Professional Schools for Europe

Exporting Solutions or Damaged Goods?

Seminar Presentation, School of Education, Stanford University, April 18, 2007

Hans N. Weiler

School of Education 4/18/07 2

Context

• Growing critique of structural arrangements in German Higher Education

3

Faculty of Philosophy

- History

- Philologies

- Philosophy

- Education

- etc.

Faculty of Natural Sciences

- Physics

- Chemistry

- Biology

- Mathematics

- etc.

Faculty of Social Sciences

- Political Science

- Sociology

- Economics

- etc.

Etc.

Traditional Faculty Structure at German Universities

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Context

• Growing critique of structural arrangements in German Higher Education

• The Bologna process: Creating undergraduate and graduate domains

5

Doctorate

Pre-Bologna Post-Bologna

Bachelor

Master

PhD

Diploma

Magister

State exams5 – 7 years

3 (- 4) years

1 (- 2) years

2 (- ?) years

Degree Structures at German/European Universities

Age

19 (18)

22 (21)

AbiturAbitur Abitur

Duration Duration

? years

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Context

• Growing critique of structural arrangements in German Higher Education

• The Bologna process: Creating undergraduate and graduate domains

• The deficits of educational research at German universities

• The deficits of teacher education at German universities

7

Subject matter program of

studies (e.g., math, physics)

with teacher training

orientation and elements of both general and subject

matter pedagogy

5 – 7 years

Traditional Structure of Teacher Training in Germany

Age

19 (18)AbiturAbitur

State Exam I

State Exam II “Phase II” Training with

school practice2 yearsEmployment as

teacher

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Proposals for Change

• Creation of “Bachelor Colleges” as a structure to support the identity of undergraduate education

• Formalize graduate (especially doctoral) training in “Graduate Schools”: More formal training, more structured quality control, more support

• Distinguish between “graduate colleges” and “professional schools”

9

UNIVERSITY

Bachelor College MA/PhD Colleges

UniversityResearch Cluster

Agency for Knowledge Transfer

and Lifelong Learning

Graduate Colleges(disciplines)

Professional Schools(Interdisciplinary)

Proposed New Structures

10

The Logic of the Professional School

• Closer correspondence to, and interaction with, major societal institutions and their knowledge needs

• Interdisciplinary research and teaching

• More oriented to “applied” knowledge in training and research

• Independent within the overall university

• Connected with the traditional structures of the academy through joint appointments

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Possible Domains for Professional Schools

• Public Health• Public and Private Management• Law• Environmental Studies• Human Settlement and Transportation• Educational Research and Teacher

Training• Etc.

Bachelor College

DepartmentsProfessional School

Education

Professional School Environment Studies

Professional School Public Health

Graduate College Social Sciences

Graduate College Natural Sciences

Graduate College Life Sciences

Psych

Soc

Physics

Hum Bio

PolSci

New Structures and Old Departments

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Budding Results

• “Excellence Initiative”: Proposals for Graduate and Professional Schools

• Restructuring Hamburg higher education• Hertie School of Governance: Professional

School of Public Policy• “Schools of Education”: TU Munich,

Paderborn, Bielefeld, Bochum

The TUM Educational Structure 2010

TUM Departments

The TUM Graduate School

TUM International

Graduate School of Medicine

Munich GraduateSchool of

Management

TUM-LMU

…

FrameworkPolicy

Services

InternationalGraduate School of

Science and Engineering

Munich GraduateSchool of

MathematicalSciencesTUM-LMU

RTG

The TUM Undergraduate School

TUM Professional

School of Education

Research Topics

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Traditions of German Teacher Education

• Heavy on subject matter training

• Light on professional educational training

• Ambivalent relationship between departments of education and teacher training

• “Practical” component of teacher training outside of university (“2nd Phase”)

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Objectives of Proposed Schools of Education (1)

• Provide a congenial structural home in the university for both educational research and teacher training

• Move teacher education out of its stepchild position vis-à-vis subject departments

• Strengthen empirical research on education with a broad range of discipline competence

• Provide a respectable research environment for subject matter pedagogy

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Objectives of Proposed Schools of Education (2)

• Provide public education (K-12 and HEd) with a recognizable and competent partner institution in the university

• Make use of the new Bologna 3-tier structure for teacher education

• Provide more of a connection with the practice component (“2nd Phase) of teacher education

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Subject matter program of

studies (e.g., math, physics)

with teacher training

orientation and elements of both general and subject

matter pedagogy

5 – 7 years

Traditional Structure of Teacher Training in Germany

Age

19 (18)AbiturAbitur

State Exam I

State Exam II “Phase II” Training with

school practice2 yearsEmployment as

teacher

19

Bachelor: Subject matter

major (e.g., Math)

Master of Education

3 years

2 years

Alternative model of teacher training in Germany

Abitur

Duration

Practice Phase (partly

integrated with MEd)

3 years totalState-approved

University exam

University exam

State certificationTeacher

Employment

20

“School of Education” Components• Inquiry-oriented cognate disciplines

– Sociology, Linguistics, Psychology, Statistics, Neurosciences, Anthropology, Economy, etc.

• Curricular subject-matter disciplines– Physics, English, History, Biology, etc.

• Instructional specializations– Instructional Technology, Assessment,

Curriculum, Teacher Training, etc.

• Organizational specializations– Law and Education, Personnel Management,

School Leadership, Educational Finance, etc.

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Questions (1)

• How much cross-fertilization, mutual inspiration, and indispensable support is there between educational research and teacher education in a good School of Education?

• How critical a device are joint appointments for a professional school?– With other inquiry-oriented disciplines?– With curricular subject-matter disciplines?

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Questions (2)

• How important is the principle of dual legitimation by two different sets of peers?

• What disciplines are really indispensable for educational inquiry?

• Where should professional schools recruit their own faculty – from the PhDs of other professional schools or of discipline departments? What is the best mix?

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Questions (3)

• For teacher training, does the BA/MA division of labor à la USA work well – especially in terms of subject matter competence?

• How (if at all) do Schools of Education relate to/influence/monitor the subject matter training and competence of their teacher trainees?

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Questions (4)

• What is/should be the division of labor between Schools of Education and subject matter departments on subject matter pedagogy? Where is research on subject matter pedagogy housed?