Positive social relationships at school are considered an important resource for well-being, physical and mental health. Recent studies also point to the importance of emotional and social factors for school learning.
The department focuses on the development and maintenance of sustainable social relationships in (all-day) schools and their connection to socio-emotional and identity development of children and adolescents on the one hand, and on social and psychological well-being of teachers and pedagogical staff on the other hand. Research topics include student-teacher and student-staff relationships at school and their significance for student development as well as (multi-)professional cooperation of staff.
One research focus is the conception and evaluation of teacher training programs to improve the quality of social relationships at school. For the investigation of the determinants and effects of pedagogical relationships, quasi-experimental (intervention) study designs are used in addition to longitudinal mixed-methods studies. We are particularly interested in students perspectives. The department also conducts evaluation and school development studies in all-day schools.
We teach in university teacher training (modules "Beobachten, Beraten, Fördern" and research module F) as well as in the master's program Empirical Educational Research (modules 1 and 2).
The following pages provide information about members of the field and their research interests.
