In this paper, we present a didactical learning setting using podcasts to foster the professional vision of classroom management in teacher education. In higher education, podcasts are being used for more than 20 years. They show positive effects on learning in higher education. Podcasts can be used to provide additional content to learners or revising certain topics. They are also beneficial for learning environments, for instance, when the interaction between students needs to be supported by a specific media type (Pegrum & Longnecker, 2015; McGarr, 2009; Jenkins & Lonsdale, 2008; Lazzari, 2008). In teacher education, cooperative learning and reflective practice can be facilitated by producing podcasts and discussing new content with peers. In a collaborative, co-constructive, and reflective setting, discourse improves deep learning (Decker et al., 2015).The creation of knowledge and consolidation of conceptual knowledge is often documented in self-created podcasts in electronic portfolios. Moreover, student teachers are able to see how their knowledge develops from the beginning of their studies until they are in-service teachers. The learning environment is also designed for the students to get to know their prior beliefs (Russell & Martin, 2016) and to provide opportunities for adapting them.

Employing podcasts for co-constructing knowledge and for verbalizing beliefs intends to foster pre-service teachers’ professional vision of classroom management. To recognize relevant teaching and learning situations, the use of professional knowledge needs to be part of professional vision (Sherin & van Es, 2009). Professional vision is based on knowledge and observation. It describes how teachers observe and interpret events and situations (Gold & Holodynski, 2017; Sherin & van Es, 2009). Observation and interpretation are iterating processes which are based on the connection of theoretical knowledge with specific situations in practice and relate to the student teachers’ beliefs (Blömeke, 2011). On the one hand, student teachers acquire professional knowledge during their studies, on the other hand, their beliefs filter the new knowledge gained (König et al., 2014). We focus on the professional knowledge of classroom management because it has been proven for several years now that classroom management is an important topic for pre-service teachers and a central competence for in-service teachers (e.g., Emmer & Sabornie, 2015). Moreover, it is recommended to foster classroom management skills early during teacher education (Stough & Montague, 2015). 

In our study, we focus on pre-service teacher competences regarding their professionalvision of classroom management. The question was developed in a project of the program ‘Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung’, a joint initiative of the Federal Government and federal states, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Within the didactical setting, the student teachers create two podcasts in tandems: The first one is recorded based on prior beliefs and without any theoretical knowledge about classroom management. The second podcast is recorded by the same tandem at the end of the semester, after they acquired theoretical knowledge about classroom management in a lecture during the semester. As it is already known, collaboration of pre-service teachers with in-service teachers is effective in terms of learning classroom management strategies in teacher education (Brownell, Ross, Colón, & Mc Callum, 2005; Berliner, 2001). We ask, whether the student teachers’ professional vision of classroom management is enhanced by learning in collaborative settings? Furthermore, the question how their knowledge develops during the semester and whether their beliefs change, is posed. 

Based on these questions, it will be examined whether the production of podcasts is suitable as a didactical element in higher education to foster the professional vision of classroom management during teacher education.The professional vision is seen as an indicator for the application of acquired competences in pedagogical situations.

Our didactical learning setting in higher education is framed by the following question: Does a learning environment, in which student teachers acquire knowledge about classroom management via co-constructive podcasts, support the student teachers in acquiring professional vision? A pre-post group design examines how professional vision changes over the course of the first semester. Between the pre- and posttest, the student teachers (N = 216) record two podcasts in tandems, one at the beginning of the semester, the second at the end of the semester. Between the first and second recording, they attend a lecture about classroom management and read specialized pedagogical literature. Therefore, the second podcast recording is more knowledge-based. The dependent variable ‘professional vision of classroom management’ is ascertained with a video-based online test, using two measuring times as well as the three dimensions ‘monitoring’, ‘structuring’, and ‘rules and routines’ (Gold & Holodynski, 2017). The instrument is reliable and valid (Gold & Holodynski, 2017). At both measurement points, the podcasts (108 podcasts at t1 and 108 podcasts at t2) are coded by an evaluative content analysis. The dimensions are ‘conceptual knowledge of classroom management’ and ‘beliefs concerning classroom management’, with the subdimensions of ‘reactive and preventive beliefs’. The intercoder reliability is rα = .81 between the three coders. The expected results aim to test the following hypotheses: a) In the posttest, the student teachers achieve better results in professional vision of classroom management compared to the pretest. b) In the second podcast, the student teachers demonstrate more conceptual and procedural knowledge compared to the first podcast. c) In the second podcast, the student teachers verbalize more preventive beliefs than reactive beliefs concerning classroom management compared to the first podcast. In addition, a regression analysis will be used to investigate the influence of knowledge and beliefs about classroom management on the professional vision of classroom management. Co-variates are analyzed as well (gender, age, study program for teacher training, experiences in practice).

In a preliminary study of the present paper, we found that about 20 percent of the variance of professional vision concerning classroom management can be explained via the dimension ‘rules and routines’ (corr. R2 = 0.208; p < 0.05). The didactical learning environment was constructed so that teacher students were asked to analyze videos of lessons via collaborative podcasts (experimental group, N = 104). In the comparison group (N = 92), the teacher students analyzed videos in individual writing assignments. It is shown that the analysis of the classroom situation in podcasts has a small positive impact on the professional vision of classroom management, while the written analysis has a negative impact. This result indicates that co-creating podcasts is one way to provide student teachers with opportunities to learn co-constructively with each other and from each other, starting from the beginning of their teacher education program. Various studies (see an overview in Emmer & Sabornie, 2015; starting with Kounin, 1970) have investigated the significance of classroom management techniques. In the context of professional perception, however, it is also known that both conceptual knowledge and beliefs serve as filters for perception and interpretation (König et al., 2014). This aspect is central to the study at hand.

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