Bringing the Student's Life into the Classroom? Genesis, Scientific Status and Development of the »Lifeworld-oriented Didactics« for Children and Youth with Emotional, Social, and Behavioral Needs

Abstract

The model »Lifeworld-oriented Didactics« (in German: »Lebensweltorientierte Didaktik«) has been developed by Joachim Broecher, through his own educational practice as a classroom teacher during the 1990s while teaching in West Germany in both urban and rural specialized schools for children and youth with emotional, social, and behavioral needs. Active with participation and dialogue, this educational and didactic approach encourages the students to share their social, cultural and biographical experiences. Working cooperatively, students engage in experiential, hands-on, and person-centered learning activities utilizing creative arts, play, self-expression and self-exploration around topics within youth culture, media and everyday aesthetics -- areas that have a central role in this educational work. As a majority of the children and youth in the field of special or inclusive education reject traditional school learning, they embrace the experiential, hands-on, person-centered learning activities in connection with Lifeworld-oriented Didactics. These activities first serve to build educational relationships and create a basis for curricular learning, which is then initiated step by step through interwining both levels of learning. Broecher‘s model is based upon the educational ideals of freedom, emancipation, autonomy, co-determination, and solidarity, as they have been defined in Wolfgang Klafki's (1985) critical-contructive educational sciences approach, drawing from the philosophies of the Classical period, Enlightenment and encorporating the critical theory of the Frankfurt School. Lifeworld-oriented Didactics is not only an enabling, empowering, non-labeling, non-categorizing approach for challenging classrooms and school settings, but also it's purpose is to contribute to existing research by exploring the »torn world of the social«, as it has been described by Axel Honneth in his social-philosophical discourses. Lifeworld-oriented Didactics is based on qualitative research principles and draws from field studies, ethnographical studies, and uses collaborative cultural mapping as a methodology. Winfried Kuhn and Ulrike Kocks, the former leaders of the teachers' College in Düsseldorf, Germany, provided their teacher trainees (J.B. was one of them) with an interdisciplinary educational framework. This longterm, project-oriented, flexible didactic structure, in which person-centered and curricular learning unites with counseling efforts around learning and social behavior, and integrates with life issues and coping strategies. Early criticisms of this model, by a certain part of the academic world, included the argument that not every teacher knows about working with the diversified field of creative arts, youth culture etc., so the model is not replicable. Additionally: the researcher (J.B.), who developed the model, participated in his own field research, thus he was lacking the neccessary distance. This critique viewed the whole approach as lacking reliability scientifically because it was not measurable and not repeatable. Other concerns were the unspairingly open documentation of the conflict-loaden biographies and life stories of a majority of students. However despite these criticisms, this didactic model, at least temporarily, became part of pre-service teacher education at the universities of Gießen, Cologne, Halle, Hamburg and Munich with Joachim Broecher's lecturing, during the years 1998-2008. The students of these universities were more than interested and motivated to discuss the opportunities and challenges which came with this didactic approach. The contributions, questions, proposals and ideas of these students in pre-service teacher education, in special education and inclusive education, became a strong, encouraging factor for the further development of the model. Furthermore, a series of productive cooperative relationships were established within the German children and youth welfare system, in cities like Berlin, Frankfurt or Potsdam. Through these cooperations Lifeworld-oriented Didactics became a conceptual element of programs and research projects with the focus on prevention and intervention in connection with school dropout and truancy. Further development of the original model of the 1990s might include connecting it with international approaches, e.g. Teaching for Social Justice, Urban Education, Experiential Education, Citizenship Education, Student Voice-Models, Hip Hop and Rap Pedagogies, Gender- and Queer Studies, Critical Discourse Analysis, or Critical Race Studies. Lifeworld-oriented Didactics could also be linked with some single components of School-wide Positive Behavior Support, like Check & Connect, Choice-Making, Opportunities-to-Respond, and Behavior-specific Praise. Also this model could connect with some selected social skills trainings focused on self-regulation or self-management, even if the general structure of both models is completely contrary. Contrasts such as those found in evidence-based practices, hermetical structure, behavior-orientation versus open educational and didactic structure, with an orientation to the lifeworld, to youth cultures, media and digital worlds, also integrate philosophical inquiry in the educational work. The Lifeworld-oriented Didactics model also strives to understand what is happening beneath the surface of the pure behavior, in terms of emotions, identities, internal troubles and conflicts. Building from the model of the 1990s, a modern contemporary design considers digital worlds, virtual realities, social networks, youth cultures, and more. The didactical framework of the model is open and flexible in structure, interdisciplinary, and is relevant particular with its intertwine of experiential, subject-centered learning activities, curricular learning activities, and with emphasis on the reflection on the youths' existing patterns of learning behavior and social behavior, their internal and external conflicts, their emotional troubles and concerns, and their coping strategies in dealing with their life issues.

