Improving Prospective Teachers’ Counseling Competence in Parent-Teacher Talks: Effects of Training and Feedback

ABSTRACT

Counseling parents concerning students’ learning processes is considered to be an increasingly important competence area of teachers. However, few educational programs exist specifically focusing on improving this essential teacher competence, particularly in early teacher education. The current study, which took place at a German university, describes the evaluation of a corresponding training program for prospective teachers as well as a process-oriented feedback intervention. We conducted a quasi-experimental study with three treatment groups (training group, training + feedback group, control group) combining pre-, post-, and follow-up test measures with time–series data. By means of multivariate repeated measures MANOVAs and time-series analyses, we were able to demonstrate that prospective teachers’ counseling competence can be successfully fostered by training and individual process-oriented feedback. Our results provide several practical implications concerning the improvement of teachers’ counseling competence within the context of teacher education.

Funding

This research was supported by grants SCHM 1538/5-3 from the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the Priority Program “Competence Models for Assessing Individual Learning Outcomes and Evaluating Educational Processes” (SPP 1293).

Notes

¹ In the German context, the use of the term counseling is analogous to the term consultation used in the United States.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants SCHM 1538/5-3 from the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the Priority Program “Competence Models for Assessing Individual Learning Outcomes and Evaluating Educational Processes” (SPP 1293).

Notes on contributors

Mara Gerich

Dr. Mara Gerich is a research assistant at the Institute of Psychology and the Center for Teacher Training at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Her scientific research focuses on the areas of counseling, teacher professionalization, competence research, and intervention research.

Monika Trittel

Monika Trittel is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Psychology at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Her scientific research focuses on the areas of teacher education, educational diagnostics, and self-regulation.

Bernhard Schmitz

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schmitz is a professor of Educational Psychology at the Institute of Psychology at the Technical University of Darmstadt. His scientific research focuses on self-regulated learning, time-series analyses, and the art of living.

Note: The authors report that, to the best of their knowledge, neither they nor their affiliated institutions have financial or personal relationships or affiliations that could influence or bias the opinions, decisions, or work presented in this article.