The work performed by the “Children and Childcare” division is focused on children's living conditions and everyday experiences. The aim is to find out how childhood is socially structured and how it is impacted by social change. There is a particular interest here in institutions concerned with education and childcare as well as supplementary programmes as are currently being developed and debated in connection with the advancement of daycare facilities and all-day schools.
As public childcare expands and gains in importance, questions are also raised as to the qualifications of the personnel involved. A key issue here is the academization of the profession of nursery school teacher that is currently envisaged, as well as the professional development required to ensure the quality of educational work.
Another area is that of the educational and learning processes that occur during childhood, both in the family and in institutional and non-formal contexts as well as in settings that are complementary to the family itself. Studies also explore developments and current debate surrounding the educational mandate of daycare facilities. Projects are implemented to develop professional practice while scientific analyses examine the application and effectiveness of existing programmes.
Research into the life situations of children looks in socio-structural determinants that allow a differentiated appraisal of social inequality, as well as the question of how children experience childhood themselves and their role in shaping it as protagonists. Here research examines the scope for action and the resources at children's disposal, in particular the educational and learning opportunities they are able to make draw on. One particular focus is children’s use of the internet and new media, both in their leisure time and in a school context.
Head of Department
81541 Munich
