No Time for what really matters?

On experiencing time and time practices in school teacher induction from an autoethnographic perspective

Abstract

German school teacher training is increasingly well researched, but experiences of time and time practices are conceptualized differently: Professionalization studies focus on pedagogical norms in time practices and development. Counseling literature offers very general yet normative pieces of advice fit for any new job. And more descriptively arguing, practice theory emphasizes the material and non-material conditions of teacher training. Therefore, I inquire my own experiences concerning time during teacher training from an autoethnographic perspective. Experiences of normative pedagogical challenges are complemented by experiences of non-pedagogical yet systematic challenges, undermining the pedagogical ones. This leads to a metaphorical conception of pedagogical psychology’s concept of time on task for teacher training and to a perspective on the contradicting time regimes in the institutions of teacher induction.