Social Science Education

In its research, the research and teaching unit concentrates on six research fields: Theory and concepts of (I.) social science education and (II.) socio-economic education, (III.) subject-didactic socialisation research, (IV.) teaching research and (V.) diagnostics as well as (VI.) teacher profession research.

In the field of internationalisation of research, the research and teaching unit has been committed to cooperation and networking in the didactics of social sciences in Europe and neighbouring regions since its foundation in 2002. In 2002, the Journal of Social Science Education (JSSE ) was founded on the initiative of the research and teaching unit. It brings together discourses on didactics in the social sciences and is published and organised by the Bielefeld Faculty of Sociology. At the same time, the working area carried out a project on the structures of specialised didactic research in Europe (2003-2005). This resulted in the "Networking European Citizenship Education " (NECE) network in 2006 with the support of the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
Another focus of the research and teaching unit is research on civic education in post-socialist countries. This has resulted, for example, in thematic issues of the JSSE(2-2007, 1-2008) and in international symposia organised by the research and teaching unit in Bielefeld and Berlin (2007), Sofia (2008) and St. Petersburg (2009).

Another international focus is on critical research on education for political participation; this was the subject of a workshop in Hamburg (2011), among others, and research results were published in the book "Education for Civic and Political Participation" (2013)

Research fields in the didactics of the social sciences The topics listed here not only represent the research activities of the members of the research and teaching unit, but are also reflected in their courses.

I. Theory and concepts of social science education

• Competence-orientated social science education
• Integrative, i.e. transdisciplinary conception of social science education, in the context of which (young) citizens deal with conditional factors, possibilities and limits of the political organisation of a society with a high quality of life in a scientifically sound manner
• Conception of practical projects for the planning and implementation of integrative social science lessons
• Social sciences in learning field didactics in the vocational education sector
• Textbook development and accompanying research for school education programmes (e.g. 14plus)
• Comparative curriculum analysis

II. Theory and conceptualisation of socio-economic education

• Comparative analysis of theoretical concepts of economic education
• Importance of criticism and controversy in the theory and practice of economic education, e.g. in general financial education as well as labour and socio-political education
• Conceptualisation of socio-economic education with a focus on subjectivation and agency in the context of the historical relationship between the economy and society
• Conception of an integrative education on political systems theory with systematic inclusion of relevant theories and research results of (constitutional) economics

III. didactic socialisation research

• Education for Diversity (analysis of EU education policy initiatives to promote acceptance of social diversity and a European identity)
• Social science education with the "educationally disadvantaged"

IV. Teaching research in social science education

• Analysing the effectiveness of teaching on the acquisition of economic knowledge and on the shaping of economic attitudes, in particular with regard to current economic policy
• Theory and practice of citizenship education
  • in the context of the democratic transformation of formerly authoritarian political regimes, especially in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe
  • in the context of Europeanisation and globalisation
• Social science experiments as a method of research-based learning

V. Subject-specific didactic diagnostics in social science education

• Pupils' perceptions and beliefs about economic phenomena such as labour and unemployment
• Analysing the significance of emotions and metacognitions for social science learning

VI. teacher professional research

• Teacher knowledge and knowledge beliefs
• Teacher socialisation and teacher beliefs in initial and in-service teacher training in the social sciences

The acquisition of social expertise, orientation and action competence as the basis for political, economic and social maturity is one of the profile-forming characteristics of the research and teaching unit's teaching. This presupposes that students and pupils at schools acquire the ability to analyse social problems from different, controversial social science perspectives and to relate the results of their analysis to one another. Furthermore, the Bielefeld approach recognises that social problems are transdisciplinary and usually controversial and that their analysis and treatment require the use of a variety of theoretical and empirical approaches from the social sciences as well as the interpretation of different interests. In our view, this means that plural and controversial approvals for describing, analysing, interpreting and assessing are a basic prerequisite for learning and studying in the social sciences. The development and review of the concept of socio-economic education is also part of this context.
Based on our understanding of social science education, learning content must be grounded in the lifeworld of the learners when didactically analysed. We see the central task of didactics of social science at Bielefeld University as qualifying future teachers to support learners in acquiring political, economic and social maturity as well as social participation in social responsibility.
The Bielefeld tradition of social science education goes back to the 1970s. In the field of economic didactics, it was above all Peter Weinbrenner who, from the mid-1970s onwards, established and further developed an approach to socio-economic education that was both social-scientific and critical of ideology, and later also ecologically orientated. His concept of labour-oriented political education is also taken up and continued in the working area. Friedrich-Wilhelm Dörge developed an education for responsible consumers. In the field of social science didactics, Jürgen Feldhoff and Karl A. Otto at the Faculty of Sociology developed a sensational "work placement project" in the 1980s, which was sociologically based and critically designed. At Bielefeld University, Gerd E. Famulla conducted a critical, sociological examination of the prevailing business administration theory and the human image of homo oeconomicus. This is also where he developed his concepts of vocational and working world orientation; Doris Lemmermöhle's gender-sensitive social science concepts of vocational orientation also originate from Bielefeld research contexts. Joachim Kahlert developed the transdisciplinary concept of "didactic networks" for the didactics of Integrated Studies for Primary Education ("Sachunterricht") and Dietmar von Reeken presented integrative concepts for historical and political learning.
All approaches were critically orientated towards social problems. Today, the working area Didactics of Social Sciences is committed to the tradition of interdisciplinarity, social science integration, problem-orientation and critical reflection.
Since the start date of social science teacher training, Bielefeld University has implemented its founding idea of interdisciplinarity and subsequently developed innovative integrative study forms and course formats. The historical dimension of social conditions and the historical shape of the social sciences were present in central courses through the participation of the Department of History. Innovative teaching formats for the structured integration of different disciplinary perspectives still characterise teacher training at the Faculty of Sociology today.

Guidelines for scientific work in the social science education

Please refer to the electronic course catalogue (ekvv) for coures organised by the research and teaching unit 9.