This report describes a multi-year collaboration within the framework of a dance project between the Zurich Opera House (OHZ), the secondary school "Im Birch", and the Centre for School Improvement (ZSE) at the Zurich University of Teacher Education. The cultural project was initiated in response to experiences during the COVID-19 period; its aim was to strengthen the sense of belonging within the school. The report outlines the project, describes the activities, and explains how, in cooperation with the partners, the accompanying research and the format of feedback on the results were defined. Over the course of the long-term collaboration, a close connection developed between the partners, with the accompanying research framing both the further development of the project and the overall school improvement.
Schools are among the few social contexts in which children's presence is considered selfevident. As such, they represent a key setting for conducting research about young people as well as with them. However, as hierarchically organized institutions, schools are structured by pedagogical and education policy programs, spatial arrangements, generational power relations, and normative role expectations. These institutional conditions shape not only everyday school life but also the very processes of research: they influence whether participation can truly be voluntary, how children's perspectives are acknowledged and incorporated, and the extent to which research can be meaningfully participatory. Against this background, our discussion paper examines the extent to which ethically responsible research with young people is possible within school settings at all. Keywords: research; children; ethics; participation; responsibility
Against the backdrop of growing expectations for co-operation between school research and educational practice, the article aims to provide a school-pedagogical conceptualization of the frequently used yet theoretically still under-specified concept of co-construction. Starting from the premise that co-construction cannot be meaningfully conceptualized without considering the tension between knowledge-oriented and development-oriented approaches in school pedagogical research, the article conceptualizes the system-level differentiation between research and practice as a constitutive feature of their relationship. Building on this, design-and development-oriented research approaches as well as Design-Based Research, Research-Practice Partnerships and Boundary Work are discussed as complementary reference points for conceptualizing this relationship, before five structuring principles for co-constructive school improvement research are derived.
External support as school development consulting is becoming increasingly important in the context of school development processes. Important steps are taken at the beginning of a consultation in particular. However, empirical studies on this phase are rare. This article examines the initial phase of school development consulting processes at five primary schools in Austria using multi-perspective case studies. The focus is on key phenomena that can be observed during this phase.
The "ReTransfer" project developed and tested digital subject-specific training formats for the social sciences together with teachers. It focused on digital sovereignty, open educational practices, and digital subject concepts. Findings indicate strong acceptance but structural challenges. Sustainable transfer requires robust infrastructures, supportive OER cultures, and subject-specific professional development.
In this interview, Karina Karst, Professor of Empirical School Research at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, and Kornelius Knettel, Head of the Sonnenstra ss e Family Primary School Centre, reflect on the conditions, potentials, and tensions associated with school-university research collaborations. The discussion explores how partnerships between research institutions and schools can be designed to generate tangible benefits for school improvement and quality development. Particular attention is given to the role of school leadership, the importance of clearly defined goals and sustained support, and the need for collaborative relationships based on mutual respect and parity.
Empirical educational research in Germany has grown significantly, yet there is still a need for explanatory knowledge about effective measures and implementation strategies. (Quasi-)Experimental intervention studies enable conclusions to be drawn about the effectiveness and efficiency of measures, but these are rare in the school sector. This article discusses barriers and enabling conditions for conducting such studies, as well as impulses provided by research funding and cooperation with state institutes.
The report provides insights into the learning method of Research-Based Service Learning (RBSL). By linking inquiry and civic action, RBSL fosters participation, self-efficacy, deliberative competence, and epistemic judgment. Using the project "A Playground for Children's Rights" as a case study, it illustrates how schools, academia, and society can merge into a powerful learning space for democratic practice.
