Teacher training at the University of Vienna follows the “Four-Pillars-Model” which consists of studies in two subjects as well as courses to develop pedagogical, educational and didactic knowledge of future teachers. The educational and pedagogical courses cover on one hand theories of teaching and learning, education and counselling as well as school and organisation development. The practical training of teacher trainees in schools on the other hand is organised in cooperation with the ‘Secondary School Teacher Accreditation’ and individual secondary school teachers, who act as supervisors during their placements. Within the Department of Education the Centre for Teacher Education and Professionalism Research is responsible not only for the pedagogical and practical training of the students but also for the training of school teachers working as supervisors, who work with the students in school during their practical training. In 2004 a new university course “Supervisors for Teacher Training/School Internship”, which lays special emphasis on the intersection between theory and practice, was introduced. It’s targeted at broadening the teachers’ pedagogical an methodological skills. The main goal of the course is to enable the supervisors for their work with the students in order to mentor them to become ‘reflective practitioners’. Therefore the course follows the 'concept of the domains' (Schratz/Schrittesser et al, 2007) which is currently central to the scientific discussion about professionalisation of teachers. With this approach theory-oriented practical experience and practice-oriented theories should be intertwined. The course basically spans over two terms. In addition to the general pedagogical part of the course, which focuses on the participants’ reflection on their own pedagogical work in a professional way, it also lays a special emphasis on an individual further education of the future supervisors in the field of subject didactics. The idea of scientific research together with the implementation of the approaches used in teacher training and in-service-education are basic elements of this new course. The question if we can succeed in leading teachers as well as students into a professional attitude towards their occupational field has arisen and will hopefully be answered in a few years.

Using the approach of ‘action research’ after Posch/Altrichter (1998) the participants of the course are required to work on a problem taken from their own professional environment. The problem has to be dealt with in a scientific essay reflecting systematically on their own interaction in the contexts of teaching, subject didactics and school. This work should improve the quality of the participants’ teaching. It should also enable them to reflect upon practical problems from different educational points of view, interlocking pedagogical and didactic aspects. Educational know-how should be scientifically processed, organised and shared by the participants. Exchange of professional know-how is supported by an internet platform. The main goal is to make the participants reflective practitioners (see also Schön, 2006 and 1990) in order to pass this knowledge and attitude onto their trainees.

This approach aligns pedagogical practice with pedagogical theory in tangible projects of the participating teachers. Theory is used to reflect everyday classroom practice and to broaden the pedagogical expertise in a learning manner. Consequently teachers act increasingly more professional. Existing pedagogical theories are reviewed in practice, and are expanded with findings from the field.