Research funding by teacher education institutions

As a rule, research funding by centres for teacher education has so far been seen primarily as an indirect and scientific service provided by a centre. Today, however, centres increasingly have to distinguish themselves through research. In many cases, schools of education are developing their own branch, which is specifically designed to support research in specific fields. At various locations in Germany, professorships are even being established to carry out research tasks at centres for teacher education. Due to these very different approaches to promoting research, the question of establishing independent research at centres for teacher education has triggered some discussion within universities. This is because there are fears that the independent research of such an institution will compete with that of the university's Schools or departments. Negotiation processes are therefore necessary and co-operation must be initiated.

The workshop will use examples to illustrate how research tasks - be it research support services or research itself - are performed or carried out at different locations. The aim is to gain suggestions for establishing research at teacher training centres of various types.

Speakers: Dr Annegret Hilligus/Prof. Dr Bardo Herzig, Paderborn

Dr Annegret Hilligus has been managing director of the Centre for Educational Research and Teacher Training (PLAZ) since 2002. In the context of her activities, she deals intensively with issues relating to the development of centres for teacher training and issues relating to research funding by teacher training institutions.

The expertise on practical phases in teacher training published in 2012 allows conclusions to be drawn for the conceptualisation of long-term internships. The report shows that there are different ways of organising and integrating long-term internships across Germany. This raises the fundamental question of how long-term internships should be designed so that they can contribute to the professionalisation of future teachers. These considerations relate not only to the theoretically sound integration of "school internships" into the curriculum, but also to the provision of personnel who are available for the preparation, monitoring and reflection as well as for the organisation of "school internships". The central thesis is that only a comprehensive embedding of the "school internships" in the overall curriculum will lead to a benefit for the students' education.

The workshop will firstly present the findings of the aforementioned expertise and then evaluate which conditions for success can be derived for successful long-term internships. This will be followed by a discussion of the role organisational units in teacher education (ZfL or schools) can play in achieving the conditions for successful long-term internships.

Advisor: Prof. Dr Ulrike Weyland, Bielefeld

Prof Dr Ulrike Weyland is involved in teaching and research in the field of education, in particular vocational education for health professions and educational psychology. At Osnabrück University, she was a board member of the Centre for Teacher Education for several years and now teaches and researches at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences.
Her research approaches relate in particular to the topic of professionalisation in the context of teacher training and to learning processes during studies and internships through research-based learning.

Research into the effectiveness of teacher training and further education has become increasingly important in recent years. Recent studies indicate that in-service training programmes have the potential to expand teacher knowledge and action and have an impact at the student level. However, the effectiveness of teacher training programmes appears to depend on certain structural and didactic features of the training programmes. From a structural point of view, successful teacher training programmes extend over a longer period of time and involve external experts. In terms of content and didactics, successful training courses often have a narrow didactic focus that emphasises the pupils' learning processes as well as their subject-related concepts, ideas and ways of thinking, thereby expanding the didactic and diagnostic knowledge of teachers.

The workshop will present and discuss the conditions for the success of effective teacher training. As so-called competence centres for teacher training have been set up in Lower Saxony since January 2012 in order to provide teachers with science-based and needs-oriented further training, possibilities for the meaningful and quality-promoting connection of teacher training to universities will also be discussed. Finally, the contribution that teacher training institutions (ZfL or schools) can make to the meaningful further development of teacher training will be considered.

Speaker: Prof. Dr Frank Lipowsky, Kassel

Prof Dr Frank Lipowsky is Professor of Educational Science at the University of Kassel. He specialises in empirical teaching research at primary and lower secondary level, teacher research, general didactics and school research. He is intensively involved in empirical research on teacher training as part of his projects.

What works? Results from the experience and evaluation of seven practical semester programmes

The Jena model of teacher training was launched in the 2007/2008 winter semester. In connection with this, the education law made the training of young professionals compulsory for all Thuringian schools as part of a practical semester. For the past seven semesters, 250 Jena student teachers have spent at least five hours a day in schools for five months in each cycle. The students are supported by the university through courses in four modules and mandatory consultations. The Jena model has been regularly evaluated since 2007.

Dr Peter Holtz, who heads the accompanying research on the Jena model, has accentuated further research and development questions for the practical semester based on the findings that are now available:

• Do students experience a significant gain in competence during the practical semester, and how does their motivation for their studies and identification with the teaching profession change?
• To what extent do students experience the "contradiction" between theory and practice during the practical semester?
• How can this contradiction be overcome or mitigated?

In the workshop, we will firstly report on the experiences gained from supporting the students and the schools that take on practice students. Secondly, we will present selected findings from Dr Holtz's studies. We would like to discuss with you the theory-practice problem of practical phases in university education.

PD Dr Karin Kleinespel, Frank Ahrens, Dr Peter Holtz, Jena

Dr Karin Kleinespel is scientific director at the Centre for Teacher Education and Didactics Research at the University of Jena. At the centre, she is primarily concerned with the conceptual development of teaching, schools and teacher training, which includes the following areas: School, society, education; teaching and school development from both a general didactic and subject didactic perspective; research within the framework of the current school development debate; teacher professionalism and education.

Frank Ahrens works at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena at the Centre for Teacher Training and Didactics Research and is also a member of staff at the Internship Office for Teaching Qualifications. Since 2007, he has been responsible for the preparation and realisation of the supervised block internship and the Jena internship semester.

Dr Peter Holtz works as a research assistant at the Centre for Teacher Training and Didactics Research at the University of Jena. In 2002-2006, Dr Holtz completed his doctorate in the subject of psychology (dissertation topic: "What is music? Subjective theories of music-making artists"). He is also involved in the evaluation of the Jena internship semester.

"Aptitude counselling" in teacher training?

Many of the new centres for teacher training established in recent years have invested a great deal of time and effort in developing concepts, procedures and training programmes to enable students to review their choice of course at a very early stage of their studies. The frequently asked question about individual "aptitude" suggests that the skills required for teaching have the status of relatively stable characteristics that are already firmly anchored in the personality structure of young adults. In reality, however, the basic skills and knowledge relevant to the teaching profession are largely acquired during training and consolidated in the professional field. It is therefore necessary to understand the BA phase of teacher training as an entry point into a process of competence development that continues throughout a student's professional biography and to offer students early opportunities to try out practical work and to reflect on their experiences in a scientifically sound manner.

Speaker: Prof. Dr Hermann Veith, Göttingen

Prof. Dr. Hermann Veith works in the field of educational socialisation research. His focus is on educational and socialisation processes, taking into account the entire educational context in and out of school. His research work is concerned with analysing the various dimensions of competence and personality development in the formative years of adolescence. Among other things, Mr Veith deals intensively with the issue of counselling on competencies for the teaching profession.