Core research areas and projects of the Chair

In addition to the general media education core research areas at the Chair of Media Education with a focus on media education, here you will find the specific focus areas and the methodological self-image in the context of these.

Educational theory and educational research with special consideration of media and technology
The focus is on the justification and systematic development of a critical (media) education theory that places particular emphasis on hybridity. From a (media) anthropological perspective, the focus is not only on changing media practices and techniques, but above all on the associated images of the human being and forms of subjectivation in the sense of a genealogy of the (pedagogical) present. In these contexts, the changing relationship between technology and subjects in pedagogical contexts is also put into perspective along the lines of previous work under the term "technocratic pedagogization". On the other hand, this results in an emphasis on the constellative consequences for the subjective shaping of life, such as new forms of the constitution of public and private spheres, responsibility, identity, knowledge or truth, communication, visuality or media practices of aesthetic articulation. Special consideration is given to the interplay of economization, technization and aestheticization processes as well as media technologies in their hinge function between self-technologies (education/socialization) and social technologies (education/socialization).

Media education as an individual-collective condition of possibility, practice and goal orientation of socio-cultural change
The general focus here is on the historical and systematic analysis of media education and media pedagogy as a social institution and the development of its practices. On the one hand, this includes examining the complex genesis of media education as a socially relevant area of activity and the associated long neglect of mediality in pedagogical contexts of action. As in teaching, we are concerned here with the individual and collective practices that emerge in this context. In addition, we are interested in schools as social spaces and the individual and collective practices that constitute them, paying particular attention to relational and hybrid aspects evoked by media and technologies. A threefold hybridity, which is characterized on the one hand by technology and media in the sense of an "alway on", on the other hand by a double "domestication" in the sense of a mutual approach of subjects to media technologies and finally by the increasing, but so far neglected interlocking of school and non-school stakeholders and institutions under these conditions, receives a dedicated attention.

Media socialization theory and research with a focus on
post/digital practices, aesthetics and forms of communitization
The focus here is on questions of identity and subjectivation with an emphasis on practice theory, but also on (new) forms of media production and communitization against the background of living and working environments and milieus that are differentiating themselves in hybrid spaces. This leads to the processing of specific research desiderata in media socialization theory, such as new/transformed forms of reading, music, games and media socialization; articulation and networking in and with digital technologies; knowledge acquisition and communication; aspects of youth/media cultural expression with a special focus on creativity; hybrid appropriation of space; discrimination through media technologies or new inter- and intragenerational problems.

Education, upbringing and socialization between media and technology -
Methodological focus of media education research at the Chair of Media Education with a focus on media education
Based on our content, the Chair's methodological focus is as follows:

• qualitative-reconstructive: our overarching focus is on exploring media and practices of teaching, learning, education and (self-)socialization in their materiality, emergence, processuality and relationality. To this end, we rely on ethnographic approaches, for example in the form of participant observation or micro-ethnographies, as well as reconstructive interviews and documentary methods. In this way, subjectivization-analytical perspectives on media use, media appropriation and media design can also be opened up at the intersection with the next line.
• Power and discourse analysis: here the focus is on the linguistic, visual and material production of transformations. Methodologically fruitful approaches here are, in addition to common discourse analyses, above all practice-theoretical frameworks or governmentality studies.
• historical-systematic: here we pursue in particular the analysis of media archives, educational media, but also their modes of digitization, as well as historical-systematic research on concepts, patterns of order and aesthetics, as well as media archaeological and media genealogical perspectives.
• reflexive-method-critical: We focus on methodological and overarching appropriateness to the subject matter, also in order to develop new methods or to rethink or adapt existing ones. This means that a meta-perspective approach to (our own) research practice is a central component of our methodological self-image. This becomes particularly clear as a necessity in the context of current transformations, for example when AI is already marked as "generative", the question of how to deal with it and its results arises at least as much from a media education perspective. Accordingly, we focus on reflexive documentation of methods (e.g. research diaries, material reflections), positioning of researchers in the field and the associated epistemological clarification of subjectivity, effects and participation in highly dynamic fields.
• immanent-practice co-designing: The final and overarching point in our focus here is that it is extremely beneficial to build on and further develop forms of practice and action research that are currently gaining in importance. Especially in the context of the (media) educational spaces mentioned above and their relationality and the practices that constitute them. In our understanding, this reveals a great transfer potential in the sense of participatory research and outreach.

In summary, our orientation is associated with an attitude that aims to conduct research that does justice to its subject matter, instead of limiting or reducing its complexity. In doing so, we aim for research that combines theory, empiricism and practical action by not only focusing on re/presentation, but also thinking about transformation; ultimately demanding method(olog)ical diversity and strengthening reflexivity - and this not only as recognized methodological pluralism, but also as a lived research attitude that we also carry forward into teaching.