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Despite formally equal educational opportunities for women and men, educational and occupational careers are still characterized by gender disparities rather than gender equality. Men are overrepresented in STEM fields and higher positions, while women are frequently working in low-status jobs in the health and social sector. These differences already emerge during school time, when girls report lower academic self-concepts in STEM subjects than boys even after achievement is controlled for while the same is true for boys' self-concepts in reading and languages. Gender stereotypes that are conveyed by socializing agents are assumed to play an important role in maintaining gender differences in education. Teachers are important starting points for promoting gender equality in education as their attitudes and instructional practices are known to influence students' motivation and performance substantially. To promote girls and boys equally in coeducational settings, teachers have to reflect on their own gender stereotypes. Moreover, they require knowledge about gender differences in education and about teaching methods to foster the motivation of all students regardless of their gender. However, gender stereotypes are rarely dealt with in general teacher education and training programs that build teachers' competences for reflective coeducation are sparse. Against this backdrop, we present the teacher training program REFLECT that was developed to foster secondary school teachers' competences for supporting students in developing their individual potentials without being restricted by gender stereotypes. REFLECT is theoretically based on the systemic actiotope model and aims to expand teachers' objective action repertoire (knowledge, teaching methods) as well as their subjective action space (self-efficacy beliefs, implicit theories). The results of a pilot study show the effectiveness of REFLECT. Teachers' objective action repertoire and subjective action space for promoting boys and girls equally increased, as did students' knowledge of gender differences and perception of diversity fairness in the classroom. Implementing the contents of REFLECT in general teacher education could contribute to sustainably achieving gender equality in education.

Abstract. Lifelong learning (LLL) is a topic of high political relevance. Within the context of continuous social development toward an “information society,” individuals find themselves facing a number of challenges that they will not be able to surmount successfully if they are not willing to commit to learning over the entire course of their lifetimes. The persistent motivation to learn, as well as the correspondent learning skills, appears to be essential if one is to survive in a modern society. Schools, as a collective institution, have the task of laying the cornerstones of these skills. The present article introduces the training program TALK, which aims to provide teachers with the competencies to systematically implement the enhancement of LLL into their regular educational responsibilities. From the perspective of educational psychology, motivation, self-regulation, social skills, and cognitive abilities are developed as core aspects for LLL in a scholastic context. Building on these, the goals and structure of the TALK program are described, and a summative and formative evaluation design is depicted.

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