Full text

Bringing the Student‘s Life into the Classroom?
Genesis, Scientific Status and Development of the »Lifeworld-oriented Didactics« for
Children and Youth with Emotional, Social, and Behavioral Needs
Joachim Broecher 1, Janet F. Painter 2, and Julia M. Siebert 1
1 University of Flensburg, Flensburg, Germany; 2 Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, North Carolina, USA
The model »Lifeworld-oriented Didactics« (in German: »Lebensweltorientierte Didaktik«) has
been developed by Joachim Broecher, through his own educational practice as a classroom tea-
cher during the 1990s while teaching in West Germany in both urban and rural specialized
schools for children and youth with emotional, social, and behavioral needs. Active with partici-
pation and dialogue, this educational and didactic approach encourages the students to share their
social, cultural and biographical experiences. Working cooperatively, students engage in experi-
ential, hands-on, and person-centered learning activities utilizing creative arts, play, self-expres-
sion and self-exploration around topics within youth culture, media and everyday aesthetics --
areas that have a central role in this educational work. As a majority of the children and youth in
the field of special or inclusive education reject traditional school learning, they embrace the ex-
periential, hands-on, person-centered learning activities in connection with Lifeworld-oriented
Didactics. These activities first serve to build educational relationships and create a basis for cur-
ricular learning, which is then initiated step by step through interwining both levels of learning.
Broecher‘s model is based upon the educational ideals of freedom, emancipation, autonomy, co-
determination, and solidarity, as they have been defined in Wolfgang Klafki's (1985) critical-
contructive educational sciences approach, drawing from the philosophies of the Classical peri-
od, Enlightenment and encorporating the critical theory of the Frankfurt School. Lifeworld-
oriented Didactics is not only an enabling, empowering, non-labeling, non-categorizing approach
for challenging classrooms and school settings, but also it's purpose is to contribute to existing
research by exploring the »torn world of the social«, as it has been described by Axel Honneth in
his social-philosophical discourses. Lifeworld-oriented Didactics is based on qualitative research
principles and draws from field studies, ethnographical studies, and uses collaborative cultural
mapping as a methodology. Winfried Kuhn and Ulrike Kocks, the former leaders of the teachers'
College in Düsseldorf, Germany, provided their teacher trainees (J.B. was one of them) with an
interdisciplinary educational framework. This longterm, project-oriented, flexible didactic struc-
ture, in which person-centered and curricular learning unites with counseling efforts around lear-
ning and social behavior, and integrates with life issues and coping strategies. Early criticisms of
this model, by a certain part of the academic world, included the argument that not every teacher
knows about working with the diversified field of creative arts, youth culture etc., so the model is
not replicable. Additionally: the researcher (J.B.), who developed the model, participated in his
own field research, thus he was lacking the neccessary distance. This critique viewed the whole
approach as lacking reliability scientifically because it was not measurable and not repeatable.
Other concerns were the unspairingly open documentation of the conflict-loaden biographies and
life stories of a majority of students. However despite these criticisms, this didactic model, at
least temporarily, became part of pre-service teacher education at the universities of Gießen, Co-
logne, Halle, Hamburg and Munich with Joachim Broecher's lecturing, during the years 1998-
2008. The students of these universities were more than interested and motivated to discuss the
opportunities and challenges which came with this didactic approach. The contributions, questi-
ons, proposals and ideas of these students in pre-service teacher education, in special education
and inclusive education, became a strong, encouraging factor for the further development of the
model. Furthermore, a series of productive cooperative relationships were established within the
German children and youth welfare system, in cities like Berlin, Frankfurt or Potsdam. Through
these cooperations Lifeworld-oriented Didactics became a conceptual element of programs and
research projects with the focus on prevention and intervention in connection with school drop-
out and truancy. Further development of the original model of the 1990s might include connec-
ting it with international approaches, e.g. Teaching for Social Justice, Urban Education, Experi-
ential Education, Citizenship Education, Student Voice-Models, Hip Hop and Rap Pedagogies,
Gender- and Queer Studies, Critical Discourse Analysis, or Critical Race Studies. Lifeworld-
oriented Didactics could also be linked with some single components of School-wide Positive
Behavior Support, like Check & Connect, Choice-Making, Opportunities-to-Respond, and Beha-
vior-specific Praise. Also this model could connect with some selected social skills trainings
focused on self-regulation or self-management, even if the general structure of both models is
completely contrary. Contrasts such as those found in evidence-based practices, hermetical struc-
ture, behavior-orientation versus open educational and didactic structure, with an orientation to
the lifeworld, to youth cultures, media and digital worlds, also integrate philosophical inquiry in
the educational work. The Lifeworld-oriented Didactics model also strives to understand what is
happening beneath the surface of the pure behavior, in terms of emotions, identities, internal
troubles and conflicts. Building from the model of the 1990s, a modern contemporary design
considers digital worlds, virtual realities, social networks, youth cultures, and more. The didacti-
cal framework of the model is open and flexible in structure, interdisciplinary, and is relevant
particular with its intertwine of experiential, subject-centered learning activities, curricular learn-
ing activities, and with emphasis on the reflection on the youths' existing patterns of learning be-
havior and social behavior, their internal and external conflicts, their emotional troubles and con-
cerns, and their coping strategies in dealing with their life issues.
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