Teacher training staff are regarded as playing a key role in the professionalisation processes of trainee lecturers (see European Commission, 2013). This also includes the group of trainers in the preparatory service, the second phase of teacher training in Germany. Recent position papers on quality development and the reorganisation of the teacher education system (e.g. SWK, 2023; Bildungsrat von unten, 2024) unanimously recognise the great importance of trainers and mentors. Although there is a call for the qualification of training staff, there are no systematic and nationwide institutionalised training programmes. Consequently, the training and professional development of trainers in the preparatory service have hardly been researched.

On the basis of existing studies, it can be assumed that, in order to design a training programme that successfully fosters professional practice among trainee teachers, trainers require – in addition to their subject-specific expertise – expertise in supporting and fostering the professionalisation process of trainee lecturers (cf. Košinár et al. 2025). This approach implies that, beyond professional knowledge of schools and teaching, explicit academic knowledge of professionalism and professionalisation becomes relevant as a new domain of knowledge. In this respect, training practices that promote professionalisation are linked to a (new) disciplinary perspective, which finds its theoretical framework in professionalisation research and adult education.

Against this background, my research project at the University of Oldenburg focuses on the professionalisation processes of trainee teachers. In a qualitative-reconstructive study, I examine the demands as perceived by trainee teachers and the understanding of professionalisation that underlies their training practices, both implicitly and explicitly. In conjunction with the research design, my research interest also centres on the extent to which data collection and analysis methods rooted in the qualitative research paradigm (in particular group discussions and the documentary method) can also provide a didactic impetus for the initial and continuing training of trainee teachers.

In conjunction with my previous work as a trainer in pre-service teacher training and the associated fields of work at the interfaces between the first, second and third phases of teacher education, I developed a concept for pre-service teacher training grounded in professional theory (Junghans, 2022). This work has given rise to further education and professional development programmes for trainers, which can stimulate the further development of training work across the various phases of teacher education.

Bibliography

Education Council from Below. (2024). Statement on the shortage of qualified staff in schools and on the recommendations put forward by the SWK. bildungsrat.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Bildungsrat-Manifest-von-unten-30-01-2024.pdf.

European Commission. (2013). Supporting Teacher Educators: for better learning outcomes. ec.europa.eu/assets/eac/education/policy/school/doc/support-teacher-educators_en.pdf

Junghans, C. (2022). Seminar Didactics. Cornelsen .

Košinár, J., Junghans, C., & Kraler, C. (2025; in press). Professionalisation of teacher educators. In R. Porsch, T. Leonhard, S. Luttenberger, & S. Kopp Sixt (Eds.), Handbook on the Professionalisation of Educational Practice. UTB.

Lunenberg, M., Dengerink, J., & Korthagen, F. (2014). The Professional Teacher Educator. Roles, Behaviour and Professional Development of Teacher Educators. Sense Publishers.

Schrittesser, I. (2020). Qualification pathways for lecturers in teacher education. In C. Cramer, J. König, M. Rothland & S. Blömeke (Eds.), Handbook of Teacher Education (pp. 843–850). Klinkhardt. doi.org/10.35468/hblb2020-104.

SWK (2023). Teacher recruitment and teacher training for high-quality teaching. Report by the Standing Scientific Commission of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (SWK) dx.doi.org/10.25656/01:28059.