Dealing with Teacher Shortage in Germany-A Closer View of Four Federal States

Teacher shortage can be said to be an international challenge. In this article, the phenomenon of teacher shortage in 4 of the 16 German states is explored and analysed. These four states were selected to demonstrate the variety and give examples of different approaches dealing with teacher shortage. Similarities and differences were observed and the most evident similarity is that all states that are presented have to deal with a shortage of teachers. Fluctuations of student numbers and waves of retirements, and increased need of new employment may be foreseen. However, the resources of the universities and teacher mobility between states is not always facilitated. The number of side entrants is remarkably low in some states. This may mean that their planning strategies are better or their recruitment for teacher training study places is more successful than in those states that need to employ side entrants on a regular basis. These are questions that cannot be answered yet. In conclusion, more research is called for to study how these results can be interpreted in order to allow the findings and their implications to be discussed in the broadest context possible.