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In this paper, we make a theoretical and methodical case for combining Institutional Ethnography and Reflexive Grounded Theory to investigate linguistic transition processes of newly-arrived students in the German school system. Legitimised by a missing knowledge of German, the students are separated into preparatory classes in order to prepare them (linguistically) for the regular classes. This article develops a reflexive institutional-ethnographic approach that problematises and visualises the various voices and practices of social actors engaged in these transition processes. We elaborate the theoretical premises, methodical steps and procedures of a combined approach which allows to reconstruct the transition moment and its attendant tensions, stakeholder perspectives and embeddedness in wider social processes of migration-related multilingualism. The paper enriches the methodological landscape in language, education and migration studies and offers implications for engaging with educational research sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses data from PISA 2018 in Germany to explore how the students'chronotype (known as larks and owls) and their academic achievement is related to truancy. We used an adapted version of the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) to measure the students' chronotype. The results demonstrate a correlation between the students' social jet lag, student achievement, and truancy. Finally, we discuss the potential inclusion of chronotypes as a measure in large-scale international student assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) introduced multiple changes in its study design, the most extensive being the transition from paper- to computer-based assessment. We investigated the differences between German students' text responses to eight reading items from the paper-based study in 2012 to text responses to the same items from the computer-based study in 2015. Two response features - information quantity and relevance proportion - were extracted by natural language processing techniques because they are crucial indicators for the response process. Showcasing potential differential relationships, we additionally examined gender differences. Modelling effects of the round of assessment, gender, and response correctness on the response features, we analysed responses from 15-year-olds and ninth-graders in Germany. Results revealed differences in the text responses between the rounds of assessment in that students included more information overall in 2015, and the proportions of relevance varied substantially across items. As the study investigated the mode change in PISA's natural (not experimental) setting, the differences could mirror cohort trends or design changes. However, with the evidence reported, we conclude that the differences could indicate mode effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employability has become one of the most important outcomes of higher education despite it being weakly conceptualised for the sector. The lack of an accepted conceptualisation to address students' and graduates' employability results in difficulties when comparing research findings and therefore in assessing quality in higher education provision. This paper addresses this gap in the conceptualisation of employability and adapts an established framework so that it aligns with the higher education sector. Employability is defined as 'the ability to find, keep and progress in graduate employment'. A holistic framework composed of four categories ('individual factors'; 'individual circumstances'; 'enabling support system'; 'labour market') is used to classify and measure employability. This allows for an understanding of how specific initiatives enhance the employability of students and graduates, and suggests ways to measure this impact. Also, the limitations of HEIs to impact students' employability are addressed using the framework. The examples of Germany and England show how differences in employability occur due to differences in the surrounding labour market. The paper concludes that in a complex and holistic discussion it is necessary to highlight the various indicators, including the labour market, which were used to report more nuanced aspects of employability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines intra-individual "script switching", alternation between Kurrentschrift ("German script") and "Latin script", within nineteenth-century handwritten German texts. We attribute a semiotic value to the textual surface and assume that graphic variation conveys meaning and should therefore be considered a communicative practice. After an overview of the development of Kurrentschrift and of the functions and ideologies behind script switching with a particular focus on nineteenth-century German schools, our paper presents three case studies from different contexts of lower-class writing. First, we analyse the writings of a tailor in a southern German psychiatric hospital, who not only used script switching to comply with the relevant conventions, but also to make his texts appear "educated". The second case study focuses on the French–German border region, which, especially Alsace-Lorraine, has historically been characterised by multilingualism and shifting national affiliations. Here, the use of different scripts and languages reflects both contemporary norms and the writers' identity. Finally, we examine the letters of two Frisian sailors who had migrated to America and wrote home after adjusting to life in their new home country. Frequent switches between different scripts and languages index both cultural practices and their hybrid identity in a multilingual context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses two high-profile cases of alleged plagiarism in doctoral theses to discuss the debate on academic malpractice in the German context. The two cases received intense media attention which led to a hitherto unseen interrogation of academic standards in higher education and of the integrity of the research community. The paper analyses this debate and highlights structures and developments in German higher education that potentially explain academic malpractice. The focus of the analysis is on postgraduate education and the way doctoral supervisees are inducted by their supervisors into good academic practice. The paper also discusses the notion of ‘academic relativism’ regarding standards of academic practice that, while permissible in a certain era, are not acceptable today. Against this background, the paper argues in favour of a critical evaluation of the ways in which the German higher education sector has become the subject of narrowly defined aspects of performance management regimes, regulating institutions and incentivising researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the contribution of international studies on educational effectiveness in the light of 4 papers