Catholic Religious Education

The Master of Education program in Catholic Religious Education deals with the contents and traditions of the Christian faith using academic/scientific methods. The “God question,”– who or what is God?–which is then immediately formulated as “the man question”–who or what is man?–is a key part of this degree program. Students deepen their knowledge of biblical, historical, systematic and practical theology themes.

While in the bachelor's degree program students focus on the knowledge side of their two school subjects, the Master of Education degree program puts a stronger emphasis on educational sciences and subject didactics. The basic approach to teaching religion is Elementarisierung, or the breaking down of difficult concepts into basic understandable elements. The five cornerstones of Elementarisierung–elementary structures, truths, ways of access, experiences and forms of learning–are applied to exegetical or church-historical themes. Students explore theological knowledge and teaching/learning processes in religious instruction, giving special consideration to inclusion-related matters. This provides a backdrop to the practical parts of this teaching degree program and enables students to work through the specific challenges of religious instruction.

The teaching degree for vocational schools combines a professional discipline with a school subject and educational sciences. The practical semester is a key component of the degree program. 

Possible lines of work:

Teaching at vocational schools. To teach at a German public school, candidates must follow up a  practical teacher training. Providing teacher training seminars, educational and career counseling, and basic and advanced vocational training at companies.

Pastoral work (parishes, hospitals, prisons, student groups, boarding schools, etc.), administrative specialist, pastoral associate, journalism (news agencies, press, radio, television, etc.), archives, academia (teaching/research at universities, research institutions, etc.)