Table 1 Individual categories underlying the facilitators’ materialized adaptation actions

 Accounting for novice teachers’ learning starting points

“One participant brought in . . . [ideas from preliminary courses] and then we talked about it. . . . There, I think, it has proven useful, that they had heard that before.” (Ms. Sour, Interview Turn 98)

 Accounting for perceived learning needs, especially support for concrete teaching demands

“And, first of all, they are expected to teach autonomously. And then they need to plan teaching units and lessons. Previously I have started my seminars with planning a [single] lesson but . . . they need the context in which it is embedded and not to start from the single lesson goal.” (Ms. Rice, Interview Turn 50)

 Accounting for danger of novice teachers’ theoretical overload

“I have chosen to take a different path, as I once had started with the basic module which totally overstrained my folks.” (Mr. Soc, Interview Turn 31)

 Accounting for the school context of the individual novice teacher

“Do you have to show the relevance [of language] for the context?” . . . “There are comprehensive schools and grammar schools as well, depending on their social catchment area, where it is specifically important.” (Ms. Sour, Interview Turn 122)

 Evaluating novice teachers’ learning processes

“The novice teachers have to think about what the pupils should do and how they have to communicate this. . . . In any case this has truly been worthwhile, because no matter at what point and no matter how smoothly this worked out, they were always forced to reflect on it in advance and to anticipate.” (Ms. Rice, Interview Turn 12)

 Thematic focus/theoretical construct is (perceived as) difficult

“Well, no idea. I found that rather difficult for me. . . . But sometimes I really doubted whether you can expect this [theoretical construct] of them.” (Ms. Rice, Interview Turn 8)

 Inner structure of the PD content requires other sequencing

“They need to understand the epistemic function of language before they can plan a teaching unit.” (Ms. Farm, Group Discussion 3)

 Thematic focus is already known

“I found indeed that the modules for the learning target and activating the communication were well—unnecessary. Actually, there was nothing new to me in the sense of an insight or a basic idea that I could not have integrated before.” (Mr. Soc, Interview Turn 80)

 Fit to the mathematical topic in view

“I embedded the example with fractions when we were talking about fractions.” (Ms. Blake, Group Discussion 2)

 Relevance of the thematic focus

“If I cannot express something . . . I cannot understand it. In some way I must be able to verbalize things that I want to understand. Establishing connections and explaining as well, there’s students’ problem.” (Ms. Sour, Interview Turn 14)

 Fit to overarching PD program

“Why have you chosen the modules ‘targets’ and “?” . . . I have worked through the topics of the project materials, but in the end these are the normal topics you discuss in the seminars.” (Ms. Rice, Interview Turn 20)

 Fit to sequence structure of the PD material

“After all, the PD syllabus outlines quite a bit, what they need to have covered in the first quarter, like, from now on until summer break, and that’s what I consider.” (Ms. Sour, Interview Turn 131)

 Restrictions by time frame until autonomous teaching

“And also regarding the time aspect, because we can only dispose of [the time range] from May until summer break to get them to the point where they are able to teach autonomously.” (Ms. Sour, Interview Turn 51)

 Restrictions by organizational time frame

“I’ve made the decision to take another way. . . . simply without theoretical lead-in, as part of a group observation, which already is planned within the scope of a day of study here . . . and then only as a second step. . .” (Mr. Soc, Interview Turn 31)