Bildungsreferent/Bildungsreferentin

Media sources related to this profession include the 2025 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report - Teaching and Learning Edition, Berufsbildungsbericht 2025 (Vocational Training Report), Bildung auf einen Blick (Education at a Glance), Bildung in Deutschland 2024 (Education in Germany 2024), bildungsklick, Bildungsmonitor 2025 (Education Monitor), Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung Jahresbericht 2024 (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training Annual Report), BWP - Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis (Vocational Education and Training in Science and Practice), Datenreport zum Berufsbildungsbericht 2025 (Data Report on the Vocational Training Report), Deutscher Bildungsserver (German Education Server), didacta - Das Magazin für lebenslanges Lernen (The Magazine for Lifelong Learning), Digitalisierung: Herausforderungen für die Aus- und Weiterbildung in Deutschland (Digitalization: Challenges for Initial and Continuing Vocational Training in Germany), EPALE - E-Plattform für Erwachsenenbildung in Europa (E-Platform for Adult Learning in Europe), GOVET - German Office for International Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training, NABIBB Bildung für Europa (NABIBB Education for Europe), wb-web - Das Portal für Lehrende in der Erwachsenen- und Weiterbildung (The Portal for Teachers in Adult and Continuing Education), and Weiterbildung (Continuing Education).

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) is becoming increasingly prevalent in initial and continuing vocational training. For example, with VR, trainees can learn basic machine operation skills in a virtual workshop, while AR can project warnings or operating instructions via data glasses. These technologies allow learners to practice in a practical and action-oriented way without fear of making mistakes. Education managers will need to consider how to effectively implement virtual aids. Additionally, Learning Analytics, which involves measuring, collecting, analyzing, and evaluating data from learners and their learning environments, is being used to develop new teaching and learning concepts.

Education officers primarily work in offices and meeting rooms, as well as in training rooms. They may also work from home or remotely.

Core competencies generally required for this profession include initial and continuing training, education management and planning, didactics, youth and adult education, methodology, and teaching/training (both extracurricular and school-based). Additional competencies that may be significant for this profession include reporting, information provision, educational counseling, blended learning, digital learning formats, digital learning certificates, educational science, pedagogy, committee work, learning objective control, planning and conducting fairs, congresses, and events, pedagogical psychology, school psychology, research, information gathering, rhetoric, environmental education, lecturing, forest pedagogy, and wilderness pedagogy.

Education officers perform their tasks independently, often in coordination with supervisors and colleagues. Communication skills and rhetorical fluency are essential for teaching and supporting course participants. In their teaching activities, education officers draw on their pedagogical and didactic skills. Planning and structured thinking are particularly beneficial when preparing courses. They prepare training sessions and manage e-learning offerings on the computer. In the office, they might, for example, advise interested individuals extensively on educational opportunities, develop didactic concepts, or coordinate various educational programs; in training rooms, they conduct courses.

An exemplary gross basic salary in the public service collective bargaining area (monthly) ranges from 4,039 € to 5,181 €. This information is sourced from the Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst (TVöD - Collective Agreement for the Public Service). Please note that these figures are for orientation only, and no claims can be derived from them. For current and detailed salary information, it is recommended to check BERUFENET.

Education consultants can work in various sectors, including adult education, other teaching services (e.g., community colleges), institutions offering distance learning or digital learning formats, economic and professional associations (e.g., Chambers of Industry and Commerce - IHK), political parties and associations, education, science, and research organizations, and public administration (e.g., municipalities).

Employers often expect pedagogical further training or a relevant university degree (Studium).

Relevant undergraduate (grundständig) or postgraduate (weiterführend) fields of study for this profession include: Vocational pedagogy, educational management, German as a second/foreign language, educational sciences, foreign language didactics, health promotion and pedagogy, health science, engineering pedagogy, cultural pedagogy, art pedagogy, media pedagogy, medical and nursing pedagogy, religious pedagogy, and community work (Evangelical communities).

