Investigating Pre-service Teachers’ Professional Vision Within University-Based Teacher Education

Abstract

The development of generic pedagogical competencies is regarded as a key element of university-based teacher education. In the Observe project, the professional vision of pre-service teachers is investigated as an indicator of the acquisition of applicable generic pedagogical knowledge with regard to important teaching and learning components. With the aim of bridging the research gap regarding the relationship between professional knowledge acquisition and professional practice, the structure of pre-service teachers’ professional vision was modeled and then empirically tested using the Observer, a standardized yet contextualized instrument. Changes in the professional vision of pre-service teachers within university-based teacher education were measured, and approaches were developed to connect professional vision with teaching action in the classroom. In this chapter, we present a project overview and the most important findings of our research activities during the last 6 years.