German Science Teacher Education

Abstract

The first rounds of PISA have shown that the performance of German students in the scientific domain did not meet expectations. Notwithstanding the extensive educational reforms, Germany was not able to catch up with the results of the leading countries in the respective surveys. Moreover, the weakly positive development that emerged between the 2004 and 2015 surveys has stagnated. This raises the question of whether science teacher education also need reform. The first objective is to conduct a structural analysis of science teacher education in Germany by three systematic reviews. In doing so, the subject-specific, subject-didactic, and practical qualifications of (prospective) science teachers, both at primary and secondary level, are considered. To realize the chosen method, a total of five subject areas are considered in the individual sections of German teacher education. The results of the individual Systematic Reviews for the different phases of teacher education in Germany show clear potential for improvement in the selected competencies.