The social sciences increasingly utilize film as a teaching tool. This is reflected by a growing amount of publications on the topic, which are predominantly reporting positive results. Incorporating the medium seems to allow for more adaptive and engaging ways of teaching. Judging from the existing literature, however, its application in the…

In psychology programs, students should acquire both domain-specific knowledge and cross-domain competences important for later practice (e.g., multiple document literacy). Typically, such competences are trained "directly" in courses explicitly devoted to them or indirectly in courses on psychological topics that require them without…

Memorials and monuments represent a society's view of its own history and the conclusions we collectively wish to draw about its meaning. In America in recent years, public clashes over the presence of contested public memorials--including and especially monuments dedicated to the Confederate cause in the United States Civil War--have led to…

Changes in the economy and society lead to a growing necessity of financial education. In this context, we investigate the approaches to financial education in secondary schools in the United States and Germany. We seek to answer the question if and how the implementation of financial education is similar and different between the two countries.…

The focus of this paper is the affective dimension of far-right discourses which we consider challenges for teaching. The rise of the far-right in many parts of the world has led to a growing body of work in the social sciences. However, as the topic has become the subject of academic scrutiny its controversial nature also demands a debate on…

This article advocates for the inclusion of queer and queer of color discourse into graduate curricula in North American German Studies. It presents a brief overview of major discussions in queer of color studies, proposes sample readings of queer of color texts in Germany that help graduate students develop sophisticated understandings of German…

Researchers agree that an interdisciplinary approach should be taken to address bioethical issues at school. Little is known about the knowledge students need to be able to understand and take part in discussions about these issues. We investigate the relationship between 79 students' prior knowledge in various domains and their ability to recall…

In 2016 an important anniversary is coming up for "The Beutelsbach consensus". It will have its 40th birthday. This consensus is of vital significance for the German dispute and discussion on teaching civics. "The Beutelsbach consensus" contains, and describes three points: (1) Prohibition against overwhelming the student. It…

Geography lessons center on a language-based product with socially relevant geographic content. The subject of geography in secondary schools in Germany faces three major challenges that make a stronger focus on language in the monolingual geography classroom necessary. First, more than 30 percent of German pupils in secondary schools have a…

Innovation is essential for the education sector. The ways in which curriculum decision making is organised reflects different implicit approaches on how educational systems pertain to promote innovation in education. Curriculum holds an outstanding place when seeking to promote innovation in education, as it reflects the vision for education by…

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) initiatives in schools have become widespread across Europe and beyond in the last decade or so. Drivers for this include the role of English as the language of international economic activity, media and culture, belief in the value of early start and meaning-focussed instruction in foreign language…

Confronting the Holocaust in a classroom setting involves a complex undertaking that demands careful planning as educators develop and present curricula on the subject to their students. This article explores another problematic factor involved in teaching the Shoah, that is, several issues that exist outside the content/pedagogical framework but…