The ‘Institut für Film und Bild’ and the public

It is the task of the Institute to produce audio-visual aids for all kinds of schools, youth and adult education and to develop educational equipment for the introduction of these aids. This task makes it essential that information reaches the public. To be able to plan the production in such a way that it meets the demands of the schools, youth and adult education establishments, the Institute needs a flow of information from the public. To convert the information thus obtained into production, it has to be collated in the Institute.     

Der Internationale Beirat der Unesco für Lehrplanfragen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Zur Gründung der „Deutschen Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft”

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

„Wirtschaftsseminare für Lehrer“ in West-Berlin

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Sind Modelle der Item-Response-Theorie (IRT) das „Mittel der Wahl“ für die Modellierung von Kompetenzen?

Item response theory (IRT) models can be subsumed under the larger class of statistical models with latent variables. IRT models are increasingly used for the scaling of the responses derived from standardized assessments of competencies. The paper summarizes the strengths of IRT in contrast to more traditional techniques as well as in contrast to alternative models with latent variables (e. g. structural equation modeling). Subsequently, specific limitations of IRT and cases where other methods might be preferable are lined out.     

Die Bedeutung der Niedersächsischen Orientierungsstufe für den Ausgleich sozialer Disparitäten in der Bildungsbeteiligung

Zusammenfassung Die fl?chendeckende Einführung der Orientierungsstufe in Niedersachsen war eng mit dem Ziel des Ausgleichs sozialer Benachteiligung verbunden. Bis vor kurzem lagen jedoch kaum Erkenntnisse darüber vor, wie die Wirksamkeit dieser Schulstufe unter den Bedingungen eines obligatorischen Regelangebots einzusch?tzen ist. Im vorlie genden Beitrag wird überprüft, inwiefern es der Orientierungsstufe gelingt, die Bedingungen für eine leistungsgerechte Verteilung der Schüler auf die Schulformen der Sekundarstufe I zu schaffen. Dafür werden die Daten einer aktuellen repr?sentativen Studie an nie ders?chsischen Orientierungsstufen und Schulformen des Sekundarbereichs verwendet. Die empirischen Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass es der Orientierungsstufe einerseits nicht gelingt, ihren Auftrag der individuellen F?rderung und objektiven Leistungsbeurteilung zu erfüllen. Andererseits schafft sie es nicht, korrigierend auf die schichtbedingten elterlichen Bildungsaspirationen einzuwirken.

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Summary The Effectiveness of the Orientation-Level in Schools in Lower Saxony in Re-balancing Social Disparities in Educational Participation The introduction of the so-called “Orientation-Level” into the schools of Lower Saxony was originally connected to the goal of re-balancing social disadvantage. Until recently, there was little evidence for judging the effectiveness of this obligatory provision. This paper investigates the success of the orientation-level in creating conditions for an ability-based distribution of pupils between the different schools types at secondary level. A recent representative study of the orientation-level and different school types will be presented. The empirical results indicate that the orientation-level neither fulfils its task of individual support and objective ability assessment nor does it re-balance the different educational aspirations of parents from different social groups.

     

Sind die bildungswissenschaftlichen Standards für die Lehramtsausbildung in den Curricula der Hochschulen angekommen?

During the Bologna reforms, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (abbr.: Standing Conference) formulated education standards for higher education teacher training programmes (KMK 2004a) in the areas of teaching, educating, diagnostics, and innovation. Currently there is very little research on the extent to which these education standards are reflected in the teacher training curriculums at universities. This contribution analyses the course regulations, module handbooks, and exam regulations for teacher training programmes at 16 universities for the inclusion of content required by the education standards. The document analysis shows that a large proportion of the education standards introduced by the Standing Conference (KMK 2004a) are not considered by the curriculums of many universities.     

Analysepotenziale des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) für die empirische Bildungsforschung

In Germany, the main datasets available for addressing empirical educational research questions are cross-sectional data, which are often supplemented by state-specific or group-specific longitudinal surveys. The latter are usually focused on specific transitions in the educational system. The challenge of an approach to educational research that takes the perspective of life-course theory, however, lies in analyzing educational and competency development across the entire life span and the dependence of these processes on institutional and individual environment contexts. The present paper shows the opportunities that the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), a household and individual survey now running for over 25 years, offers for empirical educational research aimed at confronting such research challenges. In addition to outlining the available educational information and methodological innovations in the SOEP’s education-related survey program, we also describe the survey’s comparative strengths, particularly for educational analyses stretching ‘from the cradle to the grave’ and dealing with intergenerational and familial contexts.     

