German Teachers Research Articles

The Acquisition of Error Competence and the Value of (learning from) Errors in Teacher Education from the Perspectives of Teachers in Finland and Germany

Teachers' everyday error management in the classroom is one important aspect of their professional competence. This comprises conceptual knowledge about (the learning potential of) misconceptions and student errors, adaptive attitudes and orientations about errors as learning opportunities, and adaptive classroom management in error situations. The purpose of this study was to explore whether teacher education prepares teachers to meet these expectations and where teachers gain these facets of error competence. We analyzed 27 problem-centered interviews with Finnish and German teachers of different subjects and different school forms. Using MAXQDA, the data were coded into six categories, ranging from informal learning experiences to formal learning situations during teacher training. We identified various experiences and attitudes in the teachers' narratives. Our findings indicate that from the teachers' points of view and recollections of experiences, teacher education in both countries provides few intentional learning opportunities for developing professional error competence.

Mental health literacy in German teachers – What do they know? What do they need?

Abstract Background Preventing mental health problems and promoting mental wellbeing is the aim of school-based mental health literacy (MHL) programs. Previous research suggests that good MHL (knowledge and skills regarding mental health, resilience, and help-seeking) helps people to take good care of their own and others’ mental health and use support-services. In this context the MHL of teachers is highly relevant, as they act as role models and interact with affected pupils on a regular basis, for which certain knowledge and skills are necessary. In this study, we therefore seek to investigate the level of MHL in German high-school teachers as well as their exposure to impaired students and their desire for further education on pupils’ mental health. Methods The data are collected as part of an effectiveness study of a school-based intervention to strengthen MHL (BEWARE), which was developed by our working group. We collect data from teachers who are involved in BEWARE as coaches as well as from those not directly involved (n ≈ 300). Data collection takes place online at three measurement timepoints (6 months apart each). For the analysis presented here, data of the first measurement timepoint with respect to MHL, skills in handling affected students and wishes for additional education on pupils’ mental health are included. Results As the data collection is still ongoing, statistical analyses are not yet completed. We will present data on the current state of knowledge on MHL in German teachers as well as their abilities to deal with affected pupils and their wish for further education. In addition, we will relate the number of affected pupils they teach to depict the relevance in their daily life at school to the above-mentioned measures. Conclusions The acquired data and respective analyses will give us important insights about the objective and subjective need of MHL training in schoolteachers (based on assessed knowledge and their reported wish of additional education). Key messages • Our study will give us important insights about the objective need of MHL training in high-school teachers based on assessed knowledge. • Our results will depict which formats of training teachers would prefer for additional education on pupils’ mental health, which will be a valuable basis for the development of future programs.

The Application of Flipped Classroom Teaching Model in German Reading Teaching

The flipped classroom teaching model is the product of the information age. German teachers in colleges and universities should actively carry out flipped classroom teaching, make micro-lessons according to the teaching focus of reading class, upload micro-lessons to online teaching platform and scientifically guide students to preview before class; Actively carry out online live teaching, discuss with students the content of micro-lessons, text topics, and carry out deep reading teaching; Actively carry out online tests to test the effect of online German reading teaching; Carry out offline precision teaching to answer questions for students and improve their German reading comprehension; With the help of online teaching platform to carry out after-school extended learning guidance, publish group German reading tasks, and comprehensively improve the quality of German reading teaching in universities.

Zum Stand des Fachs Cultură și civilizație an rumänischen Universitäten

Abstract Culture and civilization is probably one of the most discussed areas in foreign language didactics. It is taught both implicitly in the teaching of German as a foreign language and as an independent subject in university teaching. It is also offered at many Romanian universities as part of German-language degree courses. Especially in subjects in which prospective teachers and translators are trained, culture and civilization occupies a special position because it plays the undisputedly important role of imparting cultural knowledge about the target language country, which is seen as the second component in foreign language acquisition alongside linguistic knowledge. While foreign language lessons usually deal with everyday cultural topics, university courses on culture and civilization tend to focus on geography, history, politics, media, art and/or economics, usually according to the respective focus of the department where the culture and civilization course is offered. This article deals with academic research on the subject of culture and civilization at Romanian universities after 1995, specifically with the objectives and methods for teaching culture and civilization, the organization of encounters in culture and civilization lessons and possible subject catalogs.

Playful Dramatizations – Doing German the Nordic Way

Nordic perspectives on playful learning have been defined by values and preconceptions associated with play in schooling. However, playful learning also emerges in specific ways as part of the patterns of relations that form classroom teaching and learning. Patterns can be understood as sociomaterial relationships in practice that create rhythms which become constitutive for specific teaching and learning practices (Sørensen, 2009). In the paper, I identify and trace ways in which specific patterns are created by multiple relationships that enable and hold together playful learning activities. With a focus on patterns of relations, I draw on performative understandings of playful learning which are holistically defined by complex sociomaterial relationships. The paper explores how these patterns enact Nordic ways of doing playful learning that are defined by both specific materialities, moods, and rhythms of doing language learning in secondary schooling. The paper builds on observations and interview data from a project in which teachers and students from three Danish schools experimented with playful learning in the school subjects English and German. In the project, experimentation and didactic development were enabled through action learning processes involving the participating teachers and the researcher. Experiments were scaffolded through use of the platform Drama Studio, where students can create animated stories using avatars in multimodal drama production. The paper focuses on a specific case in which the teaching of German became part of doing hygge as a seasonal mood in the classroom during an unusually long, four-hour German session. In the dynamics of enacting German as hygge, multiple relationships emerged that both held together and transcended the apparently delineated activity of doing German through Drama Studio.

Job demands and resources of information and technology use among teachers in Germany

Some teachers associate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use with additional stress, which is investigated under the term technostress. Other teachers seem to be able to utilize the advantages and potentials of ICT. The extent to which advantages of ICT positively impact teachers’ health has mostly been neglected in previous studies, as well as the interplay of ICT-related factors. The study aims to compile influencing factors of ICT use on teachers’ health and to gain knowledge on the role of the benefits of ICT. Furthermore, information about the interplay of factors is to be obtained. The group concept mapping (GCM) method was used with 14 in-service German teachers from different school types. They compiled, sorted and rated factors related to teachers' health in the context of ICT use. The sorted factors were structured using non-metric multidimensional scaling, and cluster analysis. Seventy-eight unique factors were generated and divided into 9 clusters. The resulting concept map (CM) provides an overview of the various factors influencing the health of teachers using ICT and gives information about their interplay. In addition, the teachers rated clusters related to the positive effects on teachers’ health as more important than those related to negative effects. The results suggest that future studies should consider the positive effects of ICT on teachers' health more extensively. Limitations concerning the chosen method, sampling, and the need for further research are discussed.

Policies and Practices for Cultivating Innovative Teaching and Intercultural Competence in German Teacher Education

Policies and Practices for Cultivating Innovative Teaching and Intercultural Competence in German Teacher Education

Determining the Metaphorical Perceptions of German Teacher Candidates Regarding the Concept of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract Considering the importance of individualised learning, artificial intelligence tools can effectively create an environment where students can learn by using them both in lessons and on their own, and enable students to learn a foreign language more effectively and permanently. The aim of this study is to examine the thinking worlds and thought patterns of prospective German teachers about the role of artificial intelligence in language teaching and learning and their views on the concept of artificial intelligence. The starting point of this study is the question of which metaphors prospective teachers use when talking about the concept of artificial intelligence. The questions of the study are as follows: 1. with which metaphors do pre-service German teachers express artificial intelligence? 2. How do pre-service German teachers define their metaphors related to the concept of artificial intelligence? 3. Under which conceptual categories are these metaphors categorised in terms of common characteristics? The participants of the study consisted of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year prospective teachers studying at the Department of German Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Foreign Languages Education, Trakya University. The data were collected by qualitative data analysis method. Firstly, Student Information Form was given to the students and what is metaphor was explained by giving examples of metaphor. Then, the students filled out an opinion form consisting of semi-structured questions. This form consists of two parts, in which short demographic information about the students is asked and the open-ended question ‘artificial intelligence is like ...., because...’ is asked. Metaphor analysis technique was used to analyse the data. The data obtained were interpreted by categorising the metaphors used by the prospective German teachers.

ON THE WAY WITH FRAMEWORK CURRICULA TOWARDS FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AT NON-PHILOLOGICAL FACULTIES FROM TOMORROW

The aim of our contribution is to show how the framework curricula for the teaching of German and foreign languages which were developed in ten countries during a project for cross-curricular university language education in the period 1998-2014 can support teachers, even under difficult circumstances such as during the pandemic. The holistic approach of these curricula leads teachers to create teaching materials which allow their students to enjoy learning and to develop not only their linguistic, but also methodological, social and personal competences relevant to their future careers. Teaching examples from online classes at Bocconi University (Italy) and hybrid classes at the University in Novi Sad, (Serbia) are presented, which prove that the motivation and creativity of learners, who often perceive professional and technical language as something dry and overly factual, can be stimulated by appropriate working methods and targeted teaching materials. Appropriate teaching materials can be created for German classes as well as for any other foreign language classes, since the indications of principles, objectives, contents and procedures contained in the framework curricula are cross-linguistic and are not bound to the teaching of a single language, although they have been written in German by German lecturers.