presented at the new ICSEI Methodology of Research and Effectiveness (MORE) Network in Barcelona in January 2005 and published in this issue of the journal. A brief historical overview is used to provide a context for these papers and a number of themes are identified in relation to the secondary analysis of international datasets such as TIMSS and PISA. The value of creating a new international teacher observation and feedback instrument to facilitate collaborative international research is discussed. In addition, the paper discusses the value of comparative studies of education policy in different national systems using the example of a high profile study of successful countries (in terms of PISA 2000 results) initiated by the Deutsches Institut für Internationale Pädagogische Forschung to inform a review of the German system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to undertake a comparative investigation of school administration to understand further the frames of curriculum making. School administration is an under-illuminated aspect of curriculum research. The paper commences from the notion that, in mass education, a school system is operationalized by many schools, which are coupled to each other and to political decisions. Here is the curriculum vital. Building on the classic work of Stefan Hopmann, a curriculum is part of the administrational structure of the school system. The Article suggests several categories that can describe the nature and function of school administration in various contexts. There are external matters of schooling, such as school buildings, school food, etc. and internal matters of schooling, such as curriculum, pedagogy, and evaluation. Individual schools and school administration are coupled via licences, and programmatic, professional, and procedural supervision. The article employs these categories with a comparison of a decentralized Sweden and a centralized Germany. The comparison investigated 290 Swedish municipality school administrations and 45 state education authorities in 4 German federal states. In this comparison many interesting similarities between both contexts can be hightligthed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Students' motivation to participate is one of the main challenges in formative assessment. The utility framework identifies potential points of intervention for improving the acceptance of formative assessment [Van Der Vleuten C. 1996. The assessment of professional competence: Developments, research and practical implications. Adv Health Sci Educ 1(1):41-67]. At the Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne, the paper-based version of the Berlin Progress Test has been transformed into computer-based version providing immediate feedback. Aim To investigate whether the introduction of computer-based assessment (CBA) enhances the acceptance of formative assessment relative to paper-based assessment (PBA). Methods In a retrospective cohort study (PBA: N == 2597, CBA: N == 2712), students' overall acceptance of the two forms of assessment was surveyed, their comments were analyzed, and we analyzed their test behavior and categorized students into 'serious' or 'non-serious' test takers. Results In the preclinical phase of medical education, no differences were found in overall acceptance of the two forms of assessment ( p > 0.05). In the clinical phase, differences in favor of CBA were found in overall acceptance ( p < 0.05), the proportion of positive comments ( p < 0.001), and the proportion of serious participants ( p < 0.001). Conclusions Introduction of immediate feedback via CBA can enhance the acceptance and therefore the utility of formative assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Middle-class parents' strategies of reproduction and social closure and their role as a driver of school segregation are already well-reported. Our two independent research projects in Finland and Germany have additionally revealed a somewhat surprising and not yet fully understood tendency of certain middle-class parents to actively avoid the most reputable schools. Using these findings as a starting point, the paper investigates the motives and reasoning behind middle-class parents' avoidance strategies in the cities of Espoo (Finland) and Mülheim an der Ruhr (Germany). The analysis shows that in educational transitions where choice is not constrained by a risk of children being left behind, some families with high educational resources and imbued with a certain ethos give precedence to 'ordinary' schools over highly selective elite schools. If this ethos can be skilfully integrated into urban educational policies, it may help develop effective equality strategies supported by parents and seen as justified by them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the life of Friedrich Froebel, the founder of the kindergarten in the 1840s. It describes how the kindergarten and its impact in Germany and the United States. It spread at the international level of education because German kindergarten teachers relocated it to other countries when it was banned in Germany. In the years from 1851 to 1914, kindergarten had much greater success in the United States than in Germany. In 1900, most German school authorities refused to incorporate the kindergarten into public school systems, but many American school systems included kindergarten classes after it was accepted. This paper provides a summary of Froebel's life and his gifts to children in Germany and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the transformation of the field of early education in Germany. It poses the question whether these changes can be generally related to the German concept of Bildung – as denoting the children's autonomous activity of engaging themselves and the world. Investigating film material on practices of documentation in early education the paper seeks to clarify the impacts that Bildung has for the constitution of children's subjectivity. Does Bildung bring about a regime of individualization that obfuscates modes of sociality and being with? Are there alternative ways to interpret the modes of subjection in observation? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we employ a comparative life course approach for Canada and Germany to unravel the relationships among general and vocational educational attainment and different life course activities, with a focus on labour market and income inequality by gender. Life course theory and related concepts of 'time,' 'normative patterns,' 'order and disorder,' and 'discontinuities' are used to inform the analyses. Data from the Paths on Life's Way (Paths) project in British Columbia, Canada and the German Pathways from Late Childhood to Adulthood (LifE) which span 28 and 33 years, respectively, are employed to examine life trajectories from leaving school to around age 45. Sequence analysis and cluster analyses portray both within and between country differences – and in particular gender differences – in educational attainment, employment, and other activities across the life course which has an impact on ultimate labour market participation and income levels. 