In learning physics, the development of concepts and reasoning is central. A moderate constructivist point of view says that knowledge cannot be transferred from the teacher to the learner. Teachers must get sensitive to the learners’ conceptions and use them as a start for authentic learning.
Following Korthagen’s (2001) ‘setting double objectives’, if teacher educators want their student teachers to get sensitive to pupils’ ways of reasoning, they themselves have to listen carefully to their student teachers. For this, we made three steps from the very start of teacher education.
First, the lesson planning method (Van der Valk and Broekman 1999) is used. Devising a lesson about heat and temperature, a topic most student teachers have (had) problems with (Frederik e.a. 1999), three ways for increasing sensitivity to pupil reasoning were found:

• discussing the conceptual problems that appear with themselves or their peers
• evoking the problems met when they were pupils themselves
• reflecting on occasional recent teaching experiences

Second, some lessons were taught to a single pupil. Fragments showing pupil reasoning were transcribed. By discussing the transcriptions, two effective ways of dealing with pupil reasoning were identified: acknowledging or anticipating.
In complex classroom situations student teachers are too busy with classroom management to listen carefully to pupil reasoning. However, student teachers observing a lesson do have the opportunity to listen. Teaching a lesson to a class, they can try out some conceptual questions. And when reflecting they can identify pupil reasoning.
These ways of promoting sensitivity to pupil reasoning ask for a gradual increase of complexity of student teachers’ learning situation. How to fine-tune this with the trend towards school based teacher education?

References
Frederik, I., e.a. (1999). Preservice teachers and conceptual difficulties on temperature and heat. EJTE, 22(1), 61 – 74.
Korthagen, F.A.J., e.a. (2001). Linking practice and theory. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associations
Valk, T. van der, e.a. (1999). The Lesson Preparation Method. EJTE, 22(1) 11- 22.