Session Information
02 SES 06 B, Teachers & Trainers II: Perceptions & Reflections on Learning
Paper Session
Contribution
In order to become a fully qualified teacher for vocational education and training (VET) in Germany there is the need to gain an appropriate university degree. Being a teacher for VET means to be qualified in a vocational subject (e.g. economy and administration, engineering, electrical engineering etc.) and a general education subject (such as maths, German, sports, social studies/political education and ethics). In some cases it is also possible to study two vocational subjects. There is a variety of university programmes across Germany, which qualify students for being a VET teacher. Those bachelor and master programmes are at times specific to conditions of federal states and it has to be kept in mind that other institutions are involved in the teacher training such as the Studienseminar.
However, many bachelor programmes include a first practice phase of several weeks, where students get the opportunity to align their conception of being a VET teacher with the ‘real world’ and to try out being a teacher. The Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg includes in its bachelor programme for VET teachers such a practice phase, which consists of a preparation seminar throughout the whole semester, a four-week practical training in a vocational college in the following non-lecture period and a one-day follow-up seminar at the beginning of the new semester.
The research object, namely the reasons and motivation for students to become VET teachers, is located in the scientific discourse on suitability and motifs for the teacher profession (Schaarschmidt 2004; König/Rothland 2013), pedagogical professionalism (Helsper 2004 and 2008) as well as theory and school practice research (Terhart et al. 2016) to name but a few.
Many factors influence the career choice, e.g. earning opportunity, working conditions, family of origin, and a very specific conception of the aspired occupation and so on. Many factors are linked with one person’s own biographical dispositions, which have developed out of the person’s experiences, its norms and values etc. Those biographical dispositions, which are part of biographical occupation orientations (Gericke 2017), are always in flux and get shaped by new thought-provoking impulses such as a confrontation with theoretical questions in a preparation seminar and experiences like those in the context of a four-week practical training in a vocational school.
Thus the research questions posed are:
- What are the students’ conceptions of being a VET teacher before their practice phase?
- How does the theoretical input affect the biographical dispositions expressed in the conception of VET teacher?
- How does the practical experiences shape the biographical dispositions expressed in the conception of VET teacher?
Answering these questions gives a valuable insight into:
- the students’ original motivation to study the VET teacher programme and
- the effect of the practice phase on the students’ biographical dispositions, as well as the reasons for dropping out of the study programme.
Method
Dialogic introspection is a method for exploring experiences, i.e. of constant inner processes, of feelings, thoughts, intentions, ideas, conceptions regardless of whether they are current or remembered (Burkardt 2018). Anything that forms part of experience and exists as a conscious inner experience can be object of introspection, for example VET teachers. In this group situation the participants concentrate on an object and focus on their inner processes. “After the introspection, they record their experiences they observed in themselves and then give a final report, whereby certain rules within the group apply” (Burkardt 2018, 6). All participants report of their experiences and inner processes, using their notes – there is no time limit. It is crucial that the participants do not comment on each other. They have the opportunity to add to their own introspection in a second round. The report gets recorded and transcribed. The analysis is carried out individually outside the group according to commonalities applying the rules of qualitative-heuristic methodology. The sample consists of 18 students who visited the preparation seminar for the four-week practical training in a vocational school last summer semester. Most of the students have gone through an apprenticeship themselves before they started their study. There had been three dates of collection: • at the beginning of the preparation seminar • at the end of the preparation seminar • at the beginning of the one-day follow-up seminar
Expected Outcomes
Although the data has not been analysed to its full extent yet, looking at the course of the three dialogic introspections there are some preliminary results: • the conceptions of the vocation, which have been expressed at the beginning of the preparation seminar have changed at the end of the preparation especially in regards to o the variety of tasks, which VET teachers have to fulfil o high standards to oneself • certain concern have been countered and a boost of self-confidence has been experienced • unknown strength but also new questions and fears have been discovered
References
Burkardt, Thomas (2018): Dialogic Introspection – a Method of Investigating Experience. In: Human Arena, 2018, 1, 167-190. DOI: 10.1007/s42087-018-0027-5 Gericke, Erika E. (2017): Why returning to VET? – Results of a qualitative comparative study about English and German Mechatronics. In: International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IRJVET), Vol. 4, Issue 3, November 2017, 206-225. DOI: 10.13152/IJRVET.4.3.2 Helsper, Werner (2004): Pädagogische Professionalität als Gegenstand des erziehungswissenschaftlichen Diskurses. Einführung in den Thementeil. In: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 50 (2004) 3, S. 303-308. Helsper, Werner (2008): Ungewissheit und pädagogische Professionalität. In: Bielefelder Arbeitsgruppe (Hrsg.): Soziale Arbeit in Gesellschaft. S.162-168. König, Johannes; Rothland, Martin (2013): Pädagogisches Wissen und berufsspezifische Motivation am Anfang der Lehrerausbildung. Zum Verhältnis von kognitiven und nicht-kognitiven Eingangsmerkmalen von Lehramtsstudierenden. In: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 59 (2013) 1, S. 43-65. Rothland, Martin (2010): Berufsorientierung und -motivation in der konsekutiven Lehrerbildung: diffus, trügerisch und defizitär? In: DDS – Die Deutsche Schule, 102 (2010) 1, S.21-36. Schaarschmidt, Uwe (2004). Fit für den Lehrerberuf? Psychische Gesundheit von Lehramtsstudierenden und Referendaren. In: U. Beckmann, H. Brandt & H. Wagner (Hrsg.): Ein neues Bild vom Lehrerberuf? Pädagogische Professionalität nach PISA, S. 100–115. Terhart Ewald; Limke Ulrike; Bergmann Christina; Brüggemann Tim; Fischer Christian u. a. (2016). „Die Begleitung des Praxissemesters durch die Bildungswissenschaften. Abschlussbericht der Fachgruppe Bildungswissenschaften zur Vorbereitung des Praxissemesters.“ Beiträge zur Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung, 34, 1, S. 50-64.
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