Zwischen Selbsttätigkeit und Erziehungsbedürftigkeit: das Kind in der “Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung”

In the history of education it is rather common to distinguish two opposing ideas of childhood: the romantic image of the innocent child on the one hand and the image of the evil child that has to be rescued on the other. According to historiography at the beginning of the twentieth century this dichotomy has gained a particular shape in German pedagogy: the exponents of Progressive Education recover the child and founded their pedagogy on trust in its good nature. Their agenda tries to overcome the prevailing Herbartian pedagogy. Those “conservative” educators stress the importance of the technological aspects of education. They are said to have no explicit understanding of the child as they would regard it only as the negative counterpart to an education that aims to overcome its nature. This article claims to prove that such a simple dichotomy is not sufficient to describe the complex image of the child in the German pedagogical debates at the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century. For this purpose the article concentrates on the first volumes of the “Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung” (Journal of Child Studies) that was founded in 1896. The ideology of the main editors of the journal is attributed to Herbartianism. In the “Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung” those Herbartians aim to bring together pedagogy with child studies as well as with medicine and psychiatry. Moral education is an important topic within the journal’s discussion but the child is usually not morally judged itself and therefore regarded neither as evil nor as good. Instead the knowledge of natural research and child studies is adapted to learn about the nature of the child and its development. According to the journal’s authors the results of child studies form a crucial background for professional education in general. Later on, those children that do not develop as scientifically expected can be declared the object of special pedagogical care. Should the deviating development be classified as pathological, this “treatment” will be inspired by medicine and psychiatry. Thus the religious or ethical categories of “good” and “evil” are partly replaced by scientific ones such as “normal” or “pathological”. Nevertheless pedagogical theorising remains highly moral in its goals – and setting these goals is regarded as the duty of adults. Although the child is understood as an active being, the educational authority has to be borne by the grown‐up generation. Altogether the educational programme of the “Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung” conforms to the attitude of the Wilhelminian era. In contrast to most of the “progressive” movements, the ideas are not utopian – they aim neither for a republican society nor for the improvement of the German race as the basis for a new nation. The editors explicitly neglect the notion of a child as a political subject with its own rights. Later they remain highly sceptical about the character of human nature itself and do not believe that a new society can be built only upon the faith in it. Nevertheless some of the key authors are regarded as representatives of Progressive Education today – for example Karl Wilker, who acted as an editor of the journal and was also engaged in the New Education Fellowship later on. Also the journal authors’ claims for a renewal of education resemble those of the “progressive” movements: They also call for a turn to the child as the basis of pedagogy. These findings lead to the result that a history of childhood and education may not start out from a distinction between a child‐centred progressive education on the one hand and a conservative education on the other. Phrases like “the child” or “child‐centred” are to be found in very different pedagogies and hence are not sufficient to characterise a particular educational programme. In fact a great number of very different pedagogues recovered “the child” at the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century and founded their model on this idea. In consequence “the child” turns out to be more like a metaphor. This insight does not mean that “the child” was an empty and useless phrase for historiography. On the contrary: as a medium of education it may help to gain a deeper understanding of the contrasts and similarities between different pedagogical approaches – regardless of whether they turn out to be more “progressive” or “conservative”. Therefore it is necessary to analyse in which contexts within the pedagogical discourse “the child” arises and which special functions it is meant to contain.     

Bringing Up Girls in Science (BUGS): The Effectiveness of an Afterschool Environmental Science Program for Increasing Female Students’ Interest in Science Careers

Bringing Up Girls in Science (BUGS) was an afterschool program for 4th and 5th grade girls that provided authentic learning experiences in environmental science as well as valuable female mentoring opportunities in an effort to increase participants’ academic achievement in science. BUGS participants demonstrated significantly greater amounts of gain in science knowledge as measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in Science (ITBS-S). The original BUGS participants and contrasts have now completed high school and entered college, allowing researchers to assess the long-term impact of the BUGS program. Fourteen former BUGS participants completed two instruments to assess their perceptions of science and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Their results were compared to four contrast groups composed entirely of females: 12 former BUGS contrasts, 10 college science majors, 10 non-science majors, and 9 current STEM professionals. Results indicate that BUGS participants have higher perceptions of science careers than BUGS contrasts. There were no significant differences between BUGS participants, Science Majors, and STEM professionals in their perceptions of science and STEM careers, whereas the BUGS contrast group was significantly lower than BUGS participants, Science Majors, and STEM Professionals. Additional results and implications are discussed within.     

Bedeutung der familialen Lebenswelt für die Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen

Family is the central place of socialization during childhood and adolescence. What are the determining factors of family life that are important for the health of children and adolescents and in which stages of their life do these factors take effect? The question is answered with reference to the general health of children and adolescents as rated by their parents. The analysis is conducted with data from the KiGGS study 2003–2006 which is representative of Germany (n?=?17641, age: 0–17 years). The gender-specific effects of different family factors on good health are analysed in five age groups using binary logistic regression analysis including structural, socioeconomic and origin-related factors of family as well as housing conditions and family cohesion. Bivariate analysis indicates significant effects on general health for almost all included factors (at least in some age groups). Multivariate analysis shows family cohesion to be the most important factor for good health. In boys a bilateral migration background also has an adverse effect on good general health until the beginning of adolescence.     

The Motion Picture in Science Education: “One Hundred Percent Efficiency”

This study provides a historical overview of the development of the motion picture as a tool within the context of science education. The technology was traced from its beginning as a silent motion picture through its current manifestation in videotapes and videodiscs. The use of the technology as a teaching tool is examined in terms of the concept of scientific literacy and the means by which the motion picture helped to accomplish the goals of scientific literacy.