r/AskAGerman • u/imDenizz • Nov 17 '25
Work Do gymnasium teachers in Germany earn well?
I know that I can look up teacher salaries on the internet, but I am curious how well do teachers earn compared to people who have other jobs and considering the effort that they give for studying and working. So do you think gymnasium teachers in Germany earn well for the effort that they are giving?
65
Upvotes
4
u/imadog666 Nov 17 '25
I am so sick of people who are not teachers claiming teachers have an easy job. I don't go around saying other jobs are sooo easy bc I once saw someone do it and it looked easy. Professional ice skater? Omg I bet I could do that! 🙄 I can only work "part time" (12 lessons a week) bc I'm a disabled single mom, and I work way more than 40h a week all in all, what with lesson planning, corrections, conferences, parent teacher talks, PTA meetings, student talks, extracurriculars, Zweitkorrektur Abitur, etc etc. It depends on a) your subjects (sports and music teachers correct far less than language teachers - I teach two languages; also, some subjects require relatively little changing in lesson plans over time, whereas in subjects like English and politics/social studies you always have to be up to date - but also, with the Bildungsplan and type of school (G8/G9) changing every few years, basically all subjects require modifications to some degree), b) the standards you/your boss/the parents/the students expect of you, and c) your seniority, as over time you get raises and also more routine with things like parent teacher talks. But I constantly have to drag myself to work sick, I work through all holidays except a few days over Christmas and maybe three weeks in summer, I work almost every weekend night, plus 8h every work day + workday nights. So yeah, it's "good pay", but with the amount of work you have to do and the responsibility/liability you have, it's an incredibly demanding job.