'Normative' life courses that follow a traditional order correspond with higher levels of full-time work and higher incomes; in Germany more so than Canada, these clusters are male dominated. Clusters characterised by 'disordered' and 'discontinuous' life courses in both countries are female dominated and associated with lower income levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How self-evident is a colonial rationality today? This paper begins by tracing a ‘text trajectory’ about nineteenth century imperialism and colonialism through several educational spaces: curricular guidelines, textbook, teachers’ reflections on history education, material discursive classroom interactions and pupils’ communication about the topic. In a first step, we observe how entrenched and common sensical a great-power discourse about imperialism and colonialism is in current educational practices. We suggest that pupils ‘hyperstate’ a discursive position on colonialism which appears shocking when stated explicitly, but which is already subtly entextualised in curricular and media discourse. However, in a second step, the analysis orients to the molecular lines and foldings, the unexpected intra-connections and unplanned ‘lines of flight’. In this way, the apparent stability of the colonial rationality begins to wobble (just slightly). The memory practices enacted by pupils, curricula, teachers, authors and the material affordances of textbooks repeat entrenched colonial hierarchies and racisms, ‘and also’ exceed any overly simple understanding of how colonial rationality plays out in contemporary discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Germany about half of the adult learners who start second chance education drop out before graduation. In this paper we aim to contribute to an explanation for this low success rate. We focus on the normative expectations of learners: What are their expectations concerning teachers' attention to their personal abilities, teacher support and the recognition of their needs, and to what extent are these expectations met by teachers? Our main assumption is that the greater the difference between learner's expectations and teacher practice, the more likely learners are to become disengaged and be absent from school, and this may lead to school dropout in the future. We use a database of N = 420 learners in 7 randomly selected institutions of second chance education in Germany. Results show, that (1) on average, adult learners tend to expect teachers to take an interest in their personal problems and to take responsibility for their learning process. However (2), 30% of learners experience teachers who are a) more or b) less learner-oriented than they expected them to be, and (3) students in group (b) show considerably lower school engagement and higher absences than students in group (a). Results are discussed with regard to practical implications for second chance education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiencing something of a renaissance, the German pedagogical idea ‘Bildung’ has recently been reconsidered for contemporary education. Historically proposed by von Humboldt, Bildung’s interplay represents a relational movement between a learner and the world that aims for personal freedom and growth. It is also identified as a means by which learners might become aware of their personal capacity to develop responses to daily experiences. Thus, it attends to agency and has resonance with children’s spirituality. Whilst such a notion of learning might be promoted as an alternative to a functionalistic educational paradigm, this paper highlights ethical concerns regarding pedagogical freedom. It highlights philosophically the illusion of freedom and considers critically the place of power in learner-led methods. Finally, the paper proposes how a nuanced, Kierkegaardian application of Bildung might address the ethical concerns raised and proposes how a re-considered understanding of the notion might be valuable for education today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Secondary education is associated with a comparatively high level of inequality in Germany. This has often been attributed to the early ability-based between-school tracking in the German school system. However, as yet there has been no empirical evaluation of the actual impact of initial track placement on social inequality in final school attainment. Since educational reforms in the 1960s increased educational mobility after track placement, it can be expected that initial track allocation has become less important for the process of secondary educational attainment and the inequalities therein. By drawing on longitudinal life-course data for different birth cohorts from the 1930s to the 1980s, this paper analyses temporal developments in the connections between track placement, educational mobility and social inequality in final school outcomes. The analyses reveal that the impact of track placement actually diminished for those cohorts exposed to the reformed school system. Instead, social inequalities in school attainment are increasingly influenced by processes of educational mobility after track allocation. Furthermore, the analyses show that developments in educational mobility have contributed more to declining inequalities in access to upper secondary education than changes of the selectivities in the transition to secondary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population aging is exacerbating the loss of competences in the workforce and simultaneously young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are struggling to be reengaged in employment. These issues, which are deemed priorities for the European policy agenda, could be addressed by triggering active aging dimensions, valuing and exploiting older adult entrepreneurs' knowledge for enhancing youngsters' entrepreneurial attitudes, through mentoring. This paper reports the results of a study based on an intergenerational learning program, carried out in 2018 in Germany, Italy and Slovenia. The study was aimed at developing and testing one training on mentoring addressing 41 older adult entrepreneurs (55 and over), and two intergenerational learning trainings aiming at boosting entrepreneurial competences of 33 NEETs (aged 18–29). The impact of the program on older adult entrepreneurs and NEETs was assessed through a pre and post-evaluation using qualitative and quantitative tools. Findings at country level were treated as national case-studies and then the latter were compared by considering them as a multiple embedded case-study. Results indicated that, to different extent in the study countries, mentors learned and enhanced mentoring competences, e.g. active listening and the capability of orienting, improved well-being and self-esteem, social inclusion and active aging attitude. Moreover, NEETs acquired entrepreneurial and socio-relational competences by benefiting from the full exploitation of mentors' know-how and the trust relationship with them. Companies, trade unions, educational and voluntary organizations should cooperate to adopt intergenerational learning programs as good practices for older adults and NEETs' lifelong learning promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores how different concepts of "nature" were applied in secondary education in Germany around 1900 by examining the discussions on and practices in particular boarding schools. It will first scrutinise Enlightenment debates on "human nature" and how they were perceived in German secondary education in general and boarding schools in particular. While Goethe's term of a "pedagogical province" was central to the debates, the utopian concept had only low impact on social reality. Second, the paper will examine how the growing criticism of bourgeois urban culture and traditional education at the end of the nineteenth century was associated with a different perception of "nature" as natural environment and how newly founded boarding schools played an important role in promoting such perception amongst the middle class. In a third section, it will illustrate how this development did not stand in contrast to major social trends. It was rather, as will be argued in the conclusion, part of a more general transformation in educational discourse and practice in Germany around 1900. It can first and foremost be characterised in a shift from an inward-looking understanding as "human nature" to an outside focus on "natural environment" and "authenticity". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to analyse the relationship between wages and education at a European level, using a quantile regression in order to be able to extend the study along the whole wage distribution. This analysis is carried out for a sample of 14 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom), using the European Community Household Panel data-set. The paper aims to investigate whether the relationship between wages and education at European level is homogeneous and stable through time by running regressions for average and current (log)wages. Policy implications are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fewer than 15% of primary school teachers in both Germany and the UK are male. With the on-going international debate about educational performance highlighting the widening gender achievement gap between girl and boy pupils, the demand for more male teachers has become prevalent in educational discourse. Concerns have frequently been raised about the underachievement of boys, with claims that the lack of male 'role models' in schools has an adverse effect on boys' academic motivation and engagement. Although previous research has examined 'teaching' as institutional talk, men's linguistic behaviour in the classroom remains largely ignored, especially in regard to enacting discipline. Using empirical spoken data collected from four primary school classrooms in both the UK and in Germany, this paper examines the linguistic discipline strategies of eight male and eight female teachers using Interactional Sociolinguistics to address the question, does teacher gender matter? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The refugee influx in the European context has challenged national systems and individual higher education institutions to develop and iterate solutions for prospective and, increasingly, enrolled university students. In the German setting, enormous federal investment has supported a robust response, though one which in several aspects lacks cohesion. This paper discusses possible implications of refugee student enrolment in German universities, and offers recommendations for policy initiatives in the same context. Key proposals include: revisiting the numerus clausus admissions system; expanding the existing student services model; emphasizing an early focus on subject-specific language proficiency (Fachsprache); emergency funds for small student expenses; the development of internships for refugee students; and support for student and staff collaboration and information sharing at both the state and federal levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective in this paper is to provide an overview of the key themes that can be identified by looking across the contributions to this special issue, and highlight a number of the important observations that emerged during the seminar in which these papers were originally presented. The seminar, which took place in Berlin in October of 2005, was organized by UNESCO-CEPES in collaboration with the Observatory of the Magna Charta Universitatum and the German Commission for UNESCO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of public discussions regarding Germany's standing on international rankings of student achievement, increased attention was focused on enhancing cognitive stimulation in preschools. There are some concerns that preschool curricula that focus more on cognitive stimulation rather than on socio-emotional skills might neglect the socio-emotional development of children. These concerns are rooted in the tradition of German preschools focussing more on the stimulation of social than of cognitive skills. This paper examines these claims by drawing on the German preschool programme ‘KiDZ’ in order to analyse the socio-emotional development (well-being, joy of learning, and worry) of children attending a preschool with a more academically oriented curriculum. This study also investigates effects of domain-specific preschool quality and if any effects of participation in KiDZ might be explained by the quality of the preschools. Positive effects of the children's participation in KiDZ are found and will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses the situation of non-governmental religious schools in Germany. The available empirical data demonstrate an increasing demand for these schools in recent decades. In this paper, possible causes of this development are discussed. First, the given constitutional framework for religion in governmental and non-governmental schools is presented. The particularity of the German school system comes into view: not only the churches but also the state – as an expression of its neutrality towards religion – maintains religious schools; furthermore, denominational religious instruction is also given in governmental non-religious schools. Second, the phenomenon of religious school selection will be considered: in which educational domains are non-governmental religious schools increasing? Where are they decreasing? Third, hypotheses explaining these developments – such as the special educational profiles of non-governmental religious schools, the wish for social distinction, avoiding problems of governmental schools, and better performance – are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Language does not only play an active part in all processes of comprehension, recognition and learning, it is also essential for specific religious learning processes. Religious experiences and traditions have their own characteristic linguistic forms, and religious education has come to realise the necessity for an appropriate sensibility in religious language. Yet while linguistic features of religion or tradition have been widely discussed and developed, the use of religious language with regard to the learning subjects remains a significant, if not unknown, variable. What do we actually know about the religious language of students? How do we systematically assess their linguistic competence? By presenting selected results regarding the God-talk of German secondary school students, this paper shows how empirical research based on a corpus linguistic approach can provide access to the use of religious language. As such, the paper first aims to initiate a paradigm shift from looking at the linguistic features of content to exploring the language use of learners. Second, it aims to present a research framework that offers possibilities for further comparable and comparative research well beyond the original German speaking context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the factors associated with a gendered division of childcare among parents in Germany. While much is known on the gender division of housework in families and the economic and sociological factors that may be driving it, we still know relatively little about whether and how these factors may affect the division of unpaid childcare in families. We first assess the relevance of partner’s combined gender ideologies and relative resources on the division of unpaid childcare. Second, we assess whether the effect of economic resources may be contingent on the partners’ agreement or disagreement on gender ideologies concerning maternal employment. We address these questions using data from the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam) and MLM Growth Curve Models. Our findings consistently show a significant positive effect of partners’ combined gender ideologies and her share of income on his share of childcare. These effects are strongest, and robust, among couples with matching ideologies supporting maternal employment, which we term ‘egalitarian island’ couples. Economically efficient divisions of childcare thus appear dependent upon the couples’ ideological pairing and on mothers’ ideologies towards maternal employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses specifically on the incorporation of ethnic minority children within the education systems of England, France and Germany. The trends in policy development after World War II in these countries are examined through the prism of three ideal-typical incorporation strategies – integration, assimilation and separation. This is done to test the theories of universalism, parallel development and particularism, which anticipate different trajectories with regard to these strategies. The paper finds evidence for convergence towards integration with regard to provisions for extra support in the host country’s language. This supports the theory of universalism. However, no evidence of convergence towards integration is found in four other policy areas. For instance, country-specific trends emerge on minority religious education and enrolment into mainstream schools, which is consistent with the particularist perspective. As there is little evidence of the three countries drawing closer in terms of all three adopting a strategy of incorporation promoted by transnational agencies, the expectation that national states can borrow in a straightforward fashion from internationally advocated models of ethnic minority incorporation appears unfounded. The paper further finds that local practices are sometimes significantly at odds with national educational policy, suggesting that future research should be directed more at the local level to determine the policies affecting ethnic minority children. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fixed cutoff dates regulating school entry create disadvantages for children who are young relative to their classmates. Early and late school enrollment, though, might mitigate these disadvantages. In this paper, we analyze in a first step which factors determine school entry, if entrance screenings allow for early and late enrollment. Second, we study whether children benefit from a delayed school entry. Using data on a compulsory school entrance screening of a German federal state, we show that children with impairments in cognitive, socio-emotional, and motor development as well as health but also young children are less likely to be recommended to start school. Delaying school entry allows the delayed children to improve, although their developmental status remains below average. School entrance screenings, thus, induce more flexible school entry rules that attenuate performance differences within a class and, as a result, mitigate disadvantages for children being young compared with their classmates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the use of planning methods in German planning practice against the background of the ‘communicative turn’. The debate about concepts of rationality in Germany as well as in other countries can be said to have resulted in the paradigm of communicative actor-oriented planning achieving at least the same standing as the analytical rationality of the classical expert-based planning model. The inconsistent use of the term method in research corresponds to empirical findings indicating that the term is used ambiguously in practice. Nonetheless, planning methods fulfil a number of functions in practice. The notion of a relatively clear division between ‘analytical-rational’ methods on the one hand and ‘communicative’ methods on the other hand was relativized by experimental investigations. The setting in which the methods are applied seems of more importance; even apparently ‘analytical-rational’ planning methods can be implemented in a more or less communicative fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the correlation between collective innovativeness of the teaching staff and the principal’s leadership style as well as additional school structure characteristics. The construct of collective innovativeness is examined as a precondition of successful school improvement processes driven by the teaching staff. Based on theoretical interdisciplinary analyses and empirical findings, the examined hypothesis was that the principal’s leadership directly and positively influences the collective innovativeness of the teaching staff. The results of the structural equation modeling (partial least squares regression) indicate that the principal’s leadership style is the strongest predictor of teachers’ collective innovativeness and, together with the teaching staff’s perception of hierarchical structures and autonomy within the school, explained 51% of variance in the construct. The paper highlights important aspects of principals’ leadership styles that can encourage collective innovativeness among teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparation and provision for transition between primary and secondary school get mixed reviews across all subjects. The literature suggests that modern languages is an area deserving particular attention. There are examples of good practice in transition, but the general picture is, at best, patchy. Researchers [e.g. Blondin, C., M. Candelier, P. Edelenbos, R. Johnstone, A. Kubanek-German, and T. Taeschner. 