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One thing that I do not understand is why educators do not get at least the same social esteem as, say, professors. And with appreciation I mean both respect and money. In the respect it looks sometimes - theoretically - okay, the money often underground.
There are always surveys on the reputation of certain professional groups, firefighters usually cut it off pretty well, journalists rather mediocre, insurance agents very bad. In a forsa poll of the German civil servants association DBB (PDF), 80 percent of the interviewees said that educators enjoy a high or very high reputation with them, between police officers and judges. Pretty good, actually. But, like nurses and nurses who also do very well, they earn far too little.
Hardly any money for "women's jobs"
By the way, as you can see in these surveys, how this works, what social science calls "social desirability": According to the forsa survey, garbage men and women had a high to very high reputation in 72 percent of respondents ( even before pilots and professors), and it's easy to imagine people saying, "yeah, sure, I have a lot of respect for garbage collectors," but I want to see the parents, who are genuinely happy when their daughter introduces her new boyfriend who is garbage man.
Well, it's not that I do not understand why education is badly paid. All professions that carry out activities that traditionally and sadly are still considered "women's jobs" are poorly paid: everything that has to do with small children, caring for the elderly and the sick, cleaning. Although any society without these activities would completely collapse, people who work in these professions often earn very badly and often work black without any security. Unfortunately, it is not enough if every few years a minister with a Merci box passes by in a day care center and takes sweet pictures.
According to a recently published OECD study on early childhood education, only a quarter of professionals in Germany are satisfied with their incomes, many feel that their job is not adequately recognized and, moreover, they are often heavily burdened: "Not only do German experts report lack of recognition but also more often than in the other countries under study, from increased workloads due to tasks assigned to them because colleagues are absent. "
Taglange excitement about the menu
I find this quite remarkable at a time when toddlers are getting into care facilities earlier and people are bringing their two-year-olds to early English and baby yoga or ballet for a lot of money. When in summer a Leipzig Kita decided to do without pork and gelatine, the national excitement was huge for days. The excitement about the fact that educators are often chronically underpaid and overburdened remains to be seen, although the consequences are catastrophic.
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Kitas are often the scene of social and populist instrumentalized discussions, be it in questions of nutrition or when it comes to whether it is still okay when children "as Indians" go to Carnival. At the same time, the actual scandal on day care centers is a permanent condition: the poor pay and overburdening of many educators. There is no uprising. Parents, grandparents, potential parents, anyone who has an interest in giving them the care they need, in an environment that protects them and gives them as much care as they need, from people who know how to do that.