Educational Science in Germany — a Critical Essay

Abstract

The essay analyses recent developments in the science of education in Germany. It understands the situation observed today as a crisis. A long tradition of pedagogical reflection, based on experience as well as on strong philosophical thinking, dating back to the period of enlightenment and the classic idea of “Bildung” coined in 1800, is going to be abandoned and lost. This is also happening to the tradition of “Geisteswissenschaftliche Pädagogik”, which has been the leading paradigm of educational sciences in the 20th century. Instead, the empirical approach will become dominant, obviously influenced by methods of psychological research and those of social sciences. The new empirical approach has tremendous effects on the practice in education and teaching: ethical orientations and reflections, understanding and cooperation are given away, while more or less technological forms of pedagogical treatment will flourish.