Abstract
University-based teacher programs face the challenge of preparing prospective teachers for the professional practice (Grossman et al., 2009). In order to facilitate knowledge transfer into teaching practice, pre-service teachers need to consciously apply their professional knowledge during lesson planning (LP) by formulating predictions about the expected learning effects of their planned activities upon students’ thinking and justifying them with arguments based on teaching and learning principles (Hiebert, Morris, Berk, & Jansen, 2007; Stender, 2014). Based on these considerations, a new LP template was implemented in a teacher training program in order to examine to what extent pre-service teachers were able to formulate predictions and justify them by drawing on professional knowledge. By means of case analysis, the development of interest in teaching and learning as well as in teacher’s professional vision (PV) skills during the first study year was explored, focusing on pre-service teachers with either the two best or the two worst lesson plans after one year. A wide range was found in the quality of the predictions and justifications: From pre-service teachers that could not formulate any correct prediction and justified them with overgeneralizing arguments until those ones that formulated several correct predictions, justified them in detail and supported their arguments with references. Further, at the end of the first study year, pre-service teachers with the best lesson plans showed a higher PV and interest in courses on pedagogical content knowledge, than those ones with the worst lesson plans.