From its very beginnings, we can discern two methodological approaches to comparative education; one broadly historical-philosophical-idiographic and another broadly empirical-positivist-nomothetic. Friedrich August Hecht's 1795-1798 "De re scholastica Anglica cum Germanica comparata" ("English and German school education…

This paper introduces and summarises a programme of German research into teaching started 20 years ago. This research draws on Herbart's analysis of teaching with its focus on 'Bildung' (formation) which is distinguished from the measurement/psychometric tradition. It offers the possibilities of a deeper empirical understanding of pedagogical…

One goal of open science is making research processes like analysis more open and traceable. To contribute to this aim, we designed an open digital research environment based on Semantic MediaWiki technology to be used for the qualitative collaborative analysis method of objective hermeneutics. The environment was used in university seminars in…

Purpose: The paper discusses the camerawork within a historic video case study as a meaningful practice of visualization of classrooms and also as an aspect worth consideration in current contexts of video-based classroom research and teacher education. Design/methodology/approach: The case study combines elements of video hermeneutics and a…

Imparting 'literary competence' (understood here as a combination of skills involved in engaging with 'texts' of various kinds, among them film) has always been a core concern within German critical pedagogy. This article presents 11 aspects of literary learning, covering subjective involvement and the development of a text within the imagination;…

This article summarises the state of comparative historical research in the field of religious education. After describing a range of purposes to be fulfilled by comparative studies, it categorises a number of studies written in either English, French or German according to their methodological approach and subject focus. As a result, a…

This paper deals with the disclosure of subaltern thinking in current German-language textbooks for religious education. For the hermeneutical framing of this analysis, the approach of a postcolonial reading is particularly profitable. Obvious hierarchical relationships from clearly up and down can consequently be made visible and their presumed…

This study analysed questionnaire responses from 309 history teachers who come from nine European countries and Israel. The open-ended questions explored their experiences of teaching Sensitive historical Issues (SI) from joint social psychological and history didactics perspectives. First data was analysed hermeneutically, it was then interpreted…

"The Shifting Global World of Youth and Education" explores how increasing migration and population changes are having an unprecedented impact on global education. Given that the number of children of migrant background is growing internationally, there is a need for increasing awareness of the educational attainment and cultural…

Autobiography presently occupies a beleaguered place in education, not unlike teachers, whose lives have been diminished through the current emphasis on testing outcomes. This paper uses WG Sebald's writings as a place from which to relook at the relationship between writing and a life lived. Sebald was a German writer born in the shadow of WWII…

"Bildung" is a complex educational concept that emerged in Germany in the mid eighteenth century. Especially in Germany and Scandinavia conceptions of "Bildung" became the general philosophical framework to guide both formal and informal education. "Bildung" concerns the whole range of education from setting…

Over the past two decades, educational research in Germany has undergone unprecedented changes. Following large-scale assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and a political interest in evidence-based policy-making, quality assessment and…

Levenson presents Nehama Leibowitz (1903-1997) as a principal figure in making the Bible a centerpiece of modern Jewish intellectual life. Complementing the already impressive literature on Leibowitz's pedagogical techniques, Levenson emphasizes the interdependence of Leibowitz's historical context, biography, and exegetical stance. Leibowitz's…

A sense of calling in career is supposed to have positive implications for individuals and organizations but current theoretical development is plagued with incongruent conceptualizations of what does or does not constitute a calling. The present study used cluster analysis to identify essential and optional components of a presence of calling…

In many countries, strategies to further develop services and institutions for the education and care of young children are linked to a discourse on professionalism. Ambitious policy goals, it is argued, can only be achieved by a skilled and qualified workforce whose practice is guided by a professional body of knowledge. This article argues that…