment. They can choose to pursue a master's degree program at either a comprehensive university or an applied science university that cooperates with a normal college. Before starting a master's degree program in education, it is possible to restudy and supplement the missing content in the modules of vocational disciplines, school practice, and education within the framework of the bachelor's degree program.

Empowerment of professional entry standards: formation of diversified faculty supplementation pathways

Based on expanding the stock of vocational schoolteachers in the reform of the access mechanism, Germany has expanded the growth of teachers by exploring diversified vocational access channels. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the KMK has gradually constructed a flexible and open faculty entry mechanism, with the core focus on absorbing talents with professional backgrounds not in faculty education into the teaching profession. In 2001, the term "lateral entry" (Seiteneinsteiger) was first used in faculty recruitment statistics published by the KMK to refer to those who enter the teaching profession with university qualifications not in faculty education and without going through a preparatory internship period (der Kultusministerkonferenz, 2001). In 2009, the KMK formulated a demand-based training capacity management goal, "Joint Guidelines for Meeting Faculty Needs", which required "ensuring qualifications for horizontal and lateral (Quer-und Seiteneinsteigern) entry into the teaching profession" (KMK, 2009). Here, horizontal entry refers to entering preparatory service directly without passing the first state examination or obtaining a relevant master's degree in education. After completing preparatory service and passing the second state examination, these individuals have the same qualifications as education graduates. Lateral entry refers to entering school service without passing either the first or second state examinations. This type of entry usually adopts alternative qualification certification paths, such as modular courses or training during actual teaching work (Driesner & Arndt, 2020). In 2013, the KMK passed "Design Special Measures to Obtain Faculty Resources to Meet Teaching Needs", which proposed that "Special measures for faculty recruitment can be established for each state ... usually based on the corresponding valid versions of faculty training standards and joint agreements adopted by the KMK" (KMK, 2013a). In 2020, the KMK issued the "Agreement on the Common Basic Structure of the School System and the Overall Responsibility of the States in Central Education Policy Issues", Article 38 of which requires that "If, despite appropriate measures taken by the states, the need for faculty still cannot be met, the states may recruit and employ university graduates who have not received appropriate faculty training" (KMK, 2020a). Despite various variants and subtle differences in the KMK's recruitment requirements across different periods, they all indicate that states enjoy flexible recruitment authority.

Under the guidance of relevant KMK policies, German state governments have adopted flexible recruitment approaches to increase the number of vocational school faculty members, mainly through the following four methods. The first concerns the direct recruitment of part-time substitute faculty members with relevant subject backgrounds. According to the position requirements published by vocational schools in federal states, personnel with backgrounds in certain subjects can be directly hired as part-time substitute faculty members without going through the horizontal entry application procedure of the state education department. If applicants wish to become formal faculty members, their learning experience must cover at least two subjects that can be taught in vocational schools. The second concerns special recruitment models for urgently needed subject areas that are in shortage. According to the position requirements published by vocational schools in the federal states, in areas with severe faculty shortages, such as physics and electrical engineering, applicants can enter vocational schools to teach through special channels, even if they have not obtained university degrees. Such applicants generally need to meet the following three conditions: obtain a master craftsman title, complete at least 1 year of subject knowledge training in their professional field, and participate in a 2-year preparatory service period. The third concerns recruitment models without restrictions on learning backgrounds. If applicants not only lack teaching methodology, educational subjects, and teaching knowledge in vocational subjects but also not take the national faculty qualification examination, they can enter the teaching field after undergoing qualification examinations and faculty training and passing the second state examination (Trampe, 2024). The fourth concerns qualified horizontal entry models for those with bachelor's/master's degrees. Graduates who have obtained bachelor's degrees or diplomas from universities of applied sciences and have completed university master's degree courses or equivalent degrees can be hired as faculty members and requalify in the fields of education, educational sciences, and teaching subjects in specific disciplines. If necessary, they requalify for a second subject according to their previous qualifications, after which they take the second state examination.

Through the above flexibility measures, federal states have effectively alleviated the vocational school faculty shortage while ensuring educational quality and have provided diversified pathways for talents with practical experience and professional backgrounds to enter the education industry. According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2024), in the 2022/23 academic year, of the 724,800 faculty in general education schools in Germany, approximately 71,100 entered schools through horizontal entry pathways, while of the 123,500 faculty in vocational schools, approximately 26,200 were horizontal entrants—a proportion twice that of general education schools.

Regional collaborative governance innovation: establishment of a cross-state faculty mobility support system

Due to the uneven distribution of vocational schools and teaching resources among the federal states of Germany, while taking as many measures as possible to ensure an adequate supply of teachers in each state, Germany is also committed to establishing a cross-state coordination mechanism for teaching supply to counter the administrative barriers to the cross-state flow of vocational schoolteachers. This mechanism takes "federal coordination under a unified framework" as its core principle and, based on respecting the educational sovereignty of each state, realizes the optimal allocation of teacher resources. As early as 1999, the KMK issued the "Mutual Recognition Agreement on Teacher Qualification Examinations and Teacher Qualifications" (KMK, 1999), which stipulates that vocational schoolteachers who have passed the first and second national examinations must have their qualifications mutually recognized among states and that they can apply to enter the preparatory service period in other states after completing the first national examination. This means that applicants can apply to teach at vocational schools in other states after completing the preparatory service period and the second national examination, laying the foundation for the mutual recognition of qualifications for cross-state mobility. In 2009, the KMK first formulated its demand-based training capacity management objective, the "Joint Guidelines for Meeting the Needs of Teachers", which stipulates that "Each state will at least maintain the expected capacity of preparatory services to meet medium-term needs, or coordinate efforts with other states through cooperation to enhance their respective preparatory service capabilities as needed" (KMK, 2009). In 2013, the KMK passed the "Rules and Procedures for Improving Teacher Mobility and Quality" (KMK, 2013b), which states that states should mutually recognize secondary school Level 2 (vocational subjects) and vocational schoolteacher qualifications and allow vocational schoolteacher applicants to enter the preparatory service period and obtain teaching positions in other states. This measure further strengthens the legal guarantee of the cross-state mobility of teachers. In 2023, the KMK adopted the "Proposal on Addressing the Shortage of Teachers", further proposing that the recruitment procedures for teachers need to be coordinated among states, that cross-state transfers should be carried out, and that a unified qualification certification standard should be implemented. This will help promote the dynamic allocation of teacher resources. In 2024, the KMK successively released the "Tenth Report on the Implementation of Rules and Procedures for Enhancing Teacher Mobility and Quality-Federal State Joint Implementation Guidelines", which is used to adjust the rules and procedures for preemployment and school services (KMK, 2024b). The "Recognition of Learning and Examination Results in Teacher Education Courses" proposes ensuring, respectively, that flexible subject combinations can be recognized in preparatory services in each state and that vocational schoolteachers possess at least one occupation-related subject covering vocational fields such as technology, business, and handicrafts (KMK, 2024b). To ensure that the qualifications of vocational schoolteachers are mutually recognized in principle among the states of Germany, this measure has upgraded from the mutual recognition of qualification examination results to the compatibility of the training process and has reduced administrative barriers by unifying preparatory services and onboarding procedures. This series of support policies indicates that the KMK, while respecting the autonomy of each state in teacher recruitment and subject requirements, provides a relatively unified policy framework for the cross-state mobility of vocational schoolteachers. This helps promote the cross-regional mobility of vocational schoolteachers and ensures that the vocational education needs of each state are met.

Cooperative training model innovation: supply breakthrough for technical subject faculty

The cooperative training model for vocational schoolteachers refers to German universities of applied sciences and comprehensive universities or normal colleges jointly offering courses, jointly conferring degrees, and cooperating in training vocational schoolteachers. This model expands training institutions for vocational schoolteachers. Traditionally, vocational schoolteachers in Germany have been independently trained by comprehensive universities. The cooperative training model for vocational schoolteachers began when applied science universities were officially incorporated into legal institutions for vocational schoolteachers. Since the late 20th century, Germany has faced increasingly severe faculty shortages in technical engineering fields. To meet the urgent demand for faculty in technical subject areas in vocational schools, Germany gradually emphasized the role of universities of applied sciences in vocational school faculty training. In 1995, the KMK's "Framework Agreement for Training and Examination of Secondary Level II Faculty Qualifications (Vocational Subjects) or Vocational Schools (Faculty Qualification Type 5)" proposed that "studies and examination results obtained at universities of applied sciences can be credited as part of recognized bachelor's or master's degree programs" (KMK, 2018), thereby marking the formal inclusion of graduates from universities of applied sciences into the vocational faculty training system. In 2010, the German Federal Science Council proposed that universities of applied sciences expand their range of subjects and provide practical and professional study courses in all subject areas in which there is demand for corresponding vocational school faculty (Wissenschaftsrat, 2010), further establishing the legitimate basis for universities of applied sciences to participate in vocational faculty training. In the early 21st century, German universities of applied sciences successively cooperated with comprehensive universities and faculty colleges to conduct vocational school faculty training. By 2021, Germany had 52 vocational school faculty training centers, of which 23 had adopted cooperative training models, that were distributed across 11 states, including Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Berlin. Training centers using cooperative models accounted for 44% of the total (Porcher & Trampe, 2021), making cooperative training models an important component of Germany's vocational school faculty training system.

In the long-term exploration of vocational school faculty cooperative models, three types of higher education institutions fully leveraged their respective resource endowments and formed diversified cooperative training models. According to classifications by scholars such as Silke Lange, Germany's vocational school faculty training models are mainly divided into seven types, with cooperative training models categorized as Models 2, 4, and 5 based on specific implementation characteristics, corresponding to the basic continuous rule cooperation model (Das grundständig-konsekutive Regelmodell in Kooperation), the dual lateral entry model (Das duale Quereinstiegsmodell), and the multifunctional supplier model (Das polyvalente Zulieferermodell; Lange et al., 2023). These three cooperative training models differ in course articulation, cooperation mode, learning integration method, applicable objects, and additional requirements, as shown in Table 2. The above models evolved autonomously based on institutional resource endowments and differences in faculty demand, optimizing the integration paths of vocational and education courses through the division of labor and collaboration. Models 4 and 5, in particular, have effectively alleviated the shortage of vocational faculty in technical fields by shortening training cycles and lowering entry thresholds, thereby providing a sustainable talent supply mechanism for Germany's vocational education system.

Structural optimization of the curriculum system: enhancement of professionalization in faculty training

Following the Bologna Process, Germany began implementing a bachelor's + master's curriculum structure reform for faculty education students to enhance the professionalization of faculty training and establish a unified foundation for cross-state faculty mobility. On June 2, 2005, the KMK adopted the "Key Points on Mutual Recognition of Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Faculty Education Programs", with the core content being the reorganization of curriculum content and the standardization of faculty education program structures. Specifically, both undergraduate and master's stages should include at least two professional subjects and educational subjects; The proportion of school practical learning should significantly increase; and educational subjects, professional subjects, and their teaching methodologies should be more closely interconnected to better adapt to the job requirements of the teaching profession and to ensure the quality and consistency of faculty education across states. Based on the requirements of this document, federal states successively carried out curriculum system structure reforms. For example, in 2016, Baden-Württemberg formulated the "Decree of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of April 29, 2016, on the Conversion of Higher Faculty Education Degree Programs for Vocational Schools to Graduate Degree Program Structures". The University of Heidelberg's Health and Social (Nursing) degree program was renamed Gerontology, Health, and Nursing, and along with the University of Tübingen's Social Education and Education degree programs, it was converted to a tiered degree program structure (Baden-Württemberg Landesrecht BW, 2024). The new curriculum structure covers professional subjects, general education, teaching methodology, vocational education, and other content and strengthens practical school internship components, as shown in Table 3. This reform broke the previous separation between vocational subjects, educational subjects, and teaching methodology in the undergraduate and master's stages, placing more emphasis on a training model oriented toward vocational teaching practice and helping enhance the professionalization of prospective vocational school faculty.

