Suchergebnisse

This report describes teacher education in the Netherlands. It contains a study of publications, documents, regulations, websites, including data from expert Interviews. Firstly, an overview of the school system and the teacher education system in the Netherlands is presented. Secondly, the report focuses on a number of central topics relevant for the internationalization of teacher education: educational science, (foreign) languages, intercultural learning, new media, economy, and entrepreneurship and mobility. Finally, some conclusions will be formulated. (DIPF/Orig.).

The article offers an insight into the complex problem area of strategic internationalization of teacher education as exemplified by the experience of the Heidelberg University of Education. This paper discusses three major issues: the state of the debate regarding internationalization, the obstacles and difficulties which counteract that implementation as well as the major forces driving its implementation. This discussion highlights the difficult relationship between the demands of globalization and diversity in school life on the one hand and the yet to be established curricula for the internationalization of teacher training as a criteria of quality on the other hand. Finally, several aspects of the internationalization strategy of the Heidelberg University of Education are presented, from which the authors expect major advances in the training of teachers. The goal of teacher education must strive to sensitize teachers in the 21st century to adopt "global identities" and empower them to become cross-culturally competent to communicate and to act. (DIPF/Orig.).

The chapter describe the development of political education and political didactics in schools, showing it to be a process of increasing professionalization having grown resulted from various political influences. The beginnings of political didactics and the school subject of politics are presented. This is followed by a description of the phase of professionalization of political didactics and teacher education through the establishment of chairs of political didactics at institutes of political science. The next section traces the politicization and depoliticization of didactics and of the teaching of politics. Then the didactic moves to a variety of new normative questions. The current situation is characterized by a new phenomenon - the start of a theoretical development. The different theoretical considerations on the subject-specific competences of teachers and pupils are discussed. In addition, the first systematically collected empirical findings on theoretically postulated dimensions of competence are presented.

In view of the different national education systems of modern Europe comparable features of diversity can be observed, as well as a wide range of similarities, e.g. compulsory school attendance, the horizontally structured school system or core subjects. "In the current period education systems are affected by growing influence of global changes, concerning both their internal processes and their positions in the perceptions by the society." The author points out that since this trend is marked by strong dynamism, exact predictions on times to come are very difficult; thus his "predictions at the beginning of the 21st century" are made "on the provison that they need to be revised even in the near future." The author's considerations are focused on the following criteria which mirror trends to be observed in all European education systems: Educational sovereignty; opening of schools; curriculum development; intercultural socialisation and education; teaching profession and teacher education. In an exemplary excursion into the comparative domain Europe as educational space in its own right is compared to the United States, Australia and Canada. The author concludes with remarks on the global dimension of European education. (DIPF/Orig./Kie.).

The paper gives an overview of the sections of the professionalization of political didactics as an academic discipline in Germany. The first section describes the development of political education and political didactics in schools showing a process of increasing professionalization as a result of engagements with various political influences. In the next part, the beginnings of political didactics and Politics as a school subject are presented. The following part describes the professionalization phase of political didactics and teacher education, with the designation of chairs of political didactics in institutes of political science. The goals and normative ideas that individual political didactics specialists have developed for teaching politics are also discussed. For reasons of space, the previously mentioned parts and the subsequent synopses only partially cover the initial proposition. The fourth part traces the politicization and depoliticization of didactics and of the teaching of politics while the fifth part discusses practical problems that lead to a variety of new normative questions. The sixth part moves toward educational theory, in which the idea of radical constructivism is gaining ground and educationalists attempt to restructure Politics as a school subject with an emphasis on studying democracy by developing a democratic way of thinking. The seventh part is characterized by a new phenomenon, that is the start of theoretical development. The different theoretical considerations on the subject-specific competencies of teachers and pupils are discussed. In addition, the first systematically collected empirical findings on theoretically postulated dimensions of competency are presented.

