Geeignet für den Lehrerberuf?: Self-Assessments auf dem Prüfstand

Various self-assessment tools have been developed in Germany to determine prospective teachers' aptitude for teacher education and the teaching profession. Two instruments, in particular, are currently in use: the "Fit for the Teaching Profession" test (Fit für den Lehrerberuf, FIT; Herlt & Schaarschmidt, 2007) and the Career Counselling for Teachers program (CCT; Nieskens, Mayr, & Meyerdierks, 2011). Both tools comprise different interest and personality scales and are intended to gauge the match between a candidate's personality and attitudes and the requirements of the teaching profession. The resulting aptitude rating is supposed to offer a basis for career decisions. This article examines the factorial and convergent validity of the two instruments, analyzing whether both identify the same candidates as "suited" or "unsuited" for teaching. The sample consists of 250 teacher candidates in BA and MA programs at two universities. Factor analyses revealed difficulties in the structure of the instruments, but showed overlaps in the characteristics assessed, indicating some agreement in the conceptualization of suitability. Crucially, our results revealed differences in the two instruments' assessments of candidate suitability, with different candidates being diagnosed as "suited" or "unsuited" by each. [Editor]