Student Teachers' Uncertainty Competence and Its Measurement

Abstract

Uncertainty, here defined as an experienced information deficit regarding teacher authority, student knowledge etc., is a ubiquitous phenomenon in teachers' professional lives. Teacher education in Germany does however not explicitly prepare student teachers for uncertainty, and there is little conceptual clarity regarding competencies required to successfully cope with uncertainty in the teacher profession. Therefore, the authors first propose a new conceptual framework that defines teachers' uncertainty competence (UC) and, secondly, report on a new measurement approach that was developed to assess student teachers' UC in different educational settings. In a final step, the new approach was administered to 356 Waldorf and non-Waldorf student teachers in Germany to examine two core assumptions behind UC, namely its sensitivity to differences in context and educational experiences. Results lend preliminary support for these assumptions and are discussed with regard to their match with the new response concept and methodological considerations regarding its measurement.