Research Areas
The research activities of the BBF currently concentrate on three research areas.
Historical Practice of School, Instruction and Education
The research area focusing on the history of instructional and educational practice comprises projects that target the analysis of transformation in school and (subject-specific) instructional practices since Enlightenment.
Pedagogical Knowledge – Institutions, Practices and Actors
The research area of “Pedagogical knowledge – institutions, practices and actors“ reconstructs the genesis of different forms of pedagogical knowledge – scientific research knowledge, professional knowledge and knowledge of lay people. These different forms of knowledge are historically analysed regarding their often contradictory relationships and with respect to educational policy.
Ethnographic Research in Education
The research area of “Ethnographic research in education” comprises projects that aim to observe activities and different actors involved in schools and their environments. For example, the analyses target teachers, students, parents, their interactions and practices in dealing with one another, their behaviour in school and educational spheres, and their dealings with the matters they encounter. Subject to “thick descriptions” – see the anthropologist Clifford Geertz, participant observation of school and learning cultures and educational spheres is documented and reconstructed.