The pragmatic potential of the teaching language text (based on French and German teaching materials)

The pragmatic potential of the teaching language text (based on French and German teaching materials)

Understanding cross-cultural differences in pedagogical beliefs: A comparison among South Korean, Spanish, and German early childhood teachers

This study aimed to elucidate how cultural values and the ECE context in three distinct countries —South Korea, Spain, and Germany— shape teachers' perspectives on their pedagogy. This study unveiled three key findings. First, the study identified partial strong invariance for the pedagogical beliefs measure. Second, Korean ECE teachers showed significantly stronger constructivistic beliefs than Spanish teachers. Third, instructivistic beliefs were significantly higher among Korean teachers than German teachers. The findings emphasize the notable differences in teachers' pedagogical beliefs among the three countries, underscoring the substantial impact of cultural values and ECE background on the development of the teachers’ beliefs.

Teacher cognition about intercultural communicative competence (ICC): a comparative study of English-major and German-major pre-service teachers in China

This study explored teacher cognition concerning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among pre-service English and German teachers in China, a context influenced by a rising demand for English as a lingua franca and the increasing significance of the German language due to the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. Data were gathered from undergraduate pre-service teachers of English (EnS) (n = 54) and German (GeS) (n = 89) using a questionnaire at a Chinese university. The findings revealed that: (1) EnS emphasised ICC-oriented knowledge, attitudes, and critical cultural awareness in their provided definitions of ICC, whereas GeS focused on German proficiency and target ­culture-oriented knowledge; (2) EnS’ length of studying English, abroad experience, and prior teaching experience exhibited varying correlations with their ICC beliefs, whereas only grade level and abroad experience were significantly related to GeS’ cognition about ICC. This study contributes to the broader discourse on teachers teaching different languages and their perceptions of ICC amidst the global landscape shaped by the coexistence of multiple languages and cultures. It concludes by calling for further research examining teacher cognition and influential factors across diverse languages and educational contexts in the realm of ICC.

Methodological recommendations for the use of intercultural portfolio by future German teachers during independent work

Methodological recommendations for the use of intercultural portfolio by future German teachers during independent work

Cooperative learning before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: the predictive power of teacher expertise

AbstractThe present study aimed to investigate the relative predictive power of teachers’ beliefs about cooperative learning, their participation in professional development courses on cooperative learning, emotional exhaustion, and the frequency of cooperative learning implementation before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic for the frequency of cooperative learning implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred and sixty-eight German teachers participated in an online survey in the spring of 2021 (retrospective self-reports, cross-sectional). The study revealed three key findings: first, teachers used cooperative learning significantly less often in face-to-face teaching during the pandemic than before the pandemic. Second, teachers’ positive beliefs about cooperative learning and their participation in professional development courses predicted the frequency of cooperative learning implementation before the pandemic. But, third, neither of these aspects of teachers’ expertise predicted the implementation of cooperative learning in face-to-face teaching during the pandemic. Only the frequency of implementation before the pandemic predicted implementation during the pandemic which may point to the value of routine in times of crisis. Our findings suggest that the predictive power of aspects of teacher expertise (such as their beliefs) varies with contextual conditions.

New challenges in teaching a foreign language for professional purposes (based on recent observations of a Ukrainian teacher of German as a foreign language)

New challenges in teaching a foreign language for professional purposes (based on recent observations of a Ukrainian teacher of German as a foreign language)

PELATIHAN GURU PENDAMPING SISWA OLYMPIADE BAHASA JERMAN PADA LEVEL A2-GER

Community service activities are carried out with the aim of (1) increasing teachers' knowledge and understanding of the test format, especially the A2 test format developed by the Goethe Institut with reference to the Gemeinsamer Europäischen Referenzrahmen (GER), and (2) improving teachers' skills in using reading and writing strategies. using reading and writing strategies in solving reading and writing questions at the A2 level. Community service activities carried out by the German Language Education Study Program team are directed at two main focuses: (a) teachers' understanding of the A2 test format as a whole, and (b) German teacher skills in preparing students to understand texts and writing at the A2 level, as well as writing at the A2 level, as well as part of the preparation of students to face the German Olympiad selection. The method of implementing community service activities is carried out through the following stages: (1) The preparation stage begins with: coordination with partners, determination of activity schedules, preparation of training materials, registration of participants, (2) The implementation stage includes: analysis of the A2 level question format, which includes reading and writing, and interactive lectures through PPT interspersed with questions and answers, responses, and training. (3) The reflection and evaluation stage is used to obtain feedback on the overall training implementation, both in terms of organization and material achievement. The results obtained from this activity were that overall, the participants were satisfied with the implementation of the activity because the materials trained were in accordance with the learning needs at school, which could improve both pedagogical and linguistic abilities at least at the A2-Ger level.

