Potentials of Conversation and Discourse Analysis for Research-based Learning in University Teacher Education

Abstract

Studies on research-based learning often claim that students can learn a wide array of competencies by taking an active part in different formats that focus on exploration and research orientation. Especially in the area of uni-versity teacher education, research-based learning is hoped to have an effect on the transfer of competencies from theory to practice. Furthermore, through re-search-based learning, the different structures of university training on the one hand, and the job as a teacher on the other could be addressed: while academic knowledge focuses on the ability to distance oneself from and reflect this practi-cally oriented knowledge, professional teaching aims at the development of prac-tically orientated routines and knowledge relevant for the job at hand. To balance the relationship between the two structurally different requirements, and to make it a subject of reflection in university teaching, I suggest a didactic “turn” of methods in the context of higher education that sets qualitative social research as its center. In this article, the potential of conversation and discourse analysis for teaching in higher education is outlined. In doing so, I aim at making classroom discourse a research topic and furthermore initiating and fostering processes of professionalization concerning classroom discourse. Finally, basic considerations for the didactic implementation of these ideas are outlined.