The paper presents findings from a three-years research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, addressing the question of how student beliefs on global issues are dealt with in lower-secondary schools. Whereas this paper will focus on teacher practices and respective motivations, Stefanie Rinaldi will submit a second paper looking at recurring belief patterns that emerged in focus group discussions with students.

Global issues per definition are “[i]ssues or problems that affect most nations around the world, that cannot be solved by any single nation, and that show our increasing interdependence” (Hite & Seitz, 2016, p. 319). Furthermore, they require “interdisciplinary knowledge” (Hite & Seitz, 2016, p. 319) to be addressed. Although this definition includes the need for interdisciplinary cooperation, it lacks the regulatory component (global regulatory approach), which plays a role in the global development of multiple areas (Bhargava, 2006). The complexity of global issues should be emphasised, as it can be differentiated into various components. In the field of education, the concept of dual complexity divides global issues into factual (fact-based) and ethical sublevels (Mehren et al., 2015). On these sublevels there are contradictory, non-transparent and not conclusively resolvable fields of tension as well as underlying value conflicts that result in factual and moralcontroversies that teachers are confronted with (Ohl, 2013). Due to their complex, controversial and dynamic dimensions, the inclusion of global issues pose great challenges to teachers. Adequate didactic preparation is further aggravated as no corresponding subject didactics exist (Barchuck & Harkins, 2010; Mosch, 2013).

Various studies on specific global issues show that students have beliefs in areas such as climate change (Chang & Pascua, 2016) or sustainability (Holfelder, 2018). In addition, it has been shown in different subject areas that it is a challenge for teachers to deal with these beliefs appropriately (Mosch, 2013; Hoppe et al., 2020).

It is widely accepted that addressing student beliefs in the context of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge represents a central component of professional competence (Baumert & Kunter, 2013; Sherin & van Es, 2009). Moreover, due to their controversial dimension, it can be assumed that teachers’ own beliefs have a decisive influence on the way student beliefs are solicited (Barkhau et al., 2021). Consequently, such content is often treated unsystematically in the classroom as dealing with global issues depends not only on the cognitive but also on the affective level of professional competence (Baumert & Kunter, 2013). Motivational orientations, which include intentions and preferences, play a crucial role regarding teacher performance, as they determine behaviours in the classroom (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Additionally, the Swiss Curriculum provides teachers with great leeway in integrating global issues (D-EDK, 2015). Didactic concepts and approaches in this area are only gradually emerging and therefore need to be further developed and supported by empirical evidence (Krogull, 2018). The theoretical and conceptual background shows that various areas of tension in the field of global issues within education exist. A study focusing on the interdisciplinary nature of such issues is so far missing. The present study aims to tackle this gap by addressing the following research questions

How do teachers deal with student beliefs about global issues?

Q1: What methods do secondary teachers use to deal with student beliefs about global issues?

Q2: How do teachers justify their intended and applied methodological decisions?

Q3: What relevance do teachers attribute to addressing student beliefs about global issues and how do they justify this attribution?

The study follows an explorative approach and is conducted in the German speaking part of Switzerland. Teaching practice will be elicited by means of semi-structured interviews and classroom observations so as to be able to capture existing patterns as broadly as possible. In total, forty classes in social and natural science will be observed. This sample size guarantees that all four subject matters within the area of natural and science studies are sufficiently covered to ensure the intended interdisciplinarity. Teachers are instructed to plan two to three lessons on a global issue of their choice. The planning process, with a focus on the role of student beliefs and the reasoning patterns, is discussed in an interview. The following classroom observation is then complemented by a second interview, drawing attention to observed aspects and including further questions regarding intentions and goals. The focus on the sequence of planning-teaching-reflection is intended to provide a holistic picture of the pedagogical practice. Both interviews are semi-structured and problem-centred and the second interview incorporates elements of stimulated recall. All interviews and classroom observations are video- and audiotaped. Transcripts as well as postscripts for each case are produced. The data is analysed through thematic, evaluative and type-building qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz, 2018). Through this method it is possible to appropriately reduce the large size of the dataset. The category system is composed of a combination of deductive-inductive categories. For the construction of categories and the following typification, a high degree of agreement among coders is required in the development of the category system. This ensures a reliable aggregation of individual cases to types. Therefore, a part of the dataset is coded by two coders (consensually) on the basis of previously developed main categories. Emerging coding differences are discussed and resolved (Kuckartz, 2018). Subcategories are developed inductively. This further differentiates the category system. The categories are then adjusted one last time and subsequently the entire data set is coded and analysed with the complete category system. The aim of the typification is to determine patterns of rationale in dealing with global issues and associated student beliefs.

The study aims to present findings regarding interdisciplinary approaches and associated patterns of rationales of practicing teachers in dealing with student beliefs about global issues. It is expected that this will help improve understanding as to how and why teachers address global issues in order to better address the above-mentioned tensions. Although the study refers to the German-speaking part of Switzerland's lower secondary school system, it can be assumed that the findings may be relevant regardless of location due to the scope of global issues. This has the further potential to contribute to catalysing the conceptualisation and systematisation of global issues teaching across country borders as well as informing pre-service teacher training in this field. Within this presentation, results of the above-mentioned analysis will be presented and discussed. The analysis so far shows that, methodologically, teachers prefer to deal with global issues and associated student beliefs through unstructured, spontaneous discussions. Furthermore, some teachers use confrontation tasks to elicit beliefs. Regarding intentions behind methodological approaches, teachers state that it is important to them to promote awareness of global entanglements, to foster critical thinking and argumentation skills, and to pursue normative action goals.

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