“...not simply say that they are all Nazis.” Controversy in Discussions of Current Topics in German Civics Classes

Authors

  • David Jahr Centre for Teacher Education at the University of Halle
  • Christopher Hempel University of Leipzig (Chair of General Didactics and Pedagogy for Secondary Schools)
  • Marcus Heinz University of Leipzig (Department of Cultural Studies)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4119/jsse-789

Abstract

Studies have shown that the Requirement of Controversy defined in the German Beutelsbach Consensus is repeatedly violated in the practice of teaching Civic Education. However, little is known about the impact that different teaching settings have on the quality of controversy in the classroom. In this article, two scenes of classroom discussions that deal with current topics are analysed and compared by using reconstructive research methods: the ‘Numbers of the Day’ [Zahlen des Tages] as a teacher-centred classroom discussion and the ‘Weekly Newsreel’ [Wochenschau] as a student-led classroom discussion. We could reconstruct an active prevention of controversy in the ‘Numbers of the Day’. In contrary, the discussion in the ‘Weekly Newsreel’ is developing in a modus of disagreement. By analysing the discussion with the documentary method, we show that this controversy is based on homogeneous (and so non-controversial) shared orientations among the students. This leads to the result that the foreground of a discussion should be distinguished from its background of milieu-based orientations. This outcome raises new questions regarding controversy in Civic Education classrooms.

Empirische Studien haben gezeigt, dass es im Politikunterricht regelmäßig zu Verletzungen des im Beutelsbacher Konsens verankerten Kontroversitätsgebots kommt. Wenig ist hingegen darüber bekannt, wie sich bestimmte didaktisch-methodische Settings auf Ausmaß und Formen der Kontroversität im Unterricht auswirken. Im vorliegenden Artikel werden zwei solcher Settings, in denen aktuelle gesellschaftliche Themen verhandelt werden (die ‚Zahlen des Tages‘ als lehrerzentrierte Klassendiskussion und die ‚Wochenschau‘ als schülergeleitete Klassen-diskussion), hinsichtlich ihrer Auswirkung auf Kontroversität im Klassenzimmer qualitativ analysiert. Rekonstruiert werden konnte einerseits ein weitgehendes Verhindern von Kontroversität bei den ‚Zahlen des Tages‘. In der ‚Wochenschau‘ hingegen entfaltet sich durchaus eine Kontroversität im Klassenzimmer. Mit Hilfe der Dokumentarischen Methode kann dabei aber gezeigt werden, dass auf der Ebene des impliziten Wissens mehrere, teilweise problematische geteilte Orientierungen in der untersuchten Klasse vorliegen. Dies führt zur Feststellung, dass man Lerngruppen hinsichtlich ihrer Kontroversität auf zwei Ebenen unterschieden muss: auf einer schneller kontrovers erscheinenden, vordergründigen Ebene und einer tieferliegenden Ebene des milieu-basierten Hintergrunds kollektiver Orientierungen. Diese Diagnose stellt neue Fragen bezüglich Kontroversität im Politikunterricht

Author Biographies

David Jahr, Centre for Teacher Education at the University of Halle

David Jahr is research assistant at the Centre for Teacher Education at the University of Halle (Department ‘Heterogeneity and Inclusion’). He is PHD student at the field of social studies education at the same university. His research interests are: qualitative research on teaching and schools, heterogeneity and inclusion in social studies education, inclusive didactic.

Christopher Hempel, University of Leipzig (Chair of General Didactics and Pedagogy for Secondary Schools)

Christopher Hempel is research assistant and PHD student at the University of Leipzig (Chair of General Didactics and Pedagogy for Secondary Schools). His research interests are: qualitative research on teaching and schools, didactics of civic education, interdisciplinary teaching.

Marcus Heinz, University of Leipzig (Department of Cultural Studies)

Marcus Heinz is research assistant at the University of Leipzig (Department of Cultural Studies) since October 2015. He is PHD student at the same institute. His research interests are: reconstructive and qualitative social research and methodology, sociology of space, sociology of rural places, neo-rurality.

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Further information

Published

2016-06-02

How to Cite

Jahr, D., Hempel, C., & Heinz, M. (2016). “.not simply say that they are all Nazis.” Controversy in Discussions of Current Topics in German Civics Classes. JSSE - Journal of Social Science Education, 15(2), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.4119/jsse-789