1998. Foreign Languages in Primary and Pre-school Education. London: Centre for Information on Language and Teaching Research; Hill, K., A. Davies, J. Oldfield, and N. Watson. 1998. Questioning an early start: the transition from primary to secondary foreign language learning. Melbourne Papers in Language Testing 6, no. 2: 21-36; Rosenbusch, M. 1995. Language learners in the elementary school: investing in the future. In Foreign language learning: The Journey of a Lifetime, ed. R. Donato and R. Terry, 1-32. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook] confirm that this is not a country-specific issue, but one which crosses borders of countries and continents. The purpose of this article is to report on how schools in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, have dealt with the challenge of transition. The outcomes of semi-structured interviews with 25 secondary schools teachers suggest that many of the problems in Saxony-Anhalt are the same as for other countries, not least in relation to communication between secondary and primary schools and the exchange of information on individual pupils. Our German neighbours offer models of good practice in relation to continuing professional development, clearly defined and understood teaching content and methods and the avoidance of any need for pupils to start their modern language learning experience afresh on arrival at secondary school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research into educational inequalities has shown the importance of decomposing social origins into parental class, status and education, representing economic, socio-cultural and educational family resources, respectively. But we know little about how inequalities in educational attainment at the micro-level map onto institutional characteristics of educational systems at the macro-level, if we treat social origins in a multidimensional way. Drawing on the rich over-time variation in educational systems in four European countries – Britain, Sweden, Germany and Italy – this paper develops and tests a number of hypotheses regarding the effects of various components of social origins on individuals’ educational attainment in different institutional contexts. It is evident from our results that a great deal of similarity exists across nations with different educational systems in the persisting importance for individuals’ educational attainment of parental class, status and education. But our findings also indicate that changes in the institutional features of educational systems have, in some instances although not in others, served to reinforce or to offset the social processes generating educational inequalities at the micro level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background:As one part of scientific meta-knowledge, students’ meta-modelling knowledge should be promoted on different educational levels such as primary school, secondary school and university. This study focuses on the assessment of university students’ meta-modelling knowledge using a paper–pencil questionnaire. Purpose:The general purpose of this study was to assess and to describe university students’ meta-modelling knowledge. More specifically, it was analysed to what extent the meta-modelling knowledge, as expressed in a questionnaire, depends on the scientific discipline to which university students relate their answer and the concrete model to which they refer while answering. Sample:N = 184 students from one German university voluntarily participated in this study. Design and methods:The questionnaire was developed based on a theoretical framework for model competence and includes constructed response items asking about the purpose of models, ways for testing models and reasons for changing models. Students written answers were first analysed qualitatively based on the theoretical framework to decide whether they expressed advanced understandings or not. Further analyses then were conducted quantitatively. Results:Findings suggest that only few university students possess an advanced meta-modelling knowledge. However, significant more students who relate their answers to the STEM-disciplines expressed advanced understandings than those who referred to social sciences or linguistics/philology. Furthermore, university students who expressed an advanced meta-modelling knowledge referred to rather abstract kinds of models in order to explain their view. Conclusions:The present study supports the assumption that meta-modelling knowledge may be situated and contextualised. Both the scientific discipline and the concrete model to which university students refer seem to be relevant item features influencing university students’ expressed meta-modelling knowledge. Implications for assessment and teaching are discussed in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use the 2000–2008 waves of the German Socioeconomic Panel to examine overeducation transitions. The results are based on a first-order Markov model that allows us to account for both the initial conditions problem and potential endogeneity in attrition. We found that overeducation dynamics, especially the probability of entering overeducation, is significantly influenced by personality. Notwithstanding these differences associated with individual heterogeneity, there still appears to be considerable overeducation persistence. Almost 18% of the overeducation risk is due to individual state dependence, that is, the fact of having been overeducated in the previous year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores endogeneity problems in multilevel estimation of education production functions. The focus is on level 2 endogeneity which arises from correlations between student characteristics and omitted school variables. Theses correlations are mainly the result of student stratification between schools. From an econometric point of view, the correlations between student and school characteristics imply that the omission of some variables may generate endogeneity bias. Therefore, an estimation approach based on the Mundlak [20] technique is developed in order to tackle bias and to generate consistent estimates. Note that our analysis can be extended to any multilevel-structured data (students nested within schools, employees within firms, firms within regions, etc). The entire analysis is undertaken in a