LFU:online

Curr. § 6 (1) 2: This seminar deals with the inter-linkage of theoretical positions and empirical research questions; theoretical positions and their resulting consequences for qualitative empirical research are discussed.

Learning Outcome of the SE: Students are able to apply theoretical models within specific empirical research projects.

“Homeschooling” and “Distance Learning” were a new reality for a great many people in 2020/21 and changed their everyday lives to a large extent. The current debate about homeschooling touches on central social issues, such as the division of care work within families, the efficiency of distance learning, and the educational mandate of the public school. But homeschooling is not only the consequence of the pandemic. Regardless of school closings, the advantages and disadvantages of teaching at home have been discussed for a long time and families practice homeschooling for different reasons and worldviews.

The aim of the course is to investigate the empirical field of the experience of homeschooling in Tyrol (Austria) and to identify the predominant strands of discourse. Around the empirical example of homeschooling, the course conveys the different possibilities of theoretical framings of qualitative research designs. For this purpose, texts on theory and method are read together in the seminar and applied in individual or group work to the analysis of empirical research results from the case studies around homeschooling. In this course, selected classes will be carried out together with the Institute for European Ethnography (Silke Meyer).

Lecture, reading assignments (in German and English), cooperative learning groups, discussion, presentation of group work, qualitative research

Presentation and term paper (in teams)

Preparatory literature: George Ritzer, Sociological Theory (any of the multiple editions)

none

Learning material for this course can be found on the digital platform OLAT.