Preservice Teachers’ Professional Growth as Leaders: Empowerment through Research-Oriented Reflective Practice and Didactic Expertise in Germany

Abstract

Educational research and many aspects of the educational system in Germany are facing a challenge. With Germany’s participation in large-scale assessment studies such as PISA, the German educational discourse is increasingly incorporating international developments in terms of educational standards, accountability, and students’ performance testing. At the same time, the long-standing history of German Didaktik has influenced and shaped teacher education programs in Germany for decades. Research conducted at a German university shows how these two concurrent developments can be fused – without neglecting their distinct differences. A crucial aspect revealed in this work shows that preservice teachers are prepared for their future profession in a rather output- and standard-based educational system in inquiry-based classes. In these classes, their research-based reflective thinking, didactic expertise, and their leadership skills in the sense of didactic ownership are strengthened.

Citation

Roters, B. (2015), "Preservice Teachers’ Professional Growth as Leaders: Empowerment through Research-Oriented Reflective Practice and Didactic Expertise in Germany", International Teacher Education: Promising Pedagogies (Part B) (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 22B), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 31-49. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720150000025022