“I’m also a role model”
Hafize Sucu is the daughter of Turkish labour migrants and head of a primary school in Offenbach.
At the Humboldt Primary School in Offenbach am Main, of which I’m head, there are a great many students with a migration background. It helps me in my work that I’m from a Turkish immigrant family myself, also because I’m familiar with Muslim culture. I’m able to explain a lot to teachers, and parents with a migration background trust me. There are hardly any problems, for instance, when class trips are coming up and I assure Muslim parents that their children won’t be eating pork and that the boys and girls will be sleeping in separate dormitories. Many students say they didn’t even know that “foreigners” can become German teachers.
When I started at the school five years ago, many thought I’d be teaching Turkish. I’m sure that I’m also a role model for many boys and girls from migrant families – proof that they, too, can have a successful career in Germany.
In September, my husband and I are expecting our second child. When I put my son Timur to bed, part of our ritual is for me to tell him stories while we look at picture books. Reading aloud to children is something I’ve adopted from German culture.
