Problem statement

The research examines which competencies teachers have at the beginning of their job entry phase, how and to what extent they develop and how they differ to the competencies of expert teachers. The focus of this study is mainly on the reflecting competency and the reflecting practice in every day work. Empirical research in this field is scare, although it is very important for teacher training and professional development (e.g. Helmke & Schrader, 2006). The research done by the author is a first attempt to capture reflecting and teaching competency and to give some ideas about the competencies novice teachers develop.

Theoretical perspectives

The research is based on models of quality teaching (especially Helmke, 2003), theories of teaching expertise (e.g. Bromme, 1992) and the research of reflective competencies itself (e.g. Fund, Court & Kramarski, 2002; Sparks-Langer, Simmons, Pasch, Colton & Starko, 1990; Harrington, Quinn-Leering & Hodson, 1996). The criteria of quality teaching and teaching expertise are used to create both research instruments and build the basis of the whole work done by the author.

Professional reflection means to think consciously about certain situations or actions in every day work life. Professional reflection has different characteristics and forms. The reflection can take place before, during or after the action. A reflection is either oral or written (Kroath, 2004). The process of reflection is mainly seen on two levels: reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action (Schön, 1983).

At large, all concepts dealing with the reflection of tuition assume that it is important to be aware of educational cognition, to make them visible and to change them if necessary.

Research design

The design is both a longitudinal and coeval video and interview study. The videos are taken in September 2007 and June 2008. After the filmed lesson, the teacher and their pupils have to fill in a questionnaire. The questionnaires consist of around twenty statements concerning the quality of the lesson. Twenty-one novel teachers, which just finished their studies in the University of Teachers Education in Zürich, and nine expert teachers participate in the study. While the novel teachers are video-taped twice, the expert teachers are filmed only once.

The stimulated recall interviews take place about two weeks after the lesson has been filmed. The teachers watch their own lessons and do a self-reflection for their teaching. Also, they have to answer questions concerning the beliefs and use of reflection in their every day work. For the interview, a random sample of six novel and expert teachers is chosen. In addition, all teachers had to fill in the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (measure of the five domains of adult personality) and to answer a vignette-test.

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