Characteristics of interconnected professional knowledge across domains in student teachers of German

Abstract

This study investigates the different characteristics of professional knowledge in terms of content and structure, which interconnects literary and pedagogical knowledge across dimensions. The focus of this study is thus the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of student teachers, which is understood as a subarea of subject didactic teacher knowledge. A sample of Bachelor's and Master's students of German (n = 96) was confronted with a lesson planning vignette constructed with built-in problems. This vignette was to be assessed by the students in an open-ended question and answer format and possibly supplemented by alternatives. Content analysis of the student teachers’ answers shows that the examined PCK can differ with regard to the chosen thematic focus (pedagogical, subject-specific, balanced) as well as to the chosen mode of linking (additive, exemplifying, integrating). The system of different characteristics developed here allows for identifying specific challenges for teaching students regarding the cognitive processes of interconnecting different areas of knowledge and thus provides the basis for targeted diagnostics as a basis for university teaching.