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"Encouraging students to think about how they can protect the rainforest themselves" – that's Julia Schätzlein's job
Photo: Heiko Mennigen / OroVerde
The start of working life is exciting, exhausting – and often very different than planned. In the series "My first year on the job", young professionals talk about how they experienced this time. This time: Julia Schätzlein, 30, works as a consultant for education for sustainable development at the Oroverde tropical forest foundation.
"When you start studying to become a teacher, you think: Of course I know what this job looks like. After all, you were in school for years. But you don't realize what it's really like until you teach yourself.
For me, being a teacher is not the right profession. Instead, I have been an education officer in a foundation for a year. There I develop teaching materials on the topic of sustainability for students.
At the end of my studies, I worked as a substitute teacher at a comprehensive school and realized that I couldn't imagine standing in front of a class every day. It takes a lot of energy to do justice to all the children and to do a good job in terms of content and pedagogy. This insight led to a small crisis for me. Studied for five years – only to realize that I don't want to go to school at all? After the state examination, most of my fellow students did a legal clerkship. For the time being, I stayed as a research assistant at my university in Kassel.
There is a focus on ›extracurricular education‹. Again and again, there were initiatives that presented their work and showed what opportunities there are outside of school. In the end, this gave me the idea to go in this direction. I had already dealt with sustainability during my studies, so I limited my applications to organizations that have to do with this topic.
Working in extracurricular education
AreaExtracurricular educationexpand
"Extracurricular education" means, first of all, all offers for the acquisition of knowledge or skills that are not located in the institution of school. Those who work in this field create teaching concepts and materials, conduct courses and seminars, and respond to the needs of the respective learners. The offers are often aimed at children and young people, but adult education and further education are also included.
Expand Work Locations area
Extracurricular education can take place in different contexts, such as:
Training centres
Museums, memorials, archives
Colleges
Meeting places
Neighbourhood centres
Educational or family assistance facilities
NGOs
Expand the pathways in the professions
The paths into the professional field are correspondingly diverse. For example, a degree in educational sciences, possibly with a focus on extracurricular education (e.g. at the University of Giessen), or a degree in social work are possible. If you would like to specialize in the field of education for sustainable development, you can take a corresponding master's degree program at the KU Eichstätt, for example. There are also opportunities for career changers, such as political scientists in civic education.
My current employer is an organization that is committed to the preservation of the rainforest, with educational and political work as well as with projects on the ground in the tropics. As a consultant for inclusive educational work, I develop teaching materials for secondary schools, comprehensive schools and special schools. These are, for example, worksheets that are intended to encourage students to think about how they can protect the rainforest themselves. I also design guidelines and training courses for teachers.
More »My first year on the job«
Starting a career as an energy consultant: "None of this helps when the residents of the house heat like crazy"Recorded by Benjamin Ansari
Starting a career as a voice actress: »I go through so many emotions every day«Recorded by Markus Sutera
Starting a career as a game developer:»My grandparents are surprised that I earn money with video games«Recorded by Katharina Kunert
For my current project, I first conducted interviews with teachers to find out which topics might interest the students in the first place. Subsequently, I developed the first learning materials, tried them out together with sixth to ninth graders, revised them and obtained feedback from schools once again. At the moment I am busy getting everything into shape: formulating the worksheets, layouting them, putting them into print.
In the course of the project, I had to learn to throw things overboard again. For example, I had planned a learning unit on the subject of paper, because it is a good way to explain how the rainforest and our daily consumption are related. But then I realized that the students found the topic boring. Instead, they preferred to learn about vegan nutrition. So I developed a unit on the topic of food.
Justifying one's own decision
Going into educational work with a teaching degree behind you seems obvious at first. Nevertheless, I often had to justify myself in job interviews and also to my fellow students. The classic apprenticeship is considered safe and comfortable, especially if you become a civil servant. In extracurricular education, on the other hand, you often work on a project basis, contracts are often limited in time and salaries are lower than those of teachers.
Nevertheless, I am satisfied with my employment. My current project will only run until September 2023, but the next one has already been approved and I am confident that it will continue for me. My salary is based on level E12 of the collective agreement for the public sector, which is around 3700 euros gross full-time in the first year of employment. As you gain experience, it automatically becomes more. And as far as my job is concerned, I definitely don't want to swap places with a teacher.
For me, my job offers just the right mix: the connection to education in combination with working with young people. In the weeks when I spent a lot of time at schools, I was always looking forward to working for myself again afterwards.
What I also like about extracurricular education is that you are perceived very differently as an outsider. Just because the students know that they are not being graded at the moment, they have a completely different motivation. In addition, I can specialize thematically as an education officer. I have expertise in a focus area and can use my time to dig deep into it – instead of having to prepare 26 lessons of school every week on different topics and for different classes.«
Have you just started your career yourself and would like to tell us about it? Then write to us at SPIEGEL-Start@spiegel.de .