Approach to a Theory of Education Guides

• Applicant: Dr. Michaela Schmid
• Subject Area: General Education and History of Education
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 279020669

Taking a look at the state of research with regard to the genre education guide, it shows impressively that there is a serious research desideratum in this field of educational science. The educational discourse of the last ten years has indeed promoted educational scientific research referring to the genre education guides, but the papers existing so far are rare and mainly constricted to education guides in printed format. There is especially a lack of systematic considerations with regard to the genre education guides, and educational science and popular pedagogics face each other reservedly. The solution however does not lie in a disapproving attitude of educational science and hence a pedagogical theory abstinence regarding education guides; on the grounds that thiswould anyway be too abstract for laypersons. The challenge is ratherits utilization for laypersons; thus making education guides a genuinepedagogical field (again). Education guides could be appreciated as a chance for parent education. But this requires more educational scientific research in this field, as well as classification, systematization, theoretical foundation, and definition of qualitystandards in and for this realm of practice. And much more fundamental: It requires knowledge and a description of the genre.Hence, the working group starts exactly at this desideratum, aiming at deliberations about a theory of education guides. Here, threeperspectives (historical/systematic, science theoretical,interdisciplinary/international) and sets of questions are leading, whichare fed by existent research desiderata and approached by scientists from diverse disciplines.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks