You should enjoy tackling theoretical and practical issues as well as didactic work. As a future teacher, a love of teaching, a good intuition for working with pupils, and a sense of responsibility are important requirements for the variety of pedagogical work in your future professional life.

Another important prerequisite for your academic success is a general interest in the natural sciences. In addition to chemistry, mathematics and physics also play a role in this program of study. Knowledge from advanced courses in these areas is helpful, but not required.

As you will be required to complete a range of laboratory internships during your studies, you should enjoy conducting experiments independently. Good communication skills, the ability to learn, write, and work in a structured manner, and good time management will all play a key role in enabling you to complete your studies quickly and successfully.

For this course of studies, you will need good English language proficiency to be able to read and understand specialist literature in English. However, you will not be required to provide separate proof of your language proficiency.

This program is studied as a part of the Bachelor of Education degree program (teacher education for Gymnasium). The degree program always includes two teaching subjects as well as the subject of Education Studies.

Program structure and subject-specializations

In the Chemistry teacher education program, you will take several didactic courses in addition to fundamental chemistry courses, in which you will study the production and transformation of substances. In these courses, you will learn how to teach your theoretical and practical knowledge didactically and methodically in everyday school life.

• Fundamentals of organic, inorganic, physical chemistry
• Practical work in chemical labs
• Fundamentals of subject didactics
• Subject didactic approaches to chemistry-related topics
• Practice classes and seminars to promote discussion and reinforce the learning content

Stays abroad

Would you like to live abroad for a semester or a year? Do you want to learn another language and get to know a new culture? Or gain a different perspective on your particular subject? A stay abroad provides you with the perfect opportunity to achieve this and is possible with every degree program – either self-organized or by taking advantage of one of the popular exchange programs. This is made possible by various cooperation agreements and partnerships with foreign universities.

For more information on this topic, please visit our websites on studying abroad. Visit our student exchange platform for an overview of cooperating universities in your field.

This program of study does not require you to spend time abroad, but you nevertheless have the opportunity to do so.

Internships

In the Bachelor of Education, you will complete three 3-week internships and experience different types of schools firsthand. This practical experience will complement your theoretical training, help you practice your pedagogical skills in the classroom, and give you direction for your future career.

For more information, please visit the website for school internships provided by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Students interested in completing additional voluntary internships – including those in other professional fields – can find more information on the Career Service website.

The teacher education degree program prepares you – and is a prerequisite – for a career as a teacher at a Gymnasium in Germany. Not only will you acquire comprehensive knowledge about the subject, you will also learn how to convey this knowledge to your future students in a fun and creative way, while inspiring interest for your subject.

To work as a teacher later on, you must also obtain the Master of Education after completing your bachelor’s degree and then complete a teacher traineeship (Referendariat). The first, university-based phase of your teacher education ends with the recognition of your B.Ed. and M.Ed. degrees as the First State Examination. The second phase, the teacher traineeship (Referendariat), generally lasts 18 months in Rhineland-Palatinate and concludes with the Second State Examination.

However, you are not restricted solely to classroom teaching after completing the teacher education program. You can also work in a variety of professional fields beyond teaching in public schools.

Other possible professional fields might include: Adult education, higher education institutions, publishing houses, governmental agencies, and public service.

Not sure what to do after graduation? Don’t worry!

A university degree generally does not prepare you for a single profession but qualifies you for a wide range of career paths – for example, in research, in a typical profession related to your field of study, or in one of many other academic fields.

This is why career orientation is also part of your studies. Gaining practical experience is key, and you can do so through internships, working student positions, part-time jobs or voluntary work, for example.

JGU’s Career Service will support you throughout the entire process with information, advice, workshops and numerous events – from career orientation and working on your profile and skills to finding your dream job and successfully applying for it.