Johannes Steiner explains how he became a Teach For Austria Fellow and how this experience has shaped him
current job: Development Advisor GIZ, Uganda
How I came across Teach For Austria.
In spring 2012, I completed an internship with the Deutsche Society für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Ethiopia. My work at GIZ gave me the opportunity to start an administrative internship at the Austrian Embassy in Addis Ababa. At the same time, I heard about Teach For Austria in a newspaper article. After finding out more about TFA, I applied and moved from Addis to Vienna.
What happened during the 2 years as a Teach For Austria Fellow.
First, I completed an online course and an intensive summer academy together with the other fellows. There you learn the basic pedagogical tools that you need as a teacher in a school in the first few months. During both years, like all the other fellows, I attended ongoing training seminars and was assigned a personal trainer for further development.
In addition to my daily work as a teacher and the TFA seminars, there were a large number of networking opportunities and events that you could attend as part of Teach For Austria over the two years.
But you spend most of your time with the pupils. Planning, working on strengths, developing a love of learning and so much more accompanied me during my time as a Fellow. Of course, you push yourself to your limits and find out how exhausting the teaching profession can be.
My time as a Teach For Austria alumnus
Immediately after my time at Teach For Austria, I took up a position as a development worker with my former employer GIZ. Since then, I have been working in Uganda on reforming the curriculum at all secondary levels. My focus is on integrating basic financial education into the future curriculum.
Teach For Austria opened the door to this job for me: In addition to the practical experience I gained as a teacher, the planning skills you develop as a Teach For Austria Fellow and the Leadership Development Program helped me get the job. In addition, many players in international relations and development know and appreciate Teach For All, which has had a very positive impact on my current work.
