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20.04.2021 15:12
Studying without a high school diploma: Focusing on non-traditional student teachers
Dr. André Epp conducts research at the Karlsruhe University of Education on educational biographies of student teachers who have acquired their university entrance qualification on the so-called “third educational path”. “Both pupils and colleagues can benefit from teachers without a high school diploma,” says the educationalist.
Studying without a high school diploma? That was not possible for a long time. It was not until 2009 that the federal states agreed on a uniformly regulated transition from vocational training to universities. The decision of the Standing Conference (KMK) also opened the university doors for people with vocational training or advanced training qualifications. According to current calculations by the CHE Center for University Development, more and more people have been using the so-called “third education path” since then. In 2019 around 64,000 students without a university entrance qualification were enrolled nationwide, twice as many as in 2011.
A teacher training course is also possible – under certain conditions – without a high school diploma. But what are the educational biographies of these students? The educational scientist Dr. André Epp at the Karlsruhe University of Education (PHKA) together with Prof.in Dr Sabine Klomfaß from the University of Trier. “It is important for us to show that this group of non-traditional teacher training students exists. We want to give them a space through our research, ”says the research assistant at the Institute for Educational Research Methods. Biography research looks at how individuals and social frameworks, such as the KMK resolution 2009, are interwoven, how individuals make decisions and how educational processes take place.
Together with Prof. Sabine Klomfaß from the University of Trier, Dr. André Epp has now published the anthology “On new ways to become a teacher”. Among other things, eight educational biographies of non-traditional teacher training students will be presented: For example that of a young woman who followed in the footsteps of her parents in a roundabout way, or that of an “underrated secondary school student” who became a lecturer at a university. “Some of the prospective teachers without a high school diploma, with whom we spoke, were labeled and stigmatized during their school days and thus lost interest in education. In the course of further qualifications, however, they came into contact with teachers who motivated and encouraged them to continue learning and take up a teaching degree, ”reports the educational scientist.
Enable everyone to have a good education
“The aim is to increase educational equality in schools and enable everyone to have a good education. If we make student teachers and teachers without a high school diploma visible through biography research, we can help others to follow their path. In this way, we also promote the heterogeneity of the teaching staff, ”says the scientist. Because, according to Epp, both schoolchildren and colleagues could benefit from teachers without a high school diploma. “They bring experiences to school that traditional student teachers don’t have. They see the pupils with different eyes, ”emphasizes the educational scientist, whose main research areas include biography and professional research.
A prospective teacher without a high school diploma, for example, found out how negative people talked about the appearance of students in the staff room. He then told his colleagues about his parents, who also had no money for expensive clothes. “Unfortunately there is no institutionalized mechanism for educational advancement in Germany. But it would be nice if the path to study opened up further, ”says Epp. One of his next research projects is devoted to the question of what will become of the teacher training students without a high school diploma: Who will complete the legal clerkship and who will actually work as a teacher afterwards.
Further information on studying without a high school diploma is available at, among others http://www.kmk.org (Universities, studies) and on http://www.hochschulkompass.de (Studies, course search).
About the Karlsruhe University of Education
As an educational science university with the right to award doctorates and post-doctoral qualifications, the Karlsruhe University of Education researches and teaches on educational processes in and outside of school. Their distinctive profile is shaped by the focus on MINT, multilingual education and heterogeneity as well as an active teaching-learning culture. The range of courses includes teacher training courses for elementary school and secondary level I, bachelor and master courses for other fields of education as well as professional training opportunities. Around 220 people working in science look after around 3,600 students. https://www.ph-karlsruhe.de
Media contact
Regina Schneider M. A.
Press officer
Karlsruhe University of Education
Bismarckstraße 10
76133 Karlsruhe
Phone +49 721 925 4115
Email: [email protected]
Scientific contact:
Dr. André Epp, research assistant at the Institute for Educational Research Methods at the Karlsruhe University of Education, [email protected]
Originalpublikation:
Klomfaß, S. & Epp, A. (Eds.) (2021). On new paths to the teaching profession. Educational biographies of non-traditional teacher training students and biographical learning in teacher training. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.
Features of this press release:
Journalists, teachers / pupils, students, scientists
Pedagogy / Education
supraregional
Scientific publications
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