Personality Development before and during the Practical Semester

Profiling Research-based Learning in Educational Science

Abstract

Pupils’ and teachers’ education is more than training.  It should be focused  on  personality  development  which  can  be  accentuated  as  positioning oneself reasonably and responsibly to others, to the other one and to oneself. This can be discussed regarding the preparation and mentoring before and during the practical  semester,  especially  the  students’  projects  of  research-based  learning carried out during the practical semester. These projects can be planned and examined by asking how they are suitable to improve the students’ personal development. For this purpose students interpret specialised literature concerning the
aims  and  methods  of  research-based  learning  to  find  out  that  research-based learning is more than collecting data by empirical methods. Preparing the practical semester in this way, fundamental terms of education and educational theory like  teaching  or  learning  can  be  shaped  to  prove  the  educational  value  of  each project. On this basis for example projects can be planned to find and use criteria to establish a successful classroom management, to ask teachers for their concept of education, or to find out how pupils reflect their learning processes. Student teacher candidates can also prove how their projects improve  their own critical position  towards  school  reality.  Therefore  projects  should  not  only  be  regarded product-,  but  also  process-oriented,  taking  into  account  the  possibility  of  crisis situations  and  uncertainty.  University  teachers  should  support  their  students  by encouragement  as  well  as  irritation  to  provoke  learning  experiences  throughout students’ process of constant relearning.