In 2015/16 and 2016/17, a fundamental reform of teacher training took place in Austria, which, among other things, made the studies longer and specialized knowledge more important. Due to the staff shortage, the system is currently being reformed and the training should be shorter and more practice-oriented. Critics had already warned before the introduction of the “NEW educational training” that it would alienate interested parties. A study by the University of Linz shows no deterrent effect.
With the new teacher training course, the duration of study for primary school teachers at teacher training universities (PH) has almost doubled to five years. Secondary, special and polytechnic education teachers used to be trained at the PH within three years, and since then it has been six years since all secondary school teachers have been merged by the PH and universities into so-called associations. The studies have also become longer for AHS and BMHS teachers who were previously trained purely by universities; previously it was nine semesters plus a one-year teaching internship.
The supposed “deterrent” effect quickly disappeared
According to a study by a team led by Herbert Altrichter (University of Linz), this change resulted in a significant decrease in the number of beginners in primary school in the first year compared to previous years, but not as significantly in the number of beginners in primary school secondary school. But if this had anything to do with a “chilling” effect of the reform on proponents of short-term courses, “the results indicate that this effect was certainly not long-term and quickly disappeared,” says the trade journal “Education and Education” published research. The analysis of the number of new students from 2007/08 to 2021/22 showed that there was another increase the following year and therefore “a certain stabilization of development”.
The composition of the students hardly changed
It was also investigated whether the reform has changed the composition of students in teacher training. According to the survey, AHS and BMHS teacher training programs at universities were relatively frequently chosen by AHS graduates from academic families with an interest in the subject. The shorter course of study at PHs with the ‘image of supposedly easier’ studies has in turn attracted relatively more women with parents without a university degree or qualification, who have not graduated from an AHS and with lower grades. In data from university statistics (share of women, AHS or BHS-Matura) and a survey among students of teacher training in secondary education in Upper Austria, immediately before or after the change in teacher training, the study authors found no evidence that the composition of teacher training students has changed in relation to their migration background, daily language use or the education of their parents.
The number of dropouts could increase
The ‘recruitment pattern’ for the teaching profession is apparently so stable that the reform has neither led to a sustained decline in student numbers nor fundamentally changed the socio-demographic composition of students, the study authors said. However, the significance of the student survey is limited by the fact that the first cohort surveyed was a very special year after the reform. In addition, it is quite possible that the dropout rate, which was very low with the previous short courses, is higher with the longer and academic courses and mainly affects those who would have previously opted for a shorter course.
At the same time, due to the ‘stability of the recruitment pattern’, one should also assume that simply shortening the study career would not lead to more interested parties, the study authors warn. Reaching new target groups, such as people with a migrant background or technical or entrepreneurial interests, will require “coordinated actions at different levels”, such as targeted recruitment, but also changed working conditions and changed qualifications of teacher training staff.
Source: Krone
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