Diversity and Education
The "Diversity and Education" unit focuses on the role of various dimensions of diversity (e.g. gender or background) in educational settings.
About
The "Diversity and Education" unit focuses on diversity in educational institutions. It examines the role of different dimensions of diversity (e.g., gender, social or cultural background) for educational opportunities and educational decisions as well as relations between different dimensions of diversity and social belonging in educational settings. Furthermore, we are also interested in connections between diversity and social aspects of everyday school life.
Social belonging and social exclusion
The feeling of belonging and being liked is essential for healthy development and academic success. Thus, social exclusion can lead to severe emotional and academic difficulties. In the Diversity and Education unit, we investigate the role of different aspects of diversity (such as gender, migration background or special educational needs), for inclusion and exclusion among students.
Stereotypes at school
Stereotypes are related to the phenomenon that we tend to ascribe certain characteristics to members of certain social groups. This happens unconsciously, but influences our behaviour and our expectations towards the members of these groups. In the Diversity and Education unit, we investigate the stereotypical beliefs and expectations in the educational settings and how they affect teachers and students in everyday life.
Heterogeneity in competencies and achievement
Typically, the students in a class have different levels of skills and abilities and thus different strengths and difficulties in terms of learning. For teachers, it is important to be aware of these differences in order to be able to foster and support the students appropriately in the Diversity and Education unit, we examine opportunities for diagnostic and differential treatment of students with varying abilities inside and outside of the classroom.
Department
Teacher and Teaching Quality
The department of Teacher and Teaching Quality (TTQ) focuses on the investigation of quality and effectiveness of educational processes.