PROFESSIONAL MINDS – Program 1
Action situations and standards for Vocational School Teachers (VET teachers)

The research program 1 'Professional Minds' deals with acting situations and standards (link) for vocational school teachers (VET teachers). The aim is to define competency profiles for VET teachers and to develop and validate instruments for the quality measurement of teaching competencies. A main issue is to make competency profiles of VET teachers, embedded in their profession-specific and situational context, visible.

The research program 1 is about competency profiles (standards) of VET teachers and the measurement of their quality. It is subdivided into three projects, each focusing another research issue. The aim of project 1 is a) to generate and validate standards for VET teachers and b) to develop and validate instruments for the quality measurement of teaching competencies. For the competency measurement a new method was developed – the so called Advocatory Approach (link). Project 2 focuses on the implementation of the developed standards and diagnostic instruments into the practical field. Training units for specific competency profiles are designed and their effectiveness checked in controlled intervention studies. Project 3 studies one specific standard in more detail, namely the standard on the integration of cultural diversity in the vocational education and training. It deals with aspects of students’ heterogeneity and the integration of qualitative and quantitative minorities in the educational process. The aim is to contribute to the improvement of the training and continued training of VET teachers in this matter.