Daycare groups, especially in cities, are nowhere near as diverse as the population structure in the surrounding community. Why is that and what does it mean? Education professor, Dr Johanna Mierendorff, talks about the findings of her research project “Preschool provision and segregation”. Read more
Prof Georg Theunissen holds the only chair of pedagogy for autism in the German-speaking world. He is committed to an innovative scientific approach to the topic in Germany. Autistic people in Germany are still discriminated against and excluded rather than respected and included. This is not only due to widespread ignorance, but also to the fact that the perspectives of those affected are not as much in the foreground as in the USA, Canada or Australia. Read more
A good education is the key to success. That is why parents look for the best schools for their children, and principals make every effort to ensure that their school enjoys a good reputation. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) funded research group 1612 "Mechanismen der Elitebildung im deutschen Bildungssystem" (“Mechanisms of Elite Formation in the German Educational System”) based at the University of Halle has been investigating the extent of these developments and their impact on society since 2011. In an interview, the group's spokespersons Professor Werner Helsper and Professor Heinz-Hermann Krüger summarise selected results. Read more
Field research is not limited to the natural sciences. Fieldwork is often conducted in the humanities and social sciences, too. But how? Professor Georg Breidenstein and two of his colleagues describe how it is done in the textbook “Ethnografie – die Praxis der Feldforschung” (Ethnography – the Practice of Fieldwork). In an interview, the educationalist discusses why participatory observation is necessary and what makes social science fieldwork special. Read more