For more information, please click here to go to the page of the Coordination of Studies and Teaching of School I - School of Educational and Social Sciences.

Aims of the module

This module builds on the knowledge previously acquired regarding assessment and support, heterogeneity/diversity and inclusion, and brings the educational studies programme to a close with a focus on specific school stages (primary level), so that problem-oriented concepts of pedagogical practice and the associated school development processes at primary level can be critically contextualised and optimised, taking into account the historical conditions and social circumstances surrounding the upbringing of primary school children.

The basic knowledge acquired during the BA programme regarding upbringing, education and socialisation, as well as learning and teaching and their psychological conditions, is revisited and specified in relation to the aspects of pedagogical practice relevant to the primary level, including its contradictions and normative references. To this end, historical discourses (e.g. concepts of progressive education; the opening up of primary schools) and developments in the education system are drawn upon, as are current discourses and findings from childhood research, organisational pedagogy and social pedagogy. On this basis, students learn, through practice-oriented, case-based analyses of pedagogical practice, to critically examine the conceptual requirements at the micro-level on the basis of research findings from empirical studies, in order to address the requirements, contradictions and consequences of educational practice in institutions and organisations within the education system and in co-operation with social pedagogical fields of action within the youth welfare system, and to optimise educational concepts. The general knowledge acquired previously is now applied to the specific practical requirements of primary education.

Competencies

In this module, students acquire knowledge relating to teacher-specific standards for educational science competences in the field of primary education.

The module focuses on the school-stage-specific requirements set out in the Lower Saxony Master’s Degree Regulations (MAVO Lehr 12/2015)

• for the description and assessment of procedures and concepts for promoting school readiness
• the acquisition of knowledge co-operation with early years education professionals
• explaining concepts for teaching in mixed-age learning groups,
• discussing criteria for the choice of secondary school type.

The module also explores in greater depth the examination required by the MAVO of

• the significance of categories of inequality for the design and evaluation of pedagogical practice
• forms of learning-related collegial and institutional co-operation and consultation in primary schools
• The profession and role of the teacher: dealing with work-related conflicts and decision-making situations, e.g. regarding advice on the choice of secondary schools; risks to children’s welfare

at the specialised level corresponding to the end of the Master’s programme.

Module content

Lecture level
I Pedagogical practice in primary education

• Life stage (middle and late) childhood: Current findings and discourses in childhood research (including conditions of growing up; orientation towards the lived world/coping strategies)
• Conflicts of norms as a starting point for analysing concepts of pedagogical practice in primary education (including, amongst others, educational partnership; democracy education; ritualisation)
• School and classroom climate as a framework of conditions for learning success and pedagogical practice
• Educational risks faced by primary-school-aged children as a challenge for pedagogical practice: including child protection in primary schools as a guiding principle for pedagogical practice
• School programmes as framework concepts for cooperative pedagogical practice
• Learning concepts for primary education: including ‘ ’ (learning in the open), mixed-age learning groups; international comparisons (UK/Scandinavia)

II Education system

• Structure and history of the education system and its development
• Past educational reforms and the political context of education
• Progressive educational approaches for primary education
• Educational success as a consequence of concept, structure and professional commitment: Primary School Awards
• Primary education in the contemporary education system
• Education policy, education monitoring and educational reforms (conditions/structures)
• Legal framework for cooperative primary education models
• School structural reforms and models for the future (e.g. all-day primary schools; Models 1–10)
• Transitions: a) School entry phase: including conceptual co-operation with early years education professionals to promote school readiness; analysis of learning environments in Years 1 and 2; b) Transition to lower secondary education: including analysis of learning environments in Years 3 and 4; educational career guidance
• In-school and out-of-school cooperation settings
• School social work in primary education
• Social pedagogical fields of action as school-based co-operation and network partners within the regional educational landscape (including after-school care; educational support; family centres; child protection)

Seminar level

At the seminar level, the thematic areas covered at the lecture level are explored in greater depth. Conflicts of norms and the contexts of educational practice are analysed and linked to conceptual approaches for school development processes. The seminar level provides substantive insights and methodological approaches for examining professional backgrounds and future demands on pedagogical professionalism. It serves to deepen and critically engage with the positions within the academic discourse on the above-mentioned key areas, as well as to apply analytically the general knowledge acquired at the lecture level regarding educational practice as a social mandate and as the basis for school development processes.
The academic rigour of the seminar level is geared towards the final phase of the programme and, in addition to addressing the changing demands of the profession, serves to provide a specialised academic conclusion with a focus on specific school stages as students transition into their pre-service training.