This article examines the concept of Transverdisal Teaching (TT) as an interdisciplinary approach to lesson planning within the framework of sustainable education. TT promotes subject-specific and cross-curricular skills by enabling learners to systematically tackle complex topics from multiple perspectives, recognize connections, tolerate contradictions, and make responsible decisions. Based on a systematic typology of TT-win-win, subject concept, questioning, and judgement formation-, it demonstrates how learners in primary school, especially in kindergarten and lower primary school (cycle 1), can be introduced to the connection between subject perspectives. The concept distinguishes between incidental and intentional TT in order to combine playful, self-directed learning in kindergarten with structured competence development in primary school. For teachers, TT increases demands on subject-specific and subject-didactical competence, reflective ability, and the ability to collaborate across disciplines and subjects. In terms of teacher training, this means preparing students specifically for the planning and implementation of TT and educational processes. TT contributes significantly to sustainable education by combining subject knowledge with subject-specific and interdisciplinary skills, while also providing impetus for further research and innovative lesson planning.
The state of health and sick leave are integral parts of the (media) portrayal of the teaching profession in public. Given the lack of meaningful data and research findings, it is difficult to say anything about the health of teachers, especially in comparison to other occupational groups. In particular, it is unclear whether teachers suffer from (long-term) illness due to their profession. This article examines the extent and development of longterm illness among teachers in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) on the basis of official statistics. With the exception of grammar schools, there has been a steady increase in the number of teachers suffering from long-term illness over a period of 18 years for all types of schools. The values are particularly high at secondary schools. However, the proportion of teaching hours lost due to long-term illness averages only 1.16 per cent.
The term cross-curricular tasks refers to educationally important topics that are not tied to a single subject but must be integrated across the entire school curriculum. This report highlights current trends in curriculum development and shows that cross-curricular tasks have become a central focus in many federal states. At the same time, there are significant differences in how these tasks are conceptualized and implemented in the curricula of different states.
In light of the current political and societal crises around the world, problem-solving learning has gained renewed importance for schools and teaching. It presents a pedagogical challenge to address problems that allow students to develop and practice the competence of problem-solving. This article focuses on project-based learning, which, however, shows considerable conceptual vagueness and signs of dissolution-both in educational discourse and in the implementation of project weeks in schools. Therefore, it argues for a renewed anchoring of project-based learning in the philosophical foundations of John Dewey. In this context, the connection to cross-curricular learning forms a necessary linkage.
In the wake of changing social conditions in schools and education, so-called cross-curricular issues are increasingly becoming the focus of education policy discussions. Topics such as sustainability, digitalization, inclusion, and democracy education place new demands and expectations on teaching, schools and teacher education. Despite this growing importance, there is still no systematic theoretical foundation for the concept of cross-curricular issues. The ten theses argued in this article aim to sharpen the concept theoretically, determine its scope, and highlight implications for teacher education.
This article focuses on the didactic significance of multiperspectivity in basic social and natural science education (Sachunterricht) as an integrative principle for addressing cross-curricular issues such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and mobility. Cross-curricular issues are characterized by their societal relevance and their trans-disciplinary nature, which inherently calls for an interdisciplinary didactic approach. Given its self-conception as a multiperspective subject, Sachunterricht appears particularly well suited for their implementation. Multiperspectivity is, however, defined and legitimated in different ways in the discourse. Using ESD and mobility as examples, the article critically illustrates how existing educational concepts particularly fall short of normative expectations. This raises the question of how to deal didactically with the normative framing of cross-curricular topics and how to reflect upon this framing in the classroom. Multiperspectivity as didactic principle offers a potential didactic pathway for engaging with socially relevant questions in a participatory and educationally meaningful way.
