The Perspective of Different Stakeholder-Groups Involved in Teacher Training upon the Professionalism of Teachers

Abstract

Questions regarding the design of teacher training have always been discussed from different perspectives. This discussion’s focus differs depending on the institutions and stakeholders involved in teacher training. This causes tensions between theory and practice, which is a topic that has recently been the subject of intensive research, not only within the “Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung”. Since different approaches and perspectives on professionalism and professionalization of teachers need to be orchestrated in order to design coordinated (initial) teacher training, it is necessary to know these perspectives and to identify differences and similarities. In the study described here, 19 interviews were conducted with instructors from the institutions involved in the practical semester. A qualitative content analysis in a deductively created category system, which depicts the theoretical approaches of teacher training (competence approach, structural theoretical approach, (professional) biographical approach, personality approach), revealed indications of the respective understandings of professionalism and professionalization. In addition to the different perspectives of the stakeholder groups, a typification shows that the perspectives of the mentors at the schools differ greatly both among themselves and in comparison to the other stakeholders. This can result in these actors setting different priorities in their mentoring and thus creating an awareness of incoherence among the students. A qualification program for all the involved instructors could provide a coherence-creating forum for exchange. Based on the identified common themes such as reflection, practical experience and the interlinking of theory and practice, such a qualification program can be designed according to the core practices approach.