Reflection is a central topic at all teacher training institutions. Reflective ability is mentioned as a central aspect of teacher competence in almost every model that describes teacher professionalism. For example Standard no. 9 of the INTASC Standards (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium Standards) explicitly deals with reflection and personal development. “The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on others like students or parents. The teacher actively seeks for opportunities to grow professionally.” (INTASC, p. 18)

Teacher training institutions developed different ideas and concepts in order to implement some forms of reflection in teacher education. (f.e. Rothers 2012, von Felten 2011, Wyss 2013) This contribution shows the implementation of a method which is experimentally applied in the field of teacher education at the University of Innsbruck to stimulate students’ reflective competence. Moreover, first results of the application of the method are presented.

Central research question: How can reflective ability as a central component of teachers’ professional self be developed by teacher students during their teacher education studies?

Following the COACTIV model the key factors for success of teachers are professional knowledge, motivation, beliefs and self-regulation. (Cf. COACTIV model, Baumert, Kunter 2011) COACTIV examines how these factors influence teachers’ instructional practice and also the interplay of these aspects to determine how teachers structure and regulate their lessons and whether or not they succeed in their work.

This contribution will focus on the factor of teacher beliefs. Beliefs, attitudes or subjective theories play a key role in teachers’ actions and their behavior in the classroom. Teacher training at the university is limited by breaking up these strong behavior-determining elements. This is the background for the unchanged passing of patterns about the structures of school in general and about teaching and learning in particular from one generation of teachers to the next. (cf. Blömeke 2004, Richardson 1996, Zeichner 1986) Lortie (1975, 2002) explained the phenomenon that the way in which the majority of teachers teach largely correspond with as the way they were taught and called it “apprenticeship of observation”. Teacher students learn the rules how school works and how the protagonists have to behave in this system during their own school career which lasts at least 12 years – these are about 13 000 to 14 000 lessons. Most of the beliefs teachers hold about teaching originate from their own personal experiences as students.

Beliefs serve as overarching frameworks for understanding the environment and engaging with the world. “… beliefs are thought of as psychologically held understandings, premises, or propositions about the world that are felt to be true” and “… are accepted as guides for assessing the future …”. (Richardson 1996, p. 103) „…. beliefs, attitudes and values are all organized together to form a functionally integrated cognitive system, so that a change in any part of the system will affect other parts, and will culminate in behavioral change.“ (Rokeach 1972, p. xi) Beliefs are a part of teachers' identities and play a central role in their behavior; beliefs’ influence tend to be unexamined by teachers because many are implicit, unarticulated, or unconscious.  

The objection of this reflection process is a reconstruction of subjective theories to help teacher students to make clear the determining influence of their beliefs on the plans of their own actions. Reflecting on their own attitudes and beliefs should help them to see more opportunities to act in a specific pedagogical crisis situation.  

Professional teacher education has to provide different settings for teacher students to reflect upon their beliefs about school, teaching and learning.

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