JURE 2012 Programme book - EARLI Jure 2012

Monday, July 23 JURE 2012 Conference Programme
depend on cognitive, motivational and pedagogical prerequisites? (2) How does the admission
track influence the applicants’ decisions for versus against an enrolment? (3) In what way do
both effects interact with each other?
Our approach is a systematical analysis of a complete cohort (N = 247) of PSTCs’ application
documents: Content analyses of letters of motivation give information on the applicants’ study
motives. Curriculum vitas are used to assess previous experiences in pedagogical fields and final
school grades serve as cognitive criteria. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) are planned to identify
subtypes of PSTC. Via Chi-­‐Square-­‐Tests the occurrence of various PSTC subtypes will be
monitored for different groups within the admission procedure (e.g. direct admission enrolment
vs. direct admission dropout). At the round-­‐table first results and methodological alternatives
will be discussed.
Declining Academic Performance of Student Teachers? The case of Germany 1977-­‐2009
Martin Neugebauer
As teachers rank among the most important school inputs that shape student learning,
recruiting competent teachers is a central goal in literally all educational systems. However, a
number of researchers have shown that in recent years the brightest students – at least those
with the highest test scores or grades – are less likely to enter teaching. In addition, evidence
suggests that the ability to attract the brightest into becoming teachers has been declining for
years in a number of countries. While it is clear that academic performance at the end of high
school is a very poor proxy for later teacher competencies, it is nevertheless a troubling fact that
the academically best performing students are becoming less likely to enter teaching. This paper
investigates whether such a decline can be detected in Germany as well, where the teacher
labour market situation has fluctuated substantially over past decades. In a first step, the
changing attractiveness of the teaching profession is evaluated in terms of labour market
returns. To this end, data from the German Microcensus is employed, which enables me to assess
the changing net earnings and unemployment risk of teachers in comparison to other academic
jobs. In a second step, the impact of changing labour market conditions on the composition of
student teachers is assessed. Using repeated cross-­‐sectional student survey
data, spanning first-­‐year student cohorts from 1977 to 2009, I document that the best upper
secondary school graduates today are less likely to become student teachers than 30 years ago.
Career entry of traditionally and alternatively trained teachers
Andrea Zimmerli
Beginning teachers are subject to various researches in the context of teacher education and
teacher induction. Many beginning teachers face severe professional and personal problems
when they first teach. To master the typical challenges of this phase of professional life is
essential to future professional development and success, job satisfaction and general wellbeing.
Due to the current concerns regarding a shortage of qualified teachers in Switzerland,
alternative teacher certification programs are being created. In recent years an acute shortage of
qualified teachers has led to the employment of unqualified or alternatively qualified individuals
in school teaching also in countries as Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of
America. The implementation of alternative teaching programs is accompanied by a discussion
about teacher professionalism, teacher proficiency and quality in teacher training. Research
findings illustrate differences in quality of teaching and instruction between traditionally and
alternatively qualified teachers. Research findings show also various aspects of different
programs, but provide little information about how alternatively certified teachers cope during
induction phase. Particularly because alternatively qualified teachers take the same
responsibility and tasks as traditionally trained teachers.
The main focus of this thesis is to analyze the matter of differences between alternatively and
traditionally qualified teachers during the career entry phase. It will seek to resolve whether
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