Approaches to language education in teacher induction – curricular implementation and the importance of teacher educators’ professional background

This study focuses on teacher induction in the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), Germany. Teacher induction in Germany constitutes an institutionalised practical phase after a university degree. Following NRW’s federal state curriculum that names language education as a compulsory element of professional development, the study asks to what extent this facet of teachers’ professionalism is implemented in teacher induction courses from teacher educators’ point of view and how this is linked to professional and institutional factors, using an online questionnaire. The sample consisted of 217 teacher educators. Data were analysed using descriptive and regression analysis. Results show that language education is considered relevant and it is considered to play a substantial role in course design. Teacher educators’ professional background factors, such as their practical experience as a school teacher, are found to be important predictors for the degree of implementation in courses reported by the teacher educators.