Table 1 Results of a qualitative analysis of German licensing laws regarding qualifications with access to the ECEC labour market
Qualification | Qualification level | Qualification | Sum Fully and Partially accepted | Fully accepted as… | Partially accepted as… | Not listed | Further requirements to get access to ECEC labour market | % of all ECEC staff | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leader* | Professional | Assistant | ||||||||
English | German | Number of German federal states (N = 16) | ||||||||
Social pedagogical | Non-academic | Educators | ErzieherInnen | 16 federal states | 16 | – | – | – | None | 63 |
Academic | Social Pedagogues | SozialpädagogInnen | 16 federal states | 16 | – | – | – | 3 | ||
Pedagocial/ psychological | Academic | Childhood Pedagogues | Kindheits-/FrühpädagogInnen | 15 federal states | 15 | – | – | 1 | 1 | |
Academic | Pedagogues | PädagogInnen, ErziehungswissenschaftlerInnen | 14 federal states | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 states: specific specialisation of study 6 states: professional ECEC experience 3 states: further training | 1 | |
Academic | Teacher | LehrerInnen | 12 federal states | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 states: specific specialisation of study 4 states: professional ECEC experience 2 states: further training | ||
Academic | Psychologists | PsychologInnen | 6 federal states | 6 | – | – | 10 | 3 states: specific specialisation of study 3 states: professional ECEC experience 3 states: further training | ||
Assistance | Non-academic | Childcare Assistants/Social Assistants | KinderpflegerInnen, SozialassistentInnen | 16 federal states | 2 | 2 | 12 | – | 2 states: professional ECEC experience 3 states: further training | 14 |
Special needs | Academic/non-academic | Special needs Pedagogues, Special needs Educators | HeilpädagogInnen, HeilerziehungspflegerInnen | 16 federal states | 11 | 4 | 1 | – | 1 state: professional ECEC experience 2 states: further training 1 state: only for care of children with special needs | 3 |
Therapeutic | Non-academic | Speech therapist | LogopädInnen | 7 federal states | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 states: professional ECEC experience 6 states: further training 1 state: only for care of children with special needs | 1 |
Non-academic | Occupational therapist | ErgotherapeutInnen | 6 federal states | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | |||
Non-academic | Physiotherapists | KrankengymnastInnen, PhysiotherapeutInnen | 5 federal states | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |||
Non-academic | Occupational and Work therapists | Beschäftigungs- und ArbeitstherapeutInnen | 2 federal states | 1 | 1 | – | 14 | |||
Public health | Non-academic | Nurses | Gesundheits- und KinderkrankenpflegerInnen | 10 federal states | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 states: professional ECEC experience 4 states: further training 2 states: only for care of children with special needs 4 states: only for care of under 3-year-olds | |
Non-academic/ since 2020 academic | Midwives | Hebammen, EntbindungspflegerInnen | 4 federal states | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3 states: professional ECEC experience 3 states: further training | ||
Non-academic | Family carer | Haus- und Familien- pflegerInnen | 5 federal states | 1 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 2 states: professional ECEC experience 3 states: further training | ||
Other | Academic/non-academic | e.g., childminders, persons with academic qualifications | z.B. Tagespflegepersonen, alle akademischen Abschlüsse | 13 federal states | – | 1 | 12 | 3 | 8 states: professional ECEC experience 10 states: further training | 4 |