The article links educational-theoretical approaches to transformative learning with both subject-specific and cross-curricular perspectives on sustainable development and integrates them into a didactically useful model: the "apple ring with a bite". From an educational-theoretical point of view, education in the context of sustainable development must not be understood as a steering instrument for achieving predefined goals, but rather as an open process of appropriating self and world. In this process, learners engage with complexity, controversy, and emotionality, reflect on value orientations and ethical questions, and explore different options for action. The necessary subject-specific foundation for this can be conceptualized as education in sustainable development, which complements existing conceptions of ESD. Sustainability science is identified as the central disciplinary reference point. For didactic implementation, the apple ring is proposed as a design tool that translates this theoretical perspective into a (trans-)disciplinary structure, making both planetary boundaries and socio-economic minimum standards visible. On the basis of the apple ring, teachers can design learning environments in which scientific, ethical, and socio-political dimensions are linked in a multi-perspectival way. Examples related to global and national distributive justice illustrate how the apple ring can be used for the didactic treatment of controversial issues. In this article, we use the German term "Didaktik der Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaft" to refer to the emerging field of sustainability science education, that is, the theory and research on teaching and learning in sustain-ability science. The model thus serves as an initial conceptual approach to a Didaktik der Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaft and offers a bridge between theoretical reflection and practice-oriented lesson design.
Mit Ratifizierung der UN-Konvention über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderungen (UN-BRK) hat sich Deutschland vor mehr als 15 Jahren dazu verpflichtet, Menschen mit Behinderungen den Zugang zum Arbeitsmarkt zu ermöglichen und so dazu beizutragen, dass diese selbstständig ihren Lebensunterhalt verdienen können (Art. 27 UN-BRK). Erst seit einigen Jahren rückt die Analyse der Übergänge von Jugendlichen mit Behinderungen von der Schule in den Ausbildungsmarkt verstärkt in den Fokus. Der Beitrag stellt den aktuellen Kenntnisstand zu den nachschulischen Übergängen von Jugendlichen mit Behinderungen in Deutschland sowie ihren Einflussfaktoren dar und endet mit Schlussfolgerungen für Forschung, Bildungsadministration und -praxis.
Seitdem Deutschland 2009 die Behindertenrechtskonvention der Vereinten Nationen (UNBRK) ratifiziert hat, gibt es auch in der Berufsausbildung Debatten zu Inklusion. Die hier zur Diskussion gestellten Reformvorschläge zur Gestaltung inklusiver Berufsausbildung stützen sich auf die UN-BRK und ihr grundlegendes Verständnis von „Diskriminierung“ (Art. 2 UN-BRK), Inklusion (Art. 24 UN-BRK) und den von den Staaten dazu zu treffenden „angemessenen Vorkehrungen“ (Art. 2 UN-BRK).
Mit Längsschnittdaten aus der Schweiz wird in der vorliegenden Studie untersucht, inwiefern Lernende mit reduzierten individuellen Lernzielen (RILZ) in Berufsausbildungen eintreten können, die den Anforderungen ihres Wunschberufs entsprechen. Die Resultate zeigen, dass Lernende mit RILZ systematisch häufiger schulisch weniger anforderungsreiche Ausbildungen aufnehmen als vergleichbare Lernende ohne RILZ.
Der Zustand von Schulgebäuden ist ein relevanter Faktor für den Bildungserfolg von Schüler*innen. Darum kommt den kommunalen Investitionen in diesem Bereich besondere Bedeutung zu. Der vorliegende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, wie diese sich zuletzt entwickelt haben. Ein vertiefter Blick wird auf die Investitionen geworfen, die von kommunalen Unternehmen erbracht und darum außerhalb des Blickfelds der amtlichen Statistik getätigt werden. Es zeigt sich, dass es um den Zustand zahlreicher Schulgebäude nicht gut bestellt ist.
Das Diskussionspapier der Leopoldina zu den Risiken der Digitalisierung für die psychische Gesundheit von Jugendlichen hat eine enorme öffentliche Resonanz erfahren. Im Mittelpunkt des Papiers steht eine gesundheitswissenschaftliche Perspektive, die sich vor allem auf den Bedarf an gesetzlicher Regulierung und gesundheitspädagogischer Prävention konzentriert. Der vorliegende Diskussionsbeitrag erweitert diese Sichtweise um eine schul- und jugendpädagogische Perspektive und plädiert für eine integrierende mehrdimensionale Betrachtung jenseits von Vereinseitigungen. Beide Perspektiven sollten komplementär gedacht und schulpraktisch integriert werden.
