How Teachers Cognitively Activate Their Students in Economics Lessons. Findings of a Swiss Video Study

Empirical findings highlight the relevance of cognitive activation for learners’ competence development. It can be assumed that teachers, during initial teacher education and advanced training, have acquired the didactic knowledge and skills required to establish appropriate approaches and means for (potentially) cognitively activating learners in classrooms. The presentation refers to business education in Switzerland. With regard to teaching Economics, it was examined to what extent teachers’ professional competences, teachers’ acting while teaching, and teaching quality are related to learners’ acquisition of competences. Comprehensive analyses of teachers’ acting in classroom situations are still rather rare. This is especially true concerning vocational education in Switzerland.