WibaLeS                                    

WibaLeS - Professional Knowledge of Teachers, Instructional Quality and Students’ Learning Progress in Basic Reading and Writing Lessons

Project management: Prof. Dr. Petra Hanke, Prof. Dr. Johannes König, Prof. Dr. Thorsten Pohl (all University of Cologne) 

Project participants: Prof. Dr. Michael Becker-Mrotzek, Prof. Dr. Alfred Schabmann, Prof. Dr. Birgit Träuble (all University of Cologne) 

Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Jasmin Decristan, Dr. Elisabeth Fleischhauer, Prof. Dr. Michael Grosche (all University of Wuppertal, Institute for Educational Research)

Contact: wibales@uni-koeln.de

Project duration: since 2018-2023

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), DFG reference numbers: HA 2399/3-1, KO3947/9-1, PO 1598/2-1

Project summary:

For decades, research and practice on the acquisition of writing in school have repeatedly addressed the question of the appropriate method of teaching (e.g. reading-by-writing) that proves to be particularly effective for children's learning to read and write. The project "WibaLes" (Professional Knowledge of Teachers, Instructional Quality and Students’ Learning Progress in Basic Reading and Writing Lessons) investigates to what extent it is not the teaching method but the quality of teaching and its subject-specific differentiation as well as the subject-specific professional teacher knowledge that determine children's learning in basic reading and writing classes. It was conducted at the University of Cologne and funded by the German Research Foundation for the period 2018-2023.

WibaLeS builds upon existing research on the basic dimensions of teaching quality and differentiates them according to subject. A comprehensive survey inventory (including lesson observations) has been developed and implemented. Professional teacher knowledge is differentiated into subject-specific, subject-didactic and pedagogical knowledge and examined specifically for basic reading and writing instruction with the help of a newly developed procedure (Hanke et al., 2018). The students' acquisition of written language was assessed in the second school year at two measurement time points using established standardized procedures. A sample of 160 teachers and their classes in 80 primary schools in the Cologne region was selected to provide differentiated information on the relationship between teachers' knowledge, instructional quality and the learning progress of primary school children. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were restrictions such as school closures and remote learning during the project period, so the sample was smaller. Data were collected from 35 teachers and their classes. A continuation of the project with the original sample size is planned.

Two overarching questions guide the "WibaLeS" project:

1)  Can learning progress of students in basic reading and writing lessons be better explained by characteristics of instructional quality (classroom management, subject-specifically differentiated support and cognitive activation) than by the respective teaching method used?

2)  Can characteristics of instructional quality be explained by teachers’ professional knowledge and can an indirect influence of this knowledge on the learning progress of students in basic reading and writing lessons be proven? 

In the course of the "WibaLeS" project, it was possible to gain important insights into initial literacy instruction in primary schools, which, due to their domain- and target-group-specific processing, are of particular relevance for relevant professional and educational research at the elementary level. However, the project results also have important practical implications in view of the increasing heterogeneity at primary level and the importance of language education.

Project-specific preliminary work (selection):

Hanke, P., König, J., Jäger-Biela, D., Pohl, T., Schabmann, A., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Träuble, B. & Schmitt, R. (2019). Professionelles Wissen von Lehramtsstudierenden zum basalen Lesen-und Schreibenlernen – ein interdisziplinäres Projekt. In C. Donie, F. Foerster, M. Obermayr, A. Deckwerth, G. Kammermeyer, G. Lenske, M. Leuchter & A. Wildemann (Hrsg.), Grundschulpädagogik zwischen Wissenschaft und Transfer (S. 52-58). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26231-0_7

Hanke, P., König, J., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Bellmann, A. K., Pohl, T., Schabmann, A., Schmitt, R., & Strauß, S. (2018). Professionelle Kompetenzen von (angehenden) Lehrkräften zum basalen Lesen- und Schreibenlernen - ein interdisziplinäres Projekt. In S. Miller, B. Holler-Nowitzki, B. Kottmann, S. Lesemann, B. Letmathe-Henkel, N. Meyer, R. Schroeder, & K. Velten (Hrsg.), Profession und Disziplin. Grundschulpädagogik im Diskurs (S. 172-177). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-13502-7_18

Project publications (journal articles and edited books):

Mühle, J., Weyers, J., König, J., Hanke, P., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Glutsch, N., Knips, C., Pohl, T., Schabmann, A., Träuble, B. & Waschewski, T. (2025). Zum Einfluss von Vermittlungsmethode, professionellem Wissen und Überzeugungen von Lehrkräften auf die Lese- und Rechtschreibleistung im schriftsprachlichen Anfangsunterricht. Unterrichtswissenschaft 53(3), 337-368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42010-025-00220-0

Mühle, J., Weyers, J., Hanke, P., König, J., Knips, C. & Pohl, T. (2024). Zur Bedeutung der Vermittlungsmethode und der professionellen Kompetenz von Lehrkräften für den Lernfortschritt von Kindern im schriftsprachlichen Anfangsunterricht. In A. Flügel, A. Gruhn, I. Landrock, J. Lange, B. Müller-Naendrup, J. Wiesemann, P. Büker & A. Rank (Hrsg.), Grundschulforschung meets Kindheitsforschung reloaded (S. 438-444). Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt. https://doi.org/10.35468/6111-45

Hanke, P. & König, J. (2024). Auf die Lehrperson, ihr Wissen und ihren Unterricht kommt es an? Professionelles Wissen von Lehrkräften, Unterrichtsqualität und Lernfortschritte von Schüler:innen im basalen Lese- und Schreibunterricht (Projekt WibaLeS). In J. König, C. Hanisch, P. Hanke, T. Hennemann, K. Kaspar, M. Martens & S. Strauß (Hrsg.), Auf die Lehrperson und ihren Unterricht kommt es an. Zehn Jahre empirische Professions- und Unterrichtsforschung im IZeF der Universität zu Köln (S. 81-101). Münster: Waxmann. https://doi.org/10.31244/9783830998761

König, J., Glutsch, N., Weyers, J., Casale, G., Hanke, P., Knips, C., Pohl, T., Waschewski, T., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Schabmann, A. & Träuble, B. (2023). Observing effective classroom management in early instruction in primary school: Rating instrument construction and its link to teacher knowledge. Discover Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-023-00058-7

König, J., Hanke, P., Glutsch, N., Jäger-Biela, D., Pohl, T., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Schabmann, A. & Waschewski, T. (2022). Teachers' professional knowledge for teaching early literacy: Conceptualization, measurement, and validation. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 34(4), 483-507. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-022-09393-z

Bruckmann, C., Glutsch, N., Pohl, T., Hanke, P. & König, J. (2019). Notwendiges Professionswissen für den basalen Lese- und Schreibunterricht aus der Sicht von Experten der Lehrerausbildung. Lehrerbildung auf dem Prüfstand, 12(1), 5-18.

Presentations:

Mühle, J., Weyers, J., Hanke, P., König, J., Knips, C. & Pohl, T. (2024). The influence of teaching method and teacher competence on learning progress in basic reading and writing lessons. Poster presentation at the Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR) in Copenhagen, July 11th 2024.

Mühle, J., Weyers, J., Hanke, P., König, J., Knips, C. & Pohl, T. (2023). Zum Einfluss von Vermittlungsmethode und Lehrkräftekompetenz auf den Lernfortschritt der Schüler*innen im basalen Lese- und Schreibunterricht. Presentation at the 31st Annual Conference of the DGfE Commission on Primary School Research at the University of Siegen, September 29th 2023.

Hanke, P., Mühle, J., König, J., Weyers, J., Pohl, T., Knips, C., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Schabmann, A. & Träuble, B. (2022). Zusammenhänge zwischen Professionswissen, Überzeugungen, Vermittlungsmethode und Schüler*innenleistungen (WibaLeS). Presentation as part of the 17th IZeF workshop "Sprachliche Bildung" at the University of Cologne, November 18th 2022.

Hanke, P., König, J., Pohl, T., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Schabmann, A. & Träuble, B. (2019). Professionelles Wissen von (angehenden) Lehrkräften zum basalen Lese- und Schreibunterricht in der Grundschule – DFG-Projekt WibaLeS. Presentation at the 7th Annual Conference of the GEBF at the University of Cologne, February 27th 2019.

Pohl, T. (2018). Professionelles Wissen von Lehrkräften, Unterrichtsqualität und Lernfortschritte von Schüler*innen im basalen Lese- und Schreibunterricht (WibaLeS). Presentation as part of the 9th IZeF workshop "Lehrer*innenkompetenzen und Unterrichtsqualität im Kontext vom Fachlichkeit" at the University of Cologne, October 26th 2018.

Hanke, P., König, J., Pohl, T., Jäger-Biela, D., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Schabmann, A., & Träuble, B. (2018). Entwicklung des professionellen Wissens von Lehramtsstudierenden zum Schrifterwerb. Presentation at the 27th Annual Conference of the DGfE Commission on Primary School Research at the University of Frankfurt, September 26th 2018.

Hanke, P., König, J., Pohl, T., Jäger-Biela, D., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Schabmann, A., & Träuble, B. (2017). Professionelles Wissen von Lehramtsstudierenden zum basalen Lesen- und Schreibenlernen - ein interdisziplinäres Projekt. Presentation at the 26th Annual Conference of the DGfE Commission on Primary School Research at the University of Koblenz-Landau, September 28th 2017.

Hanke, P., König, J., Pohl, T., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Bellmann, A. K., Schabmann, A., Schmitt, R., & Strauß, S. (2016). Professionelle Kompetenzen von angehenden Grundschullehrkräften zum basalen Lesen- und Schreibenlernen - ein interdisziplinäres Projekt. Presentation at the 25th Annual Conference of the DGfE Commission on Primary School Research at the University of Bielefeld, September 28th 2016.