New JoDDiD study on professional understanding and professionaliz­ation needs is available

High expectations, little support: Our new study on the professional understanding and professionalization needs of non-school civic educators is here!

Based on 16 guided interviews and a participatory workshop discussion with practitioners, the authors David Jugel and Stefan Breuer use qualitative content analysis to reconstruct how political educators understand and practice their profession and how their professional activities are characterized by structural challenges such as precarious funding logics, high expectations, administrative requirements and anti-democratic conflict situations.

It became clear that the professionalization of extracurricular civic educators is primarily put under pressure by funding structures and anti-democratic developments. Particularly in the extracurricular sector, the researchers observed that high expectations are placed on political education stakeholders: They are expected to convey democratic values, enable participation, moderate social conflicts and at the same time are comprehensively challenged by anti-democratic developments.

Despite this great social relevance, there are few structured qualification and further training opportunities.

Prof. Anja Besand, Director of JoDDiD, demands: "Anyone striving for good democratic education must also address the question of how those active in this field can be supported in their qualifications."

Stefan Breuer, author of the study, states: ,,Looking at the results of this study, it becomes clear that in some cases completely unrealistic expectations are being placed on democratic education. This applies in particular to those areas that are characterized by extreme right-wing dominance.

"The study shows that professionalism in extracurricular political education is primarily understood as a reflexive, continuous process. At the same time, individual claims to professionalism repeatedly come up against structural limits,'' states David Jugel, another author of the study.

The study concludes with concrete derivations for professionalization strategies, further training structures and a proposal for a qualification curriculum for political educators. It sets out in very practical terms what now needs to be done by politicians, funding bodies, educators and academics in order to advance the profession of extracurricular civic education.

You can download the study, the results at a glance and the authors' recommendations for action here!