"Teachers as Informed Pragmatists": Supporting Preservice History Teachers' Didactic Reasoning by Argumentative Writing

• In Event: Critical and Reflective Practices: Investigating Applications Across Classrooms, Schools, and Programs

Abstract

Because of the ill-structured nature of teaching, teacher students should engage in didactic reasoning to justify their didactic decisions by drawing on scientific principles and evidence. In an experimental study (N = 89), we investigated how future history teachers’ didactic reasoning can be fostered by argumentative journal writing. To facilitate the journal writing, we provided participants either (a) with a tutorial on didactic reasoning, (b) a modelling example of an argumentative journal entry, (c) both support methods, or (d) none of them. Especially the tutorial was highly effective in stimulating students’ didactic reasoning. These results are suggestive of ways how future teachers can be supported in developing reasoning skills that allow them to cope with the complex nature of teaching.

Authors

• Christina Schuba, University of Freiburg

• Matthias Nückles, University of Freiburg