Social education in primary school. Didactic reconstruction of the learning object 'Holocaust' in the context of Holocaust education in primary school science lessons

Research interest:

With regard to dealing with the topic of the 'Holocaust' in the context of Holocaust education in primary school (non-fiction) lessons, there is a lack of a broader empirical investigation of the children's prior knowledge or understanding - this point is mainly argued on the basis of assumptions or practical experience without empirical evidence. Furthermore, in this context there is a lack of reflection on possible prior knowledge against the background of integrative approaches in order to be able to solve questions of past, present and future everyday life. This is what my dissertation project on 'Social Education in Primary School' aims to do. The aim is to determine and analyse 'social education', understood as an integrative educational understanding of basic and general education in the social sciences, through the didactic reconstruction of the exemplary learning object 'Holocaust' in the context of Holocaust education.

Research question of the thesis:

The overarching research question is:

How can the learning object 'Holocaust' be didactically structured in the context of Holocaust education in primary school for integrative non-fiction lessons?

General initial considerations:

Positioning in the model of didactic reconstruction:

• Recording learner perspectives
• Dimensions of subject-specific clarification - guided by subject didactics as a 'meta-science'
• Outlook on didactic structuring - for 'social education' in primary school science lessons

Perspectives of the research project:

• Survey of the prior knowledge of primary school pupils in third and fourth grades on the topic of the 'Holocaust' (semi-standardised, focused individual and group interviews) - analysis and evaluation within the framework of qualitative content analysis and didactic structuring with regard to integrative educational moments
• Derivation of points of reference for a didactic-methodological approach to the subject of 'Holocaust' in the context of Holocaust education (in primary school non-fiction lessons)
• Development and concretisation of a theoretical concept of "social education in primary school"

Vita

Date of birth: 11.02.1978
Place of birth: Rotenburg/ Wümme
Marital status: single

• 1990-1997 Attended the Ratsgymnasium grammar school in Rotenburg/ Wümme, graduating with a school-leaving certificate
• 1997-1998 Studied to become a grammar school teacher at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel - subjects: Geography, Economics-Politics, German
• 1998-2003 Studied to become a teacher at primary, secondary and intermediate schools at the University of Lüneburg - subjects: general studies (with history as a related subject), maths, German
• January 2003 First State Examination for the teaching profession at primary and secondary schools
• April 2003 to March 2005 Studies in the postgraduate programme in Educational Sciences at the University of Lüneburg
• since April 2005 member and Georg-Christoph-Lichtenberg scholarship holder of the doctoral programme "Didactic Teaching and Learning Research - Didactic Reconstruction" (ProDid) at the University of Oldenburg
• since July 2005 PhD student at the School of Education and Educational Sciences at the University of Oldenburg

Publications

Articles in edited volumes and journals (also online)

• together with Pech, Detlef: Holocaust Education as a contribution to social education in primary schools. In: Cech, Diethard/ Giest, Hartmut (ed.): Sachunterricht in Praxis und Forschung. Klinkhardt: Bad Heilbrunn 2005, pp. 87-102
• Pech, Detlef: Discovering the world through 'you'. An approach to history through learning from biographies. In: Primary School Religion. Learning to remember: Holocaust. 12/ 2005, S. 7-9
• Material: Vier kleine Kiesel (transcribed from Perl, Lila/ Blumenthal Lazan, Marion: Vier kleine Kiesel. The history of the Blumenthal family from Hoya. Verein Heimatmuseum Grafschaft Hoya e.V. 1996). In: Primary school religion. Erinnern lernen: Holocaust 12/ 2005, pp. 1-4 (material section)
• Holocaust education in primary schools - grasping society by learning from biographies. Documentation of the workshop at the 22nd German-Israeli Seminar of the GEW in Bonn. (appears on the GEW website)
• - Collected - A teaching project on 'learning from biographies' in primary school science lessons. In: Pech, Detlef/ Rauterberg, Marcus/ Stocklas, Katharina (ed.): "Possibilities and relevance of dealing with the Holocaust in primary school non-fiction lessons". widerstreit-sachunterricht.de, supplement 3, Frankfurt a. M. 2006, pp. 17-34
• Discovering the (un)known city on your doorstep - an alternative city tour with primary school pupils. (Field report on a different kind of city tour). Published in: Grundschulmagazin: Encounter with History 3/ 2007
• "I think the Nazis helped Hitler to conquer the world." Research on children's perceptions of the Holocaust and National Socialism. Published in: Pfeiffer, Silke (ed.): Neue Wege im Sachunterricht. Vol. 2, Oldenburger VorDrucke, Oldenburg 2007

