Bridging knowledge gaps: collaborative lesson planning as a pathway to professional development for out-of-field teachers in primary social and science education

In Germany, career changers and lateral entrants are increasingly deployed in primary schools – and thus in PSSE (Destatis 2025). This practice poses substantial challenges given the subject’s multi-perspectival complexity and dual-connectivity function. Through a standardised questionnaire distributed to primary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (N = 327 teachers), this investigation compares planning practices between out-of-field teachers engaged in collaborative versus individual planning. Drawing on Kirsch’s (2020, 2022) framework of instructional planning in PSSE, the study analyses which specific planning dimensions – including content determination, objective setting, perspective integration, methodological-media selection, detailed instructional design, and assessment planning – are addressed during different planning modes. Additionally, teachers’ perceptions of CLP benefits and challenges are examined. Findings reveal that collaborative planning substantially enhances engagement with perspective integration and strengthens systematic attention to lifeworld connectivity and formative assessment practices. However, individual planning maintains advantages in student-responsive flexibility, whilst media selection shows unexpected reversal patterns warranting further investigation. Results suggest that CLP particularly supports competencies requiring navigation of PSSE’s multi-perspectival complexity, though gaps remain in addressing implementation details. Implications include developing school-based collaborative structures and targeted professionalisation programmes for out-of-field teachers in this foundational primary subject.