Research provides evidence that teachers are among the most important factors that influence students' learning (Hattie, 2003). This is the reason why attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers should be essential aims of the teacher policy of all countries seeking to improve their schools (OECD, 2004). The fact that a large number of teachers will retire in most European countries during the next years poses the challenge and offers the opportunity to recruit talented people for a teacher career. Bearing this in mind partners from six European countries have started the project ‘Career Counselling for Teachers’ (CCT) and cooperate with the aim of developing concepts and materials for career counselling and career guidance for teachers. The results of the project are targeted at school leavers, trainee teachers and qualified teachers on the one hand and at councellors and trainers on the other hand. The materials are made available on the Internet. They are designed to allow self-management of career decisions and also to encourage use of personal consultation facilities and trainings for which they can serve as focused preparation. The users of the CCT website should be enabled to gain a realistic insight into their own potentials and into the demands of the profession. Specifically, the materials - to name but a few examples - should help to clarify whether the preconditions for successful teacher-training are met, for which school subjects qualified teacher status should be attained or how a switch-over from teaching to industry, or the other way round could be managed. The theoretical and empirical background of the self-discovery techniques offered by CCT stems, among other sources, from the Five-Factor model of personality (Costa & McCrae, 1999), the RIASEC vocational interest model (Holland, 1985) and research on teaching and teacher education done by the CCT partners (Mayr, 2007). The CCT materials are widely used especially in the German speaking countries (see www.cct-austria.at; www.cct-germany.de; www.cct-switzerland.ch) and evaluations have demonstrated that they are assessed as informative, encouraging and useful by persons using CCT voluntarily to assist their individual career decisions. At the moment there are increasing tendencies of universities and ministries to adopt CCT as means to steer the recruitment of (prospective) teachers by formally embedding CCT into selection procedures. Therefore, the question arises, whether the positive effects of CCT can be maintained under these circumstances.

Some of the data accruing when the CCT website is used, for example information about the elements accessed and the results of the self-discovery-questionnaires, is automatically stored at the server and can be used for research. In addition samples of users will be asked to write ‘reflections’ on their experiences and ideas while working with CCT and/or fill in a questionnaire to evaluate CCT and to report the perceived effects of CCT. These data and the data gained in additional case studies will be used to evaluate the acceptance and effectiveness of CCT under different circumstances.

It is expected to get new insights into online counselling, especially into the effects and side-effects of voluntary versus compulsory use of counselling materials.