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Sensory-Processing Sensitivity (SPS), as part of the general theory on Environmental Sensitivity (Pluess, 2015), is a temperamental individual difference variable, referring to sensitive perception and processing of as well as reflection upon environmental stimuli. For its measurement, Aron and Aron (1997) developed the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSP Scale) for application with adults. However, despite some adaption into German (Konrad & Herzberg, 2017) and a first English version for children , no suitable measures of SPS for children exist in German. The presented two studies aimed at developing and validating a short, 10-item German version of the scale, which can be administered efficiently in educational field studies with German-speaking secondary school students. The factorial structure, its relationship with other personality traits (i.e., the Big Five; McCrae & Costa, 1990) and exploratory analyses on relationships with additional school-related variables were revealed using data from two independent student samples (N = 301 German academic-track secondary school students and N = 460 German vocational track secondary school students). Relations to existing research, practical implications for the educational context, and limitations of the studies are discussed.

The present study aims at investigating student teachers’ attitudes towards heterogeneity, which represent one part of teachers’ profession and determine future teacher action. Particularly, it addresses research gaps regarding the relationship between attitudes and personality traits such as the Big Five, which are also important in the field of teacher professionalism. Through confirmatory factor analysis, the validity of an existing measurement instrument of attitudes was verified in a sample with 294 student teachers. Personality traits represented significant predictors of some of the attitudes measured, but were only able to explain relatively little variance. Practical implications for teacher training are discussed.

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The present study compares student teachers’ career choice motives and their relationship with stress-inducing thoughts across five European countries. A previously established factorial structure for career choice motives embedded within self-determination theory was supported. The factors consist of intrinsic motives, such as interest in educational work with children, and extrinsic motives, such as financial security. Furthermore, differences in the importance of these factors in choosing the teaching profession across countries were found. Results further revealed evidence for a link between extrinsic motives and stress-inducing cognitions. Conclusions and implications for teaching practice are discussed.

The present study is aimed at identifying demands and tasks that are considered important by experts in the field of interculturalism for the successful development of schools. Although different theoretical models about intercultural school development, incorporating various conditions and dimensions, have already been suggested, gaps in research on the specific content of various administrative levels of school as an educational institution can still be identified. In order to fill those gaps, we conducted group discussions with small groups of experts in the field of interculturalism. Experts were matched into three groups so that each represents a high level of diversity regarding their particular expertise. Results from the discussions were investigated by applying content analysis. Based on the revealed findings, five fields of action can be established that are essential for the process of intercultural school development. The revealed areas covered a variety of factors, ranging from individual reflection to developmental processes of a school as an organization. In the present study, those facets are interpreted as conditions under which successful intercultural school development processes can be established. While most content areas can be mapped to the existing theoretical models, they add further information with regard to the content of the theoretical dimensions. This is particularly the case at the individual level. Resulting practical implications are explained and further discussed on the basis of inevitable future research.

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