<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This paper introduces a novel teacher training format, the “Teaching and Learning Laboratory-Seminar” (<italic>TLL-S</italic>) which was first implemented at <italic>Freie Universität</italic> Berlin in 2016. The <italic>TLL-S</italic> serves as a response to the demand for both more and better field experiences during early teacher training. There is strong evidence to assume that field experience is most effective when linked to such theory inputs perceived by trainees as relevant and embedded into reflective field experiences. Thus, the <italic>TLL-S</italic>-intiatives delineated here were designed according to a common framework defining a fixed set of consecutive steps allowing teacher trainees to first familiarize themselves with didactic theories, exploring them in a sphere of reduced complexity, and eventually reflecting their experiences. Consequently, the main objective of this paper is to trace and report the effects of the <italic>TLL-S</italic> on teacher trainees’ <italic>self-efficacy</italic> development and perception of <italic>‘relevance of theoretical contents for practice’</italic> in four subject domains (i.e. didactics of English, History, Physics, and Primary Education). Preliminary results indicate that complexity reduction of the practice environment provided by the <italic>TLL-S</italic> allegedly stabilizes teacher trainees’ <italic>self-efficacy</italic> even after repeated field experiences across all subject domains. Furthermore, ‘relevance of theoretical contents for practice’ was rated higher for the <italic>TLL-S</italic> than for previous university training formats.</p>
</abstract>

This paper introduces a novel teacher training format, the “Teaching and Learning Laboratory-Seminar” (TLL-S) which was first implemented at Freie Universität Berlin in 2016. The TLL-S serves as a response to the demand for both more and better field experiences during early teacher training. There is strong evidence to assume that field experience is most effective when linked to such theory inputs perceived by trainees as relevant and embedded into reflective field experiences. Thus, the TLL-S-intiatives delineated here were designed according to a common framework defining a fixed set of consecutive steps allowing teacher trainees to first familiarize themselves with didactic theories, exploring them in a sphere of reduced complexity, and eventually reflecting their experiences. Consequently, the main objective of this paper is to trace and report the effects of the TLL-S on teacher trainees’ self-efficacy development and perception of ‘relevance of theoretical contents for practice’ in four subject domains (i.e. didactics of English, History, Physics, and Primary Education). Preliminary results indicate that complexity reduction of the practice environment provided by the TLL-S allegedly stabilizes teacher trainees’ self-efficacy even after repeated field experiences across all subject domains. Furthermore, ‘relevance of theoretical contents for practice’ was rated higher for the TLL-S than for previous university training formats.

Realizing theory-practice transfer in German teacher education: Tracing preliminary effects of a complexity reduced teacher training format on trainees from four subject domains on students’ perception of ‘self-efficacy’ and ‘relevance of theoretical contents for practice’

Postdoctoral researcher currently employed both, at the Didactics of English at Freie Universität Berlin and at the Universität Potsdam

Head of the didactics of English at Freie Universität Berlin

Postdoctoral researcher in primary science education at Freie Universität Berlin

Head of the didactics of physics at Freie Universität Berlin

PhD candidate at the didactics of history at Freie Universität Berlin

Head of the didactics of history at Freie Universität Berlin

PhD candidate in primary science education at Freie Universität Berlin

Head of primary science education at Freie Universität Berlin

Research in Subject-matter Teaching and Learning (RISTAL)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

This paper introduces a novel teacher training format, the “Teaching and Learning Laboratory-Seminar” (TLL-S) which was first implemented at Freie Universität...

Realizing theory-practice transfer in German teacher education: Tracing preliminary effects of a complexity reduced teacher training format on trainees from four subject domains on students’ perception of ‘self-efficacy’ and ‘relevance of theoretical contents for practice’

Published Online: Jun 14, 2022

Page range: 51 - 68

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23770/rt1824

Keywords
Field practice, teacher training, theory-practice transfer, self-efficacy, subject specificity

© 2018 Christiane Klempin et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Realizing theory-practice transfer in German teacher education: Tracing preliminary effects of a complexity reduced teacher training format on trainees from four subject domains on students’ perception of ‘self-efficacy’ and ‘relevance of theoretical contents for practice’

Published Online: Jun 14, 2022

Page range: 51 - 68

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23770/rt1824

KeywordsField practice, teacher training, theory-practice transfer, self-efficacy, subject specificity

© 2018 Christiane Klempin et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Field practice, teacher training, theory-practice transfer, self-efficacy, subject specificity