Pilot exploration of the dual teaching model: deep integration of theory and practice

The dual-system vocational schoolteacher training model refers to a teaching mode in which vocational school normal students simultaneously alternate theoretical learning and vocational internships during the bachelor's or master's course stage and closely combine theory with practice. Compared with the traditional model, it significantly increases practical content. To address the longstanding problem of the separation between theory and practice in vocational education faculty training, eight federal states in Germany (including Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria) launched an innovative dual vocational faculty training program in the 2024/25 winter semester. This program established a contractual training mechanism that enables students to form employment relationships with vocational schools at the undergraduate stage, which achieves deep binding between educational settings and professional fields and forms three distinctive training paradigms. First, the integrated dual training model, by constructing an integrated curriculum system that connects bachelor's and master's studies, enables students to establish stable practical relationships with designated vocational schools from the beginning of their undergraduate studies, thereby achieving spiral integration of theoretical teaching and practical experience through alternating learning. Second, the enhanced master's training model focuses on professional deepening at the master's stage by organically integrating the preparatory service period with course learning, adopting a dual-track approach of "theoretical learning-practical application", and significantly compressing the training cycle. Third, the in-service enhancement program model targets in-service personnel who already hold teaching positions, designing on-the-job training programs that ensure that faculty members can complete professional advancement without leaving their teaching positions through school cooperation agreements. This system innovatively constructs a tripartite contractual relationship among "faculty training institutions-vocational schools-trainees". Relying on institutionalized cross-institutional collaboration mechanisms, it not only ensures the effective transfer of educational theory to practical scenarios but also achieves dual improvements in training efficiency and professional standards through standardized quality control, thereby providing a solution to the problem of weak teaching practical abilities among vocational education faculty.

Organizational leadership and project support: empowering enhancement of the influence of vocational faculty training

First, the concept of building an organizational innovation network leads to the development of vocational education teachers. The Vocational School Teachers' Innovation Training Association (Innovationsnetzwerk Lehramt an Beruflichen Schulen), led by the Wilo Foundation in 2016, integrates resources from multiple parties, including government, industry, academia, and research. The "Innovating Teacher Training for Vocational Schools: 12 Requirements for Teaching of Vocational School Innovation Associations" has paradigm innovation significance, proposes conducting image promotion activities, providing lessons for future skilled workers, creating monetary incentives and reliable financing models for teacher training courses for shortage subjects, allowing part-time learning, integrating practical work into learning, achieving full coupling of large professional disciplines and small professional fields, providing horizontal entry points for comprehensive engineers, and readjusting learning plans (Stifterverband, 2017). Through initiatives such as professional relevance, creating new forms of subject teachers, targeted promotion of innovative methods, and political strengthening of vocational education, the Vocational School Teachers' Innovation Training Association has continuously provided targeted solutions to address the structural shortage of teachers, thereby enhancing the social recognition of vocational schoolteacher training.

Second, Germany has implemented specialized funding programs to enhance the attractiveness of faculty training through project clusters. Relying on the Faculty Training Quality Offensive program launched by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in 2014, Germany has directly invested in 38 vocational faculty specialized projects since 2020, forming three major capacity-building modules. The first of these modules is a three-in-one training system that integrates curriculum development, platform construction, and tool application. For example, RWTH Aachen University has built a cross-school virtual research room and developed a teaching resource library for emerging fields such as smart construction and electronic healthcare. The second is an interdisciplinary talent transformation project implementing a professional restructuring and academic support transformation plan. For example, the LeBiAC project has achieved the targeted transformation of talent in fields such as mechanical engineering into vocational faculty training through modular course reorganization and personalized career navigation. The third is the innovation of immersive training models. This project employs extended virtual reality technology to construct a virtual training system. The intelligent feedback system developed by the LEBUS Project can analyze the teaching behaviors of preservice faculty in real time, generating personalized competency development profiles. These projects not only compensate for shortcomings in traditional educational resources but also strengthen vocational school faculty members' professional abilities to handle diverse classroom situations through a combination of virtual and real models.

Construction of a dual-track driving mechanism: synergistic empowerment through economic incentives and rights protection

To solve the structural contradiction in the supply of vocational education teachers, Germany has enhanced the attractiveness of teacher training programs through economic incentives and rights protection. On the one hand, to attract more students to switch to the teacher training track, the German Association for Innovation in Vocational Schoolteacher Training suggests providing a monthly scholarship of 1000 euros for master's students to achieve full coverage throughout the entire process (Chen & Sun, 2024). Under this advocacy, the states of Germany have formulated corresponding incentive measures for teacher training. For instance, in 2021, the Hesse Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with a teacher training college, developed a funding program for vocational schools in areas of shortage in metal and electrical engineering, chemical engineering, computer science, and health. During their master's studies, students can receive a salary agreed upon collectively and an additional 1000 euros in funding. On the other hand, Germany provides a full-process guarantee mechanism for the implementation and promotion of teacher training programs. For instance, in 2024, Baden-Wurttemberg issued the "Decree on Pilot Programs for Master's Degree Courses Related to Dual-System Teachers and Subsequent Preparatory Services for Higher Education Services in Secondary Teaching Specialties, Grammar Schools or Vocational Schools", which established an innovative four-dimensional security system for trainees that included living security, social security, vacation security, and privacy security. By embedding economic incentives into the process of human capital accumulation and simultaneously constructing a multidimensional guarantee system to reduce occupational risks, this institutional design helps enhance the relative attractiveness of the teaching profession.

Optimization of professional treatment: granting civil servant status and implementing differentiated teaching management

In Germany, the social status and basic rights of vocational school faculty members are emphasized to enhance the retention rate and attractiveness of the vocational school teaching workforce. This situation is further exacerbated by the fact that approximately 0.6% of young teachers in Germany leave the profession prematurely and permanently each year (Geis-Thöne, 2022), worsening the already existing shortage of vocational school teachers. To improve the retention rate and attractiveness of vocational school faculty, Germany increasingly emphasizes the social status and basic rights protection of vocational school faculty members.

First, by reconstructing career advancement systems based on civil servant status, Germany systematically enhances the social status and professional security of vocational school faculty by incorporating them into the civil service system. Most states classify public vocational school faculty members at the "higher service" (höherer Dienst) level within the civil servant system, granting them the same rank benefits as academic secondary school faculty. For example, issued in 2022, Berlin's Faculty Retention Law explicitly incorporates vocational school faculty aged under 52 years into the civil servant system (Senatsverwallung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie, 2024), ensuring career stability through tenure. Regarding salary structure, a three-level, eight-tier advancement system has been implemented for vocational school faculty members that consists of three ranks—Research Assistant Professor (A13), Senior Research Assistant Professor (A14), and Research Director (A15)—corresponding to differentiated salary standards (KMK, 2017), with eight advancement steps within each rank. For example, the entry-level A13 sequence starts at 5526 euros monthly (level 3) and can gradually advance to a maximum of 6427 euros at level 8 through biennial performance evaluations (Beamtenbesoldung, 2024), forming a continuously attractive salary growth mechanism. This institutional design, which deeply binds professional status, salary treatment, and professional development, significantly strengthens the professional identity of vocational education faculty members.

Second, Germany has implemented differentiated teaching load management systems. Since the faculty shortage problem has exacerbated issues of faculty health and professional burnout, a dynamic adjustment mechanism has been established according to age and teaching hours through legislative means. According to the KMK's "Overview of Compulsory Working Hours for Faculty in General and Vocational Schools in the 2020/21 School Year-Discounts for Full-Time and Part-Time Faculty in Specific Age Groups", published in 2020, various states have established differentiated "step-by-step load reduction" systems for full-time and part-time vocational school faculty members. For example, North Rhine-Westphalia stipulates that those over the age of 58 are exempted from 1 h of teaching obligations per week, those over the age of 60 are exempted from 2 h per week, and those over the age of 63 are exempted from 3 h per week. For part-time faculty members aged over 58, if their part-time teaching time reaches 75% of the weekly teaching obligation hours of full-time faculty members, they can be exempted from 1 h, and if it reaches 50%, they can be exempted from 0.5 h (KMK, 2020b), thereby extending the professional life cycle of senior faculty members through gradual adjustments. At the same time, vocational school faculty members in North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein can apply for a "working time account" (Arbeitszeitkonto), which allows them to flexibly adjust their weekly compulsory teaching hours within a certain period. This flexible work system, which takes into account age differences and teaching characteristics, both ensures teaching quality and effectively enhances job attractiveness.