Unlocking the potential of student teachers: a practical approach to promote competence development through competence standards

Educational science competences are considered one of the most important topics in teacher training. They also play an important role in various areas of effective teaching. Even though professional competences of student teachers have already been widely discussed based on several theoretical models, no study to date examines the promotion of student teachers’ competence development in practice. As part of this framework, we established a competence grid for student teachers to assess and support individualizing students’ learning paths. The grid is meant to stimulate self-reflection, which should help individuals raise awareness for their learning progress and make performance levels visible. Initial empirical results from a survey with first and second semester students (n = 309) demonstrated practical applicability and reliability (α = .82) of the assessment grid, which allows to design further steps towards professionalisation.