Analytical Competence of Teachers: Assessing the Construct Validity by Means of Mixed Methods and Drawing Consequences for Teacher Education

This article focuses on the analytical competence of teachers, which can be defined as the ability to properly perceive and assess lessons in terms of the effectiveness of pupils' learning. However, learning opportunities for fostering this competence in teacher education can only be justified if the components of this construct are theoretically defined and empirically proven. This was the purpose of two studies on which we report here. The studies were combined to a mixed methods design in which the analytical competence of teachers has been investigated. The data were collected using a quantitative method (standardized test; N = 800) as well as a qualitative method (content analysis of interviews; N = 18). The construct of teachers' analytical competence was defined as having two dimensions: a content and a formal dimension. The content dimension is made up of two factors: pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge. The formal dimension of the construct is defined using different levels as factors of complexity with which teachers can process information relevant for teaching. Both studies provided empirical evidence for the validity of the underlying construct. Based on these results, recommendations for teacher education are given.