Teacher´s Constructions of Differences in Vocational Schools for Pedagogical Professionals

Heterogeneity and inclusion are current concepts in vocational schools for pedagogical professionals. The following article deals with an ongoing research project in the field of teacher education for vocational schools in Germany. As part of a research program for teacher education, this project focuses on processes of creating, working on and reflecting on differences (Sturm, 2016) by (future) teachers. In order to design an inclusive teaching practice, it is important to know more about how teachers construct difference. The fundamental research conducted in the context of this project contributes to filling the gaps of previous empirical findings (Sturm, 2016; Burda-Zoyke & Joost, 2018) and specific demands of socio-educational courses. Given the relatively limited amount previous research on the inclusion-oriented handling of heterogeneity in vocational training, especially in socio-educational programmes, group discussions were conducted with vocational school teachers. In this article, the theoretical and methodological approach is introduced. The article concludes with an outlook on the future implementation of the results and development of teacher education.