Analyse von schriftlichen Unterrichtsplanungen: Empirische Befunde zur didaktischen Adaptivität als Aspekt der Planungskompetenz angehender Lehrkräfte

Abstract

Planning decisions of expert teachers are inextricably linked to the specific teaching demands of the learning group. This study focuses on situational aspects through an examination of selected extracts of written lesson plans of trainee teachers, which are constructively conceptualized and then empirically measured. We highlight pedagogical adaptivity (i.e. the ways in which the cognitive requirements of the learning group fit with the assignments of the respective lesson) as a central generic task. This conceptualization is operationalized using several indicators (analysis criteria) to reconstruct and quantify planning decisions from written lesson plans. The data set comprises the written plans of demonstration lessons of 106 trainee teachers in Berlin at two points in time (the beginning and end of the second phase of initial teacher training). Findings confirm that differently complex analysis criteria used in a Rasch analysis show different item difficulty. Planning competence can be measured in a reliable way and, as expected, increases during the second phase of initial teacher training. In addition, inter-correlative analyses using external criteria (grades from second and third level education, professional beliefs about teaching and learning) prove the construct validity. An additional sample of 22 teacher candidates from the Cologne region, used to analyze the relation between planning competence and student ratings on the lesson taught, provide some initial insights into the measure’s predictive validity. Limitations of the methodological approach and implications for teacher education are discussed.