Facilitators and Barriers Perceived by German Teachers Considering Basic Life Support Education in School-A Qualitative Study.

This qualitative study aims to analyse the personal qualification, attitudes and the pedagogical concepts of German teachers as experts in their profession regarding basic life support (BLS) education in secondary schools. Thirteen (n = 13) secondary school teachers participated in semi-structured expert interviews and were interviewed for at least 20 to 60 min regarding BLS student education. Interviews were semi-structured with guiding questions addressing (1) personal experience, (2) teacher qualification for BLS and (3) implementation factors (e.g., personal, material and organisational). Audio-recorded interviews were analysed by content analysis, generating a coding system. School teachers provided a heterogeneous view on implementation-related processes in BLS education. Many teachers were educated in first aid, acknowledge its importance, but had no experience in teaching BLS. They want to assure being competent for teaching BLS and need tailored trainings, materials, pedagogical information and the incorporation into the curriculum. Also, the management of time constraints, unwilling colleagues, or young students being overwhelmed were commonly mentioned considerations. Concluding, teachers reported to be willing to teach BLS but a stepwise implementation framework incorporating practice-oriented qualification and educational goals is missing.

“If I were the mother…”: fostering perspective taking in German teacher education

Higher perspective taking skills are associated with better social functioning and improved social relationships. Generally, teachers are willing to take the perspective of their students, but it is unclear whether the same is true for the perspective of parents. As communication and conflicts with parents are pervasive, the motivation and willingness to adopt the perspective of parents in counseling situations should be promoted during university teacher training. Therefore, we investigated the promotion of perspective taking among teachers in training and focused mainly on perspective taking toward parents. We developed a case-based learning task in which teachers in training from Freie Universität Berlin (N = 515) prepared for a fictitious upcoming consultation with a mother about her son. Because it is unclear if direct instruction for perspective taking is necessary in order to promote it, we also used indirect instruction to investigate whether preparing for the consultation under these instructions fostered the willingness to adopt the perspective of students and parents. In the direct instruction participants were directly told to take the perspective of the fictitious mother when evaluating and developing formulations for the consultation. The indirect instruction did not mention the concept of perspective taking but asked participants to focus on the comprehensibility of the formulations. We obtained three measures: the willingness to take a perspective, the attitude toward another person, and the emotional and empathic language used in written texts. With our main result we demonstrated that the willingness to adopt the perspective of both students and parents could be significantly promoted by both instructions. We further demonstrated that a higher willingness to take another’s perspective is associated with a more positive attitude toward the mother, as well as increased positive emotions and empathic concern. Additionally, we replicated results of a previous study showing a generally higher willingness to take the student perspective prior to the intervention. Results are discussed regarding the benefits of promoting perspective taking, especially toward parents, in teacher education.

German teachers' pilgrimage to an Israeli Holocaust Memorial: Emotions, encounters, and contested visions

AbstractDrawing on anthropological conceptions of pilgrimage, our ethnography of professional development at an Israeli Holocaust Memorial follows German teachers on journeys to Israel. Seeking transformative and transferable experiences to combat anti‐Semitism in schools, teachers experienced the voyage as a secular pilgrimage rooted in Christian traditions of guilt, confession, and absolution. As teachers' emotional encounters in Israel simultaneously forged communitas and challenged official historical–pedagogical visions, their practices abroad elucidate prevalent Holocaust education discourses in contemporary Germany.

Teacher autonomy support counters declining trend in intrinsic reading motivation across secondary school

Students’ intrinsic motivation to read, which is relevant to all forms of learning, tends to decline throughout secondary school. Based on self-determination theory (SDT), this study examines whether this downward trend is slowed when students perceive greater autonomy support in the classroom. We used large-scale panel data from the NEPS comprising N = 8193 students in Germany who reported their intrinsic motivation to read and their perceived autonomy support from German teachers at annual intervals from fifth to eighth grade. Scalar longitudinal measurement invariance was found for intrinsic reading motivation (IRM) and teacher autonomy support (TAS). A dual change score model showed a decline in IRM and a negative, non-significant decrease in TAS over time. Confirming our hypothesis, the decline in IRM was slowed by earlier levels of TAS. We discuss methods to counteract the decline in intrinsic reading motivation.