Education consultants can find employment at community colleges (Volkshochschulen), institutes offering internet-based distance learning (e-learning), educational institutions of political parties or organizations, Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHK), and municipalities (Kommunen).

Education consultants plan, organize, and coordinate educational programs and conduct courses.

Job and applicant portals: LehrCare - Die Lehrervermittlung, Lehrer.biz, WILA-Arbeitsmarkt.

Professional Association of Educational Scientists, Federal Association of Distance Learning Providers e. V., Federal Association of Vocational Education Teachers e.V. (BVLB), German Association for the Promotion of Teacher Training DVLfB, Education and Science Union (GEW), Goethe-Institut e. V., Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency (IAB), Leibniz Institute for Educational Research and Educational Information DIPF, United Services Union ver.di, Association for Corporate Educational Research e.V.

Responsibility for individuals (being responsible for the learning success of those seeking education), customer contact (e.g., conducting courses, advising interested parties on educational opportunities, offering assistance with learning and performance difficulties, supporting participants), screen work (e.g., as a teletutor or telecoach, planning and implementing internet-based educational offerings, developing needs-based educational concepts and further training programs, preparing lessons), office work (e.g., at adult education centers, party foundations, or associations), work in classrooms/training rooms.

Documents, e.g.: educational concepts, further training programs, seminar and lesson plans, didactic concepts, participant lists, appointment and room schedules. Office equipment, e.g.: PC, internet access, telephone, video conferencing tools. Presentation tools, e.g.: projector, whiteboards, digital boards.

Educational consultants develop needs-based educational concepts. They prepare seminars, develop didactic concepts, select teaching methods, and conduct courses. They advise interested parties on educational opportunities or provide assistance with learning and performance difficulties. Educational consultants take on tasks in marketing and organizing teaching operations at educational institutions, e.g., they organize the deployment of external lecturers and develop feedback instruments for further training controlling. As educational coordinators, they coordinate educational offerings at the municipal level and provide impulses for new offerings.

Certified Training and Further Education Pedagogist, Certified Vocational Pedagogist (further training), Theater Pedagogist (further training).

Adaptation further training helps to keep professional knowledge current and adapt to new developments (e.g., in the fields of pedagogy, adult education, or management). Furthermore, the trend of using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in training and further education can become an important further training topic for educational consultants.

Further professional and career opportunities arise – depending on professional background – through an undergraduate or postgraduate degree (e.g., in vocational pedagogy). Under certain conditions, it is also possible to study without a general university entrance qualification. For more information: Access to higher education in the individual Bundesländer (federal states).

Develop, plan, and organize educational programs. Observe the education market and define educational offerings. Design curriculum concepts. Prepare seminars and courses. Select teaching materials and methods. Conceive and implement marketing measures. Handle room and schedule planning, as well as participant administration. Organize and coordinate the deployment of lecturers. Develop feedback instruments. Conduct courses; hold in-person events and online offerings, such as e-learning programs. Support participants, e.g., answer questions, check assignments. Support clients with learning and performance difficulties. Advise clients and those interested in education about the educational offerings. Act as an education coordinator at the municipal level. Coordinate and organize educational offerings, e.g., language and integration courses for refugees, further training and qualification measures from educational providers such as adult education centers (Volkshochschulen).

The following lists professions or activities that show similarities to the original profession. These professions represent a possible alternative for applicants. Furthermore, employers can consider individuals from these professions as alternatives for filling a position in the original profession. Some alternative professions only encompass partial activities of the original profession, while others require an induction period, which can vary in length in individual cases. The following direct employment and staffing alternatives are available for the profession of Bildungsreferent/in: Job and staffing alternatives for the overall activity (usually short induction): Bildungsmanager/Bildungsmanagerin. A list of all possible degrees of relatedness can be found here: Explanations of the individual degrees of relatedness.