This article is part of the publication of contributions delivered at the 24th annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE), held at the University of Leipzig, 30.08.-05.09.1999. "A change of perspective has taken place in teacher education: It is no longer seen as the problem-solving agent of education but rather as just another source of educational problems. In this article, the author tries to trace the roots of such a negative image. The most obvious approach is a historical one. An enormous number of attempts have been made to reform teacher education. The most important and positive among these attempts has been the academic orientation of teacher education. Yet, seen from the educationalists' perspective, there have appeared a number of traps and false conclusions, possibly due to a misinterpretation of what the role of science in education should be. The reorientation of teacher education, i. e. the turn from purely didactical and practice-oriented courses at educational colleges to mainly academically oriented courses at universities, have brought up new problems that urgently need to be solved. The author discovers major problems in the fact that the great variety of research interests have to be brought in order to make them accessible to students. Didactics which are said to be the most important of all professional disciplines for teachers need to be applied to the structure of the educational discipline as a whole. An agreement on a fundamental canon of topics, methods and knowledge is necessary. This demand is, however, not meant to minimize the range of areas of study; instead, it should rather be considered to broaden specific fields of interest in order to avoid one sided academic points of view. The still unsolved problem of theory and practice is another point to be discussed. The author's question here is: "Where should educational knowledge be grounded - in the discipline or in the profession?" As it is not possible to make a clear distinction between theory and practice but rather to distinguish between the production and the application of knowledge, a curriculum is needed where those two aspects can be put together interactively. This seems to be a solution to many unsolved problems, as it would lead to a more specified target of academic teacher education. In Germany, the academic foundations for the teaching profession are laid in the initial phase of training at university. One should be careful not to ascribe tasks to academic studies that can realistically only be part of the probational second phase of teacher education. Yet, as education needs to be perceived as an action-oriented system of reflection, a significantly stronger combination of practical school experience and theoretical reflection is needed. Ideally, there would be greater stress on the combination of observation and analysis of school work which could be a means to reflect on professional practice. Also, the didactical aspects of teacher training, which are constantly being claimed as being of major importance to teachers, need to be rethought on the level of university teaching. This is a demand going with professionality on the side of academic teachers but it is also meant as a kind of compensation for the lack of practice-related teaching. Seminars and lectures would then be turned into didactical workshops. Another field of possible improvement is seen in an intensified form of investigative learning where school research is seen as a task for both students and teachers. For matters of quality ensurance university teachers need to be willing to co-operate and start to develop ideals and criteria which can later be evaluated. But as the great day of general consent on the national level can not be expected and as new regulations only will not bring real change, innovation can alone be expected by people bearing responsibility at the basis of different universities. The financial crisis of public households should not focus an saddening thoughts an economic efficiency that keep real innovation in the minds of idealists without being ever put to practice." (DIPF/Orig.).

The work presented in this paper traces the history of active learning and further utilizes the available literature to define meaning and importance of active learning in higher education. The study highlights common practical problems faced by students and instructors in implementing active learning in higher education and further identifies a set of individual prac-tices being used worldwide to overcome the obstacles. Expectations and responsibilities of stu-dents and instructors are also specified to enhance the efficiency of active learning environment. The paper also traces the importance of student and instructor rapport for a successful learning environment.

The importance of social networks in the determination of life opportunities is discussed in a case study, drawing on interview & structured diary data from Lida, a middle-aged female teacher from St. Petersburg, Russia. The most important components of Lida's social network are her mother & children, but neither her extended family nor absent husband plays a significant role in her social life. Lida is strongly committed to school, with the vast majority of her social relations occupied by teachers & school-related individuals. This commitment has led to a blurring of the boundaries between her work & family life. Although she is devoted to her work, she feels that teaching was forced on her during her education. Further, she cannot explore other possibilities since her social network is teacher-dominated. It is concluded that the closed nature of her social network & her upbringing in socialist culture have contributed to a general feeling of lack of control over her own life. 3 Figures. T. Sevier

This session highlights the basics of Vocational Education and Training (VET). Each university has its own characteristics. The contributions seek to encourage various forms of VET. Challenges for universities and other institutions are emphasised. The contributions help draw conclusions for the Further structuring of VET in Sub-Saharan Africa. Other country-specific articles from the session concentrate on the characteristics and orientation of VET systems, thereby helping create an overall picture of the status of VET in all participating countries. The participants endeavored to analyze the current situation of VET in Sub-Saharan Africa by exploring the character and individual design of the current VET systems in the participating countries.