Recent Developments in Research on Teaching and Learning in Didactics Based on Critical Theory: Focusing on Gruschka and Pollmanns

Abstract

Recent studies on didactics in German conduct a series of empirical research on teaching and learning in order to understand the structure of teaching in class. Gruschka(2012)paved a distinctive way for pedagogical research from a standpoint of critical theory. He applied transcription to the methodology of interpreting class activities, and established standards for maintaining and publishing these transcripts. He pointed out the problem of "didaktisierung," that didactic operation inhibits student formation. He criticized didactic approaches which do not facilitate student cultivation.

However, his perspective on pedagogical research did not sufficiently consider students' learning in class. Taking this into consideration, Pollmanns(2014)research emphasizes analysis of students' notes and interviews, by proposing the concept of "Aneigung" or appropriation in her study. Specifically, she captured this concept "Aneigung" from both viewpoint of formal and material, which then enabled her to clarify the relationship between teaching and appropriation.

The significance of their research on teaching and learning lies in the fact that they reconstructed didactic theory with focusing on clarifying the teaching and appropriation on lessons.