The EPPAL research project is dedicated to the following research questions in order to generate findings for the current and future curriculum of secondary general education and to evaluate and further develop the PPS in Linz continuously:
1. To what extent do the perceived learning opportunities in the PPS or non-study-related activities contribute to the professionalization of students?
2. To what extent does the Linz location succeed in combining theory and practice?
3. Which factors influence the use of learning opportunities and the coherence assessment?
Based on a supply and utilization model adapted for the PPS (Gamsjäger et al., 2022), regular online surveys of Bachelor’s students on internships are used to investigate which learning opportunities are used and how coherence between internships and accompanying courses is achieved. In-depth multi-level and model analyses of the data (winter semester 2019 to summer semester 2024) will generate site-specific findings that will be incorporated into the further development of the PPS. In addition to the core questions, other aspects will be analyzed that have only been partially investigated so far, such as the motives and convictions of the practice teachers, the quality of the lesson discussions and the relationship between practice teachers and students. The findings to date also make it necessary to redesign the evaluation to answer the questions for both regular students and early entrants.
As part of a quantitative longitudinal design, students from the 2024/25 cohort and practice teachers will be surveyed online for three consecutive academic years. In addition, two qualitative sub-studies will be conducted: group discussions and a document analysis of learning products to examine specific aspects, such as the experience of stress among early career teachers, in greater depth. The mixed-methods design makes it possible to develop the PPS in Linz further in an evidence-based manner. EPPAL, thus, significantly contributes to fulfilling the quality framework for pedagogical-practical studies.
Within the continuum of teacher education (Behr, 2017), mentors assume a central yet hitherto undertheorised role (Carmi & Tamir, 2023). They act not only as teachers but also as teacher educators. This dual positioning entails specific demands that extend beyond professional action in the classroom. While the question of what constitutes core professional pedagogical action has been—and continues to be—intensively debated in research on professional practice (Cramer, 2022; Cramer, 2023; Cramer et al., 2020; Helsper, 2020; König, 2020), far less clarity exists regarding what defines professional pedagogical mentoring as articulated in mentors’ own self-descriptions. Addressing this research gap is the central aim of the present study.
Pedagogical professionalism is understood in research as a complex, multidimensional construct. Although generalised competence models in professionalism research are foundational for teacher education, they fall short with respect to the demands placed on mentors. This is because mentors, in their new professional function, confront specific developmental tasks (Keller-Schneider, 2020b), and mentoring encompasses its own dimensions of quality that include cognitive, affective, and relational components (Alonzo et al., 2025). Effective teaching and successful mentoring require partially distinct competencies. Mentors navigate a field of tension between individual relationship-building and normative expectations (Kraler & Schreiner, 2022), between facilitating development and adhering to structural conditions (Dammerer, 2019b), and between personal stance and institutional responsibility (Frey & Pichler, 2022). These specific demands call for an independent disciplinary and professionalism-theoretical perspective. The central thesis of this dissertation is that mentoring possesses its own dignity—manifested in a specific professional self-understanding that is inherent to the role.