Quality developments in the educational system: Variations of a reflexive mechanism. About the epistemological value of experiences with quality assurance procedures in the pedagogical system of lifelong learning.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Dieter Nittel
• Subject Area: Education Systems and Educational Institutions ; Educational Research on Socialization, Welfare and Professionalism
• Term: from 2019 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 428976926

On the basis of the diversification of quality development approaches in the educational system it is intended to collect and reconstruct the epistemological value of occupational experiences of pedagogical practitioners with relevant procedures of quality assurance. This research intention is based on the assumption that a review of the current situation as well as the further development of central procedures of quality development depend on the systematical consideration of the pedagogical practitioners involved in quality assurance. In the center of this study - which applies a multiperspective experiment design, i. e. analysis of documents, interviews with experts and group discussions - are four sectors of the educational system: elementary field, secondary schools (high schools), further education and social work/social pedagogy. With the selection of these sectors and of the nursery/preschool teachers, high school teachers, trainers/educators and social workers/social education workers working in these areas, it is aimed to capture the whole spectrum of the pedagogical organized system of lifelong learning. Therefore, comparative occupational group and organizational research is able to overcome the common, strongly sector-focused perspective in educational quality research. The analysis is primarily conducted taking into account the overlap of two perspectives: What relevance do occupational experiences gained handling with quality development approaches have for the professionalization of pedagogical employees and to what extent are they of relevance for the development of the administrative level of the organization? The expected research outcome of this study is to identify generalizable mechanisms of the quality development progress and to record the theoretical variations of quality assurance as a reflexive mechanism in an inventory list. At the same time the comparative approach provides the opportunity to develop constructive rules of thumb and guidelines for one sector based on the knowledge and insight of other sectors. The implicit intention of organizational learning is already realized in the data gathering, i. e. the group discussions. The participants of this method of collecting data are presented with a place where they can name constructive modes of handling quality assurance procedures.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants