Ongoing projects

This project focuses on the topic of conflict in the subjective imagination of Viennese adolescents (in the sense of thoughts, ideas, understandings, experiences, expectations, needs) and is carried out in the form of didactically motivated imagination research.

Conflicts play a central role in times of multiple crises in democracy. The concept of conflict can be used to negotiate dangers and challenges to democracy such as the war in Ukraine, economic and social crises in society and civil society conflicts in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research project focuses on the subjective ideas that form the basis and prerequisite for further learning processes and are important for the design of future teaching and learning opportunities. The objective of the study is thus to get to know the topic of "conflict" from the perspective of Viennese young people and to work out, on the basis of the analysed subjective ideas, how corresponding subject-didactic educational offers on the topic can be designed and implemented in the future in a target group-oriented way in order to promote sustainable teaching and learning processes in Vienna on a socially relevant topic. Accordingly, Viennese young people are to be supported in their political orientation, judgement and ability to act in dealing with the topic of "conflict".

The sample should reflect the diversity of young people in Vienna. Therefore, the surveys will be conducted in different municipal districts and school types in order to reflect different social and socio-economic backgrounds. Furthermore, different age groups and genders are to be included.

The research design of the study is composed of a multi-stage research process:

• First, written open-ended short questionnaires on the topic of "conflict" are collected. In this way, the variance spectrum of subjective ideas is to be recorded in breadth on the one hand, and on the other hand probed and thematically categorised as a basis for further research.
• In the subsequent second phase, in-depth individual case analyses will be conducted on the basis of problem-centred interviews. Based on this, basic patterns can be derived, which represent a quasi thematic classification and contain subject-didactic reasons for reflection.
• Finally, empirically based and theoretically reflected educational impulses for the target group-specific thematisation of "conflict" will be elaborated.