comparative context between three countries: Germany, Finland and the UK. Each one of them represents a particular system. For instance, Finland is known for its extreme comprehensiveness, Germany for early selection and the UK for its liberalism. These countries are used to illustrate the theory and to prove that the level of bias arising from omitted variables varies according to the characteristics of education systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Germany, a remarkable number of young people leave school with the qualification required for entrance to higher education (Abitur) but do not actually go on to university. Instead, these young people—known in German as Abiturienten—start an apprenticeship within what is known in Germany as the Dual-System. Indeed, the numbers of Abiturienten with both an apprenticeship qualification and a university degree have grown considerably and now make up a significant minority of school-leavers. From an international perspective in particular, this pathway through the education system is puzzling: why would someone with the qualifications to go on to higher education decide to acquire what the Germans call a Doppel-Qualifikation, or 'double qualification'? This paper explains the transition process from secondary education to the apprenticeship system and higher education. It also tentatively identifies factors that may account for the motives of these particular school-leavers: for instance, Abiturienten undertaking an apprenticeship may rather be more risk-averse than other, less academically able, students. In such cases, an apprenticeship provides practical experience and allows students to keep their options open. Moreover, by comparison with a number of other countries, the apprenticeship system in Germany is held in high esteem. Finally, the paper discusses some of the weaknesses of the Dual-System and their implications for trainees with the Abitur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the Europeanization of citizenship education policy through a comparative analysis of two European states, Germany and Spain, with strong traditions of regional control of education policy. While previous studies have tended to focus on national responses to and implementation of EU initiatives, they often disregarded the complex relationship regional actors have with national state and supranational actors. Using evidence from interviews and a detailed framing analysis of citizenship education curricula, textbooks, and policy documents, this paper looks specifically at Catalonia and Bavaria to explore the conception of the 'ideal citizen' within and across local education practice(s), regional policy imperatives, central state-level citizenship education policy, German and Spanish federal policy related to citizenship and immigration, and EU educational initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article enquires about why some countries have specialised their further education provision more than others, focusing on three types of specialisation: by subject, by geographical area and by age group. The article proposes an analytical framework to understand the drivers for further education provider specialisation, based on four variables: inputs to the further education system, regulatory framework, demand and supporting clusters. It then applies this framework to review the experience of Germany, New Zealand and the Netherlands in recent years. Drawing on this review, the last section of the paper provides some lessons for England and issues for further debate. It is concluded that the model proposed helps to explain the evolution of provider specialisation in the countries covered and that the UK's current specialisation profile suggests that greater efforts should be made to increase geographical specialisation, whereas action in stimulating further specialisation by subject and age group should be subject to caveats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ways in which the results of the OECD Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) have influenced educational discourse in Germany. It argues that the results caused shockwaves in the educational landscape and led to a re‐evaluation of other international comparisons which had presented an unfavourable picture of education in Germany. The paper outlines three main areas affected by the reception of the PISA study in Germany: political discourse, curriculum development processes and academic discourse on education. Changes in the political discourse resulted in a wide‐ranging reform agenda, with the introduction of national educational standards being the most significant of a number of initiatives and programmes. In terms of curriculum development processes, the paper argues that PISA has led to the growing importance of principles such as outcome control, competence orientation and external assessment. The post‐PISA academic discourse in Germany can be characterised by the re‐orientation of educational studies towards a greater emphasis on the empirical research of pedagogic practice (empirische Unterrichtsforschung). All three areas of change are informed by more or less systematic comparisons with educational structures in other countries and, therefore, it is argued that PISA has contributed to a rediscovery of comparative education in the German discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the number of tertiary graduates has been a priority on the political agenda of the EU for some years. The focus has mainly been on academic courses though, with less emphasis on the role of vocational education and training. International educational statistics indeed show a clear increase in the number of persons completing tertiary education programmes in recent years. In overall terms, this development is referred to as ‘academisation’. The present paper provides a critical analysis and uses examples from Germany, Austria and France to show that this interpretation is neglecting two crucial facts. One is that various academic programmes in fact are combining academic with vocational learning. The other is that there are vocational programmes in the tertiary education sector that are not adequately visible in international education statistics. This understanding is important in relation to future policy-making as well as individual decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper provides an overview of qualifications in the German construction workforce and draws comparisons with the situation in the British construction industry. The German system of general education and vocational training is outlined. Data from a variety of sources are used to describe both the stocks and the flows of qualifications in the German construction workforce. Particular attention is paid to vocational qualifications, such as apprenticeships and the Meister qualification. Key findings are that the majority of German construction workers are qualified up to apprenticeship level, and that most of these employees have achieved a general schooling certificate from at least a lower secondary school prior to their vocational training. These factors are taken as signs of strength of the German construction workforce. Comparisons between the stocks of qualifications in the construction industry in the two countries suggest that intermediate qualifications of the apprenticeship type are far less prevalent in the British construction workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the relevance of compensatory education for educationally disadvantaged children of preschool age in Germany and beyond The article is a shortened, adapted and translated version of the paper Schmidt, T., & Smidt, W. (2014). Kompensatorische Förderung benachteiligter Kinder – Entwicklungslinien, Forschungsbefunde und heutige Bedeutung für die Frühpädagogik. [Compensatory education for disadvantaged children – lines of development, research findings and present significance for early childhood education].Zeitschrift für Pädagogik,60(1), 132–149. Beginning with its onset in the 1960s, key lines of the development of compensatory early childhood education in Germany are presented. Thereafter, significant national and international empirical findings on the effectiveness of compensatory early childhood education are identified. Based on that, the potential of this approach for the promotion of educationally disadvantaged young children in Germany and beyond is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this paper is to investigate, from a generational perspective, the effect of human capital on individual earnings and earnings differences in Germany, France and Italy, three developed countries in Western Europe with similarconservativewelfare regimes but with important differences in their education systems. Income inequalitiesbetweenandwithineducation levels are explored using a two-stage probit model with quantile regressions in the second stage. More precisely, drawing upon 2005 EU-SILC data, returns on schooling and experience are estimated separately for employees and self-employed full-time workers by means of Mincerian earnings equations with sample selection; the sample selection correction accounts for the potential individual self-selection into the two labour force types. Although some determinants appear to be relatively similar across countries, state-specific differentials are drawn in light of the institutional features of each national context. The study reveals how each dimension of human capital differently affects individuals’ earnings and earnings inequality and, most of all, how their impacts differ along the conditional earnings distribution and across countries. In the comparative perspective, the country's leading position in terms of the highest rewards on education also depends on which earnings distribution (employee vs. self-employed) is analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the broad sociopolitical discussion on education quality within the last decade, it has become apparent that education is gaining importance for urban development, as well as space and the urban context are important dimensions of education. This becomes particularly evident in concepts for local educational landscapes (Ger. Bildungslandschaften). The young field of research on educational landscapes is currently lacking empirical research from spatial and planning sciences. In the paper, the current state of scientific research on educational landscapes in Germany and Europe and first insights to contextual and spatial interfaces and linkages between education and urban development in general are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Disaster education’ is a fledgling area of study in lifelong education. Many countries educate their populations for disasters, to mitigate potential damage and loss of life, as well as contribute to national security. In this paper, which draws on interview data from the German Federal Office for Civil Defence and Disaster Assistance and the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, archival research, analysis of websites and promotional materials as well as relevant academic literature, I examine disaster education and preparedness for national emergencies in Germany. I argue that it is not generally extended to the general public, rather confined to trained experts, decentralised, localised and exclusive. Theorising disaster education as a ‘civil defence pedagogy’, a type of public pedagogy, which contributes to shaping narratives of national identity, I argue that it is unlikely that Germany will develop a more inclusive, universal, formalised nor high-profile campaign in disaster education in the foreseeable future. This, I suggest, is due to narratives of the German democratic nation as secure, federal, peaceful and unified, which originated at the founding of West Germany in 1949, and continue to shape contemporary political narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Education policy is a highly interesting field from the point of view of governance, given the substantial changes that have been made throughout the world to the governance of such policy over the last 30 years or so. Western governments in particular have made significant changes in the governance arrangements of their education policy in order to achieve two fundamental goals: increased efficiency and greater accountability. In this process, the role of governments has changed but not diminished. This paper explores such developments by comparing the trajectories of governance reforms in three federal countries (Australia, Canada and Germany). What emerges is that the role of governments is key to all governance mixes modelled by the reform processes in the three analysed countries, and that there is greater “national” coordination than before, but also significant differences in the strategies adopted and in the content of reform, due to the differing nature of such countries’ federal dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scope of immigrants' transnational ties and the relationship to their social position is subject to a controversial debate that suggests a dualistic picture. On the one hand, globalization theorists argue that an elite of highly educated and economically most successful professionals intensively engages in and benefits from transnationality. On the other hand, most scholars in migration and assimilation studies hold that it is the most underprivileged immigrants who maintain strong ties across state borders, which in turn furthers their marginalization. Yet, to date, very little systematic research has been conducted into the nexus between social inequalities and transnationality. This paper aims to fill this gap. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we show that the economic, cultural and social forms of capital are related to transnationality in different ways, rather than reflecting one uniform pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]