Early childhood and primary education

The professorship of Educational Science, especially Primary Education with a focus on diversity in Preschool and Primary Education, deals with issues of diversity, multiplicity, and related disadvantages and disabilities in the context of preschool and primary education, compulsory schooling, and childhood. Addressing the fact that schools, including the pre-primary and primary sectors, are challenged to reduce existing educational inequalities and provide equal opportunities for participation is a central task in democratic societies and a human right. Understanding the (re)production of educational inequality, which in Germany, compared to other democratic countries, is particularly evident in the high degree of disadvantage of students from non-privileged socio-economic (extra)familial backgrounds with regards to access to and participation in educational and learning opportunities, is a central topic of the research area. Preschool and primary school research as well as childhood development research are needed to study childhood, child socialization, education, and upbringing in the context of the current and constantly changing social situation. The Anthropocene is characterized not only by cultural and social diversity, but also by new relationships between education and technology, such as digital artifacts and social media, and by uncertain futures and crises, which include climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to questions about the experience of diversity and multiplicity in social and school spaces, the topic of childhood in the Anthropocene and children’s experiences of this era is a desideratum that the department will address in research and teaching in the coming years. The approach will be based on the current state of international research and international comparative perspectives with a focus on the social educational institutions of preschool and compulsory school age.