Presentations and lectures

• 17 February 2004 "He killed the Jews in gas chambers or shot them ..." - Talking to children and young people about the Holocaust. AG at the GEW Education Days 2004 "Communication in schools - more than just talking?!" at the University of Lüneburg
• 12 March 2004 Holocaust Education as a contribution to social education in primary schools (together with Detlef Pech) Lecture at the 13th annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Didaktik des Sachunterrichts (GDSU) in Potsdam
• 1 August 2005 Holocaust education in primary school - grasping society by learning from biographies. Workshop at the 22nd German-Israeli Seminar of the German Education and Science Union (GEW) in Bonn
• 17 January 2006 Social education in primary school. Didactic reconstruction of the learning object 'Holocaust' in the context of Holocaust education in non-fiction lessons. Lecture at the IZRG colloquium in WS 2005/06 in Schleswig
• 21 March 2006 Holocaust education in primary school - grasping social history through learning from biographies. Workshop at the Lüneburg training seminar - subject Sachunterricht
• 4 October 2006 "Look, if this has happened again, nobody wants to take part today". Social education in primary school - didactic reconstruction of the Holocaust in the context of Holocaust education. Poster at the DGfE Annual Primary School Conference in Münster
• 8 November 2006 "I think the Nazis helped Hitler to conquer the world". Research on children's conceptions of the 'Holocaust' in non-fiction lessons. Lecture in the series of lectures "Neue Wege im Sachunterricht" in the winter semester 2006/2007 at the University of Oldenburg
• 16 January 2007 "Hitler, the German troop leader who wanted Germany to take over the whole world." Children's perceptions of National Socialism and the Holocaust. Lecture as part of the seminar "Dealing with the Holocaust in primary school subject lessons" by Dr Detlef Pech in the subject teaching department at the University of Lüneburg
• planned for March 2007 "He wanted to exterminate the Jews and then he had them gassed or starved to death." Can an 'education after Auschwitz' in non-fiction teaching be an 'education without Auschwitz'? Lecture at the 16th annual conference of the Society for Didactics of Sachunterricht (GDSU) in Kassel

Teaching activities and other fields of work

Teaching assignment:

• SS 2006 Seminar for the teaching profession at primary, secondary and special schools (old PVO) in the degree programme Interdisciplinary Sachbildung/ Sachunterricht at the University of Oldenburg: "Possibilities and limits of Holocaust Education in Sachunterricht"

Student assistant:

• June 2001 up to and including September 2002 employed as a student assistant in the DFG research project "Problems of acquiring professional competence in the context of university teacher training" (PROKOM) - School and University Research Institute of the University of Lüneburg under the direction of Prof. Dr Kurt Czerwenka and Dr phil., Dipl.-Päd. Karin Nölle
• September 2003 up to and including November 2003 employed as a student assistant in Department IV - Institute for Environmental Communication at the University of Lüneburg under the direction of Prof. Dr Gerd Michelsen

Work contracts:

• November 2000 Work contract with Prof. Dr Kurt Czerwenka (School and University Research Institute of the University of Lüneburg) on "Education in Europe. Foundations of the EU countries' agreement on a common education system"
• June 2001 and November 2001 Work contracts with Prof. Dr Kurt Czerwenka (School and University Research Institute of the University of Lüneburg) on "Research and collection of the latest publications on hyperactivity"/ "Research on the state of discussion on hyperactivity"
• June 2003 and March 2004 Work contracts with Prof. Dr Ute Stoltenberg (Institute for Integrative Studies - IKARUS at the University of Lüneburg) on "Assignment of books from the Agenda 21 Library's collection to a new classification system. Scientific categorisation and assessment"

Other activities:

• April 2003 to March 2005 voluntary work at and for the Agenda 21 Library of the University of Lüneburg, which is integrated into the project "Sustainable University" of the Institute for Environmental Communication of the University of Lüneburg.
• Since April 2003, realisation of the work and research project "Holocaust Education and Children". Conception and development of working material for work with children in primary and secondary schools in co-operation with Dr Detlef Pech/ University of Lüneburg

Academic contacts, co-operations and memberships:

• Society for the Didactics of Sachunterricht e.V. (GDSU)
• Education and Science Trade Union (GEW)
• Primary School Association
• RÖSA - Regional Ecological Sachunterrichtssammlung/ Lernwerkstatt Sachunterricht at the University of Oldenburg
• Online magazine widerstreit-sachunterricht
• Bergen-Belsen Memorial Centre
• Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork (NL)
• Marion Blumenthal-Lazan (USA)[www.fourperfectpebbles.com]

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