In order to reduce language-related disparities in educational attainment, teaching standards in many (Western) countries nowadays request teachers of all subjects and grades to focus on their students' academic language development: Especially second language learners and socioeconomically disadvantaged students need continuous and systematic…

Various studies have shown that epistemological beliefs affect personal learning and teaching performances. Therefore, epistemological beliefs have become an attractive object of research with different methods of survey. A distinction can be made between denotative and connotative aspects of beliefs, the former being reflected upon, explicit…

A core element of teacherss' professional knowledge is their Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). The Refined Consensus Model of PCK defines three realms of PCK: collective PCK, personal PCK and enacted PCK. ePCK encompasses the acts of planning and reflecting on a lesson. Digital simulations allow the training of transferring pPCK to ePCK in…

This study suggests a comprehensive conceptualization of teacher knowledge for teaching early literacy in primary schools. Following the discourse on the professional knowledge of teachers, we argue that teachers' knowledge relevant to support reading and writing at the beginning of primary school education is multidimensional by nature: Teachers…

Although an average of one to two children per classroom suffer from ADHD, empirically supported classroom interventions are not yet implemented possibly because of teachers' lack of knowledge or negative attitude towards them. To investigate this science-practitioner gap, we need an instrument assessing knowledge, attitude and the use of…

Promoting teachers to lead classroom discourse effectively is a relevant topic for teacher professional development worldwide. This study compares the impacts of two teacher professional development programmes that aim to support teachers in their classroom discourse practices. In one programme, an adaptive and practitioner-led approach was…

In initial teacher education (ITE), preservice teachers acquire declarative knowledge in different knowledge domains: general pedagogy, content, and pedagogical content. To investigate how they use this knowledge in a school-related situation, n = 56 preservice teachers were asked to evaluate a peer's fictitious lesson plan. Their comments were…

In a diagnostic context of reasoning about instructional quality, scientific reasoning skills can be described as diagnostic activities, which require professional knowledge. Different approaches to enhance pre-service teachers' professional knowledge (PCK, CK, PK), as well as diagnostic activities exist. However, results about their effectiveness…

Understanding and knowledge of scientific reasoning skills is a key ability of pre-service teachers. In a written survey (open response format), biology and chemistry pre-service teachers (n = 51) from two German universities claimed central decisions or actions school students have to perform in scientific reasoning in the open inquiry…

Chemish - the scientific language of chemistry - is crucial for learning chemistry. To help students acquire the competencies to understand and use Chemish, chemistry teachers need to have a sound knowledge of teaching and learning Chemish: Pedagogical Scientific Language Knowledge (PSLK). But still, despite the importance of this knowledge, the…

Science teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning are a vital component of teachers' professional competence and are often assumed to impact classroom practice. To date, these beliefs have been predominantly investigated regarding teaching and learning in general or for a particular science subject (e.g., physics). It remains to be determined…

This contribution will outline the development of a specific approach of theoretical educational thinking in Germany, associated with the notions of "Didaktik"/didactics and "Fachdidaktik"/subject-matter didactics as well as its comparative, generalized form called "General Subject Didactics" (GSD). The first one…

Results of international comparison studies show substantially better mathematics performance of the investigated Asian than European students from the early years on. A Taiwanese-German Research Program (TaiGer) engages in exploring differences and similarities in the educational system, in teachers' knowledge and beliefs and in teaching or…

This paper examines the effects of learning opportunities on the attainment of different proficiency levels in general pedagogical knowledge among student teachers to provide insights into their learning processes and the effectiveness of teacher preparation. The authors used a subsample of the EMW study with two time points, comprising the data…

This paper scrutinises the educational knowledge requirements of craft, technical, and reflective professional conceptions of teaching, as recently outlined by Winch, Oancea, and Orchard. Drawing on Bernsteinian sociology of knowledge we identify the different requirements each conception makes of educational knowledge, and how it is envisaged…