Comparing the effects of a specific task instruction and prompts on pre-service teachers’ noticing of classroom management situations

Abstract Attending to relevant information in complex classroom situations can be a challenging task for pre-service teachers which is why teacher education programs often use authentic classroom videos to scaffold pre-service teachers’ professional vision. However, to date, it remains unclear which instructions can guide pre-service teachers’ attention toward classroom management situations to promote the early development of teacher professional vision. This mixed-methods study ( n = 85 pre-service teachers) compared effects of (a) a specific task instruction before watching a classroom video and (b) prompts during the classroom video on noticing—indicated by the number, velocity, and relevance of identified classroom management situations. Controlling for mental effort and pedagogical-psychological knowledge, t -Tests showed both types of instruction to have a similar attention-guiding effect. Qualitative analyses of retrospective interviews revealed that pre-service teachers identified verbal reactive classroom management strategies more easily than nonverbal strategies when observing experienced teachers in the classroom videos. We discuss specific task instructions as an economic alternative to the use of prompts in video-based teacher education and—based on our qualitative findings—provide directions for future research.