Students have a selection of seminars on the following specialisation topics – which, at the end of the M.Ed. programme, enable them to develop a practice-oriented specialisation (expertise in school development at primary level):

1. Primary education in co-operation with social pedagogical fields of practice
2. The school entry phase from a pedagogical perspective
3. Decisions regarding educational pathways
4. Child protection in primary education
5. Pedagogical practice at the heart of primary school development processes

For a PDF version ofthe complete‘ ’ revised module concept for biw-PRX 566 from the Winter Semester 22/23 cohort onwards (as at October 2022), please click here!

The three project-based seminars to be organised by the Department of Pedagogy and Didactics for Early Years and Primary Education have, since the winter semester 2020/21 to the winter semester 2021/22, focused on the following thematic areas:

1. Primary schools as network partners within the educational landscape: individual case support and educational support planning through co-operation between primary schools and social-educational fields of action
   • To what extent is my placement school networked with which social-educational sectors to ensure low-threshold individual support for safeguarding educational pathways, and what interactions with teaching become apparent? (Concept; key points; practice).
   • Child protection in primary education
2. Educational biographical perspectives on children’s coping strategies during the transition to lower secondary education
   • Which educational trajectories and life-coping strategies of pupils are (conceptually) taken into account by my placement school during school career guidance or recommendations at the transition to lower secondary education?
3. School-based social space orientation and life coping demands on families with primary-school-aged children
   • How is the social environment of my placement school structured and characterised? What life coping demands does it entail, and how are these conditions conceptually taken into account in the upbringing of the children at my placement school?

Structure, objectives and faculty requirements

Similar to some other Federal States, the ‘GHR 300’ reform combined school-based practical studies – in the form of a practical semester – with a research-oriented component within the higher education didactic framework of research-based learning (Lower Saxony ‘project module’) in order to align the first phase of teacher training with the narrative-based focus on science, research and competence, whilst meeting professional practice requirements. Whilst the school-based practical study components accompanying the practical semester have since been entirely the conceptual responsibility of the subject-specific didactics departments, the ‘project module’ (new: 10 KP, old: 15 KP), which is to be taken in parallel to support the design and implementation of student research projects, is divided proportionally – in accordance with a procedure laid down by the ZfLB-DIZ – between the subject areas/subject didactics and the educational science teaching to be provided by the Institute of Educational Sciences (new: 10 KP; old: 15 KP). Per cohort per winter semester, this involves approximately six to eight new BiWi ‘Project Portfolio’ seminars, each with 15 participants, whilst those from the previous year are continued. Teaching for each cohort is spread over three semesters (preparation, support, follow-up = 4 LVS). The cross-school module description and the basic concept for higher education didactics drawn up by the ZfLB-DIZ set out the aim of the project module as follows: students are to carry out an independent, school-practice-related research or evaluation project as part of the practical block. The conceptual understanding of the link to school practice ranges from the development of one’s own teaching materials, through educational practices in schools and conflicts over pedagogical standards, to conceptual and structural issues relating to school development.

course certificate

1. Preparation of an academic synopsis of the planned research project
Requirements: Outline of relevance, subject of investigation, research question, theoretical framework and research design. -> The proposal must be drawn up by the end of the 1st semester (preparation), and the written report submitted by the end of the 3rd semester (follow-up)

2. Data collection at the respective placement schools; to be carried out during the practical phase

3. Presentation of the overall research project by the end of the third semester (follow-up)
Requirements: Presentation of the research design, the research findings, discussion of the data, reflection on the research process and reflection on the teaching and learning process in the project portfolio. GHR 300 Project Portfolio prx 566 from the winter semester 22/23

→ Conceptual modification for the biw-566 project portfolio course
Based on our experience with the project portfolio and evaluation results, we are modifying the biw-prx portfolio from the Winter/Spring semester 2022/23 to the format of a thematically focused academic group poster (printing costs: SQM proposal), which meets both the

• requirements of an abstract and
• visual presentation, and which is presented at a presentation session,
• can incorporate elements of reflection on the learning process, and thus organises and links the required portfolio components – the synopsis, survey and presentation – in such a way

so that subsequent groups of students can engage with the findings and build upon their research-based learning projects in the spirit of a peer-to-peer process (Spies 2017), or broaden perspectives for professional development and school development processes (Spies 2018).

You can find more information here

And about the child protection centre in Oldenburg

With the mentoring project "Balu und Du" you can complete an internship for one year during your studies: You can find more information here

If you are interested in studying abroad, the International Office offers many support options. You can find more information here

forschen@studium is a programme to promote activities related to research-based learning at the University of Oldenburg. This includes the "Research-based Learning" project funding programme, which includes calls for proposals for "Research-based Learning" teaching projects and student research projects on an annually changing and interdisciplinary topic. However, participation in conferences or material resources for the realisation of student projects can also be funded.

Further information can be found here.