Abstract:

The profile for inclusive teacher professional learning states that teachers require a particular attitude or belief, knowledge, and competencies to apply the former in practice. This implies a comprehensive understanding of individual-child-related and environmental factors that may positively or negatively influence the child's development. The concept of social disability highlights the importance of considering not only individual factors but also risk and protective factors within the social environment when providing optimal support for children, particularly those with special educational needs. Following the model of resilience research, protective factors include supportive aspects, strengths, and resources, while risk factors encompass potentially negative or inhibiting factors and difficulties.

To comprehensively examine protective and risk factors in learners and their environment, student teachers are invited to work with realistic cases in casuistry seminars. Realistic portrayals of learners with learning difficulties were created based on the experiences of experts in special and inclusive education, summarized in a casebook. When working with these cases, student teachers should learn to consider the interactions and interconnections between the child, the school, and the broader environment.

The aim of this study is to determine if the diagnostic skills of student teachers have improved after using the casebook. The study employs a pre-post design. In October 2023, 33 first-semester teacher students of special and inclusive education in Germany worked on a digitally presented case at the first measurement point A. The learning gains were assessed at the second measurement point B in February 2024, at the end of the semester.

The study addresses the following research questions:
1. How well do student teachers succeed in identifying a child’s protective and risk factors?
2. Which protective and risk factors are identified in the child's environment?
3. Has working with realistic cases led to a significant increase in identifying the factors?

Student teachers identified 70% of the individual-child-related protective and risk factors mentioned in the case, which corresponds to an average of 7.8 out of 11 protective factors and 7.7 out of 11 risk factors. There was a significant increase in individual-child-related factors identified by student teachers for the protective factors at measurement point B (MpfB=7.8, SDpfB=2.1) compared to measurement point A (MpfA=6.0, SDpfA=2.3), t(32)=.9, p<.001, and also for the risk factors at measurement point B (MrfB=7.7, SDrfB=2.4) compared to measurement point A (MrfA=5.9, SDrfA=2.0), t(32)=4.3, p<.001.

Student teachers identified an average of 5.8 out of 8 protective factors and 4.7 out of 8 risk factors related to family, with a solution probability of 72.5% for protective factors and 58.8% for risk factors. There was a significant increase in family-related factors identified by student teachers after working with the casebook for protective factors (MpfB=5.8, SDpfB=1.5) compared to measurement point A (MpfA=4.2, SDpfA=1.3), t(32)=5.9, p<.001, and also for risk factors (MrfB=4.7, SDrfB=1.3) compared to measurement point A (MrfA=3.9, SDrfA=1.3), t(32)=3.6, p<.001.

Study results suggest that working with realistic cases has a positive effect on diagnostic skills of student teachers. Possible improvements to both the study design and the intervention are open to discussion.

Keywords:

Protective Factors, Risk Factors, Inclusive Education, Special Education, Student Teachers.