My University, by Patricia Hofinguer

Studying on the Private University College of Education of the Diocese of Linz

In my University you have four possibilities for studying.

-          Primary School

-          New Secondary School

-          Special Needs School

-          Religion teacher

I chose Primary School as my program of study. I have to study three years (6 semesters) where I should receive 180 Credit Points. At the end of my study, I degree with the Bachelor of Education. Before you want to start studying on my University you need the high school diploma and then you have an acceptance test. There you should show your knowledge in German grammar, sports (swimming, coordination, floor exercises,..), music (singing, rhythm, ...), communication. When you passed it, you can start in our University in October. The first semester is like a warm up with studying. The first weeks you are already in a classroom for observing pupils. I personally think this is very important because nobody can imagine how real life in school is and many people think it is very easy to teach. Beside the practical days there you also have the theoretic courses. The first year you learn the didactics from mathematics (work with materials, ..) , German (text writing, grammar,...), general knowledge, psychology and other courses. In the second year the focus is on creative subjects like art, handcrafts, woodwork and also physical education and English. From the first semester on you have music until the 4 semester. When you start to study you have to choose one instrument, which you are learning during your whole study. I chose playing guitar and I also started to play voluntary the piano. From the forth semester until the sixth you start to think about and work on your final thesis. The last year you learn things about working with parents, how to give pupils marks, how to prevent bullying in school and many other important courses.
During the whole three years you always have a practical experience. In the first semester you observe with about 10 other students in a class and from the second semester on you are in couples at a school. Every semester you can choose another school and grade to get different views and make many experiences. When you are in front of the class, your practical teacher is observing you and how you can manage that. After all you get a feedback.
In fact our University is private and therefore we have to pay every semester 70 Euros for services and 18 Euros for the national student union.

Here you can see some pictures from my work in schools: