Research

The didactics of history and politics is a broad field: it is not limited to a didactics of representation and should therefore not simply prepare content that results from scientific research for a broad group of recipients, in particular for pupils. Rather, they must ask how teaching history and political education can help learners to cope with and shape their own lives and to develop their identity. This ultimately extends the scope of subject didactics beyond the school sector: if it focuses on the individual, the relationship between the individual and society must also be examined. Thus, the didactics of history and politics also deal with the question of how societies deal with the past and history: Which images of history are conveyed and how? How does the associated "politics of history" affect individual images of history? How can the manipulation and indoctrination of history be counteracted?

The field of didactics of history and historical-political didactics therefore includes not only history teaching – which is of course important and central to teacher training – but also the design of museums and exhibitions, the analysis of historical feature and documentary films, the study of computer games, public history and the instrumentalisation of history for political purposes. Consequently, the didactics of history and politics deal with historical and political culture (including the analysis of textbooks), the formation of historical and historical-political meaning, and historical and political consciousness.

Research in the didactics of history and political education therefore focuses on subject-oriented didactics, which aims to enable teachers to guide students in satisfying their historical orientation needs and reflecting on their meaning-building processes. It is intended to support the development of a reflected and self-reflective awareness of history and politics. Subject-oriented history and politics didactics view the ideas of history and politics as constructs influenced by socialisation and education, which can constantly change. They aim to enable a "self-reflective self" that recognises and reflects on these social dependencies. This should create the basis for a (political) discourse that enables the exchange of arguments and makes manipulation and indoctrination more difficult.

The central aim of research in history and political education is to combine theory, empiricism and practice or pragmatics, and thus enable a theory- and research-led but practice-oriented education.