Berlin starts Flex-Master: Think of teaching training!

Berlin starts Flex-Master: Think of teaching training!

On June 16, 2025, it was announced that from the winter semester 2026/27, Berlin will introduce the new Flex Master for teacher students. This reform aims to improve the linking of employment and acquisition of skills and thus reacts to the increasing number of students who are already working in schools during their studies. The introduction of a dual study option should enable teacher students to choose between the compactly structured option, which includes a practical semester in the third master semester and a new dual option. The latter includes a stretched practical semester associated with an employment contract at a school.

The dual option gives the students the opportunity to integrate practical school and school work directly. For this, it is necessary to conclude an employment contract at a school, which depends on the school needs. Institutions such as the Free University of Berlin, the Humboldt University in Berlin, the Technical University of Berlin and the University of the Arts Berlin work closely together to implement this option across the board. The aim is to offer forward-looking, practical and science-oriented teaching impression in order to combat the shortage of teachers and support the acquisition of skills.

dual study option in detail

The school -practical academic achievements in the dual option, such as internships and lessons in the practical semester, can be distributed over three semesters. This flexibility is made possible by agreements between lecturers and students. In order to avoid overlaps between school work and courses, students are not put together separately according to study options, but in joint courses.

The module "practical school studies" has changed the most by introducing the dual option. On May 27, 2025, a discussion on the further development of the courses decided that the diversity in class experiences should be recorded in a structured manner in order to ensure practical training. Some suggestions for the design of the courses include hybrid formats and modules that combine digital self -learning environments and events for teaching planning.

Despite the positive approaches, there are also critical voices. The constant scientific commission (SWK) has expressed concerns that dual training could lead to tempting students to teach before they have the necessary skills. Felicitas Thiel, Co-chairman of the SWK, points out that only about 10% of teachers have undergone a basic training in dual deployment, which makes it difficult to accompany dual students in schools. In addition, the German Philologists' Association criticizes the integration of the legal clerkship into the regular studies and pleads to record the proven two -phase nature of the formation of teaching.

Mark Rackles, a supporter of the reform, sees no contradiction between the dual degree and the necessary technical knowledge. He supports a change between theory and practice from the third semester and encourages model experiments for dual courses. The Education and Science Union (GEW) supports the initiatives and emphasizes the need to equate the degrees of the dual courses with the conventional 2nd state examination.

The introduction of the Flex Masters is a significant step in the formation of teaching tiders in Berlin, which contains both opportunities and challenges. The discussion about the further development of the dual teaching degree will continue in the coming months and could be decisive for the future of teaching education.