Given recent major geopolitical events in the European region, such as Brexit and the launch of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this article explores recent and under-researched shifts in the geopolitics of the European higher education space, focusing specifically on the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The analysis is informed by the…

Universities in many liberal democracies, such as the US, the UK, or Germany, grapple with a pivotal question: how much room should be given to controversial utterances? On the one side, there are those who advocate for limiting permissible speech on campus to create a safe environment for a diverse student body and counter the mainstreaming of…

There is considerable international interest in transitions from school to work. This article approaches the issue as part of the debate around 'vocational maturity' ("Ausbildungsreife") in Germany and 'employability' in the United Kingdom. Vocational education and training systems in these two countries differ significantly, so the…

The German school system is known for its stratified secondary school system following the four-year elementary school. While access to grammar schools was strictly regulated in German school history, most federal states have now strengthened the will of parents and abolished the tradition of binding elementary school recommendations. New in the…

Our guiding thesis in this article is that the recent burgeoning discussion of differentiation in the context of education has to do with critiques of the globalization theories that have been popular since 1990. In doing so, however, these critically motivated discussions run the risk of overlooking the historical roots of differentiation, which…

Values such as peace, mutual understanding, and solidarity have long been subsidiary to the aim of pursuing competition and revenue through the internationalization of higher education (HE). With the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, higher education institutions demonstrated strong support for peace and solidarity. Yet, the…

This picture-type analysis of front covers of the German magazine "Der Spiegel" starts from the premise that the magazine's front covers convey history narratives that might play an important role in history education. Pupils can learn from them which history narratives dominate public discourse or cultural memory. The article provides a…

This article compares the private higher education (HE) systems in Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We examine the historical, political, and demographic contexts of private universities in both countries, as well as the role of the state in regulating and shaping the private HE sector. We then explore the interrelation of the public…

The COVID-19 crisis has put the question of the political uses of science back at the centre of public debates. In the last few years, the focus on using scientific knowledge in parliamentary technology assessment (PTA) institutions has predominantly been to the advantage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In contrast, our…

This article describes the initiative to establish a European network for undergraduate research (UR). This began with national initiatives in Germany and the United Kingdom, dating back 10 to 20 years. A strong impetus was given by the European project on digital UR (2021-2023), which also was a response to COVID-19 and extended the possibilities…

This article examines achievement motivation in connection with the political knowledge of upper secondary level pupils at German vocational grammar schools. The influence of achievement motivation in civic courses has been scarcely researched so far. In the expectancy-value model, expectations of success are important determinants of action in…

This paper examines school management and policies in Germany and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, which is comparative and qualitative, explores the interrelationship between different levels of governance and the responses of teacher unions. The inquiry is informed by the perspectives of historical institutionalism and path…

Citing is a political act. It is a practice that can work both sides of the same coin: it can give voice, and it can silence. Through this research, we call for those contributing to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) to attend to this duality explicitly and intentionally. In this multidisciplinary field, SoTL knowledge-producers…

Integration is more than work and school: It consists of socio-political participation as well. Even without citizen's rights, migrants have an opinion on whether they 'have a say' in the host or dominant society. This expression -- having a say -- is emblematic, because it is a well-known survey question, also used in the Program for the…

Strengthening political knowledge and democratic understanding of children is an essential aim of citizenship education. In Germany, most curricula of civic education target high school students, neglecting younger children in elementary school. The present study investigates the impact of an out-of-school program for elementary school students at…