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In Germany, secondary school students differ greatly in their science achievement, a dispersion that is far above the OECD average (Schiepe-Tiska, Rönnebeck, & Neumann, 2019). Immigrant students tend to be at the lower end of the scale in Germany – on average, they achieve substantially less well in science than non-immigrant students (OECD, 2016d), which is partially due to the German school system (Zoido, 2013). These differences in achievement translate into underrepresentation of immigrants in science-related jobs in Germany (OECD, 2008). Achievement and career choices are closely intertwined with academic self-concept (for an overview see Marsh & Craven, 2006). Regarding science self-concept, the pattern that immigrant students tend to score lower is present in many countries (e.g. Riegle-Crumb, Moore, & Ramos-Wada, 2011).
The goal of the present research project was to investigate these inequalities between immigrant and non-immigrant secondary school students. This was done focusing on secondary school students’ chemistry self-concepts. Chemistry self-concepts were focused on because achievement in chemistry is an important factor for careers in natural sciences (Cohen & Kelly, 2019). Research on chemistry self-concept has concentrated on young adults (e.g. Bauer, 2005; Xu & Lewis, 2011) and so little is known about secondary school students. Besides the impact of students’ migration background, the research project analyses the role that gender plays because gender has important effects on science self-concepts (e.g. Jurik, Gröschner, & Seidel, 2013; Riegle-Crumb et al., 2011; Wan & Lee, 2017).
A big challenge in this context was that the prevailing methods in academic self-concept research are prone to yield biased data (Byrne, 2002; Byrne et al., 2009). Although this was pointed out more than 15 years ago, the problem persists in science self-concept research. The present research project addresses this issue and presents a new mixed methods approach to culture-sensitive academic self-concept research. The term ‘culture’ is used in the sense of migration background, a concept that categorizes people’s migration histories in Germany. A combination of qualitative interview data and quantitative data permit an investigation of certain types of bias defined by Byrne and colleagues (2009). The pilot study operated with a chemistry self-concept questionnaire (N=116) and qualitative interviews (N=43). The main study was based on an extended questionnaire comprising several other scales (N=585) and deeper qualitative interviews (N=48).
The hypotheses based on the literature were that in Germany, (h1) immigrant students would show more negative chemistry self-concepts than non-immigrant students. (h2) Female students would show more negative chemistry self-concepts than male students. The third hypothesis (h3) was that the home environment has an important impact on students’ chemistry self-concepts. The first two hypotheses (h1 and h2) were not confirmed. Gender and migration background did not show a significant effect on students’ chemistry self-concepts. Instead, gender relations differ depending on the students’ migration background. Among students without a migration background, boys tend to have stronger chemistry self-concepts than girls. In contrast, among students with a Turkish migration background, girls tend to have stronger chemistry self-concepts. Existing science self-concept literature did not explain this.
Literature on gender relations in science in Turkey suggests that this interaction effect could be due to a more gender-neutral conception of science in Turkey. Slightly more women than men work in science in Turkey (OECD, 2009a) and girls achieve substantially better (Batyra, 2017a, 2017b). According to the third hypothesis (h3), the gender conceptions in Turkey could potentially be transmitted to students with a Turkish migration background in the home environment, through their parents or other people.
Science education literature did not provide a satisfying model for conceptualizing the influence of the home environment on students in the field of chemistry that would allow investigating the third hypothesis (h3). Therefore, the concept of chemistry capital was introduced based on the analysis of the interviews in the main study. Chemistry capital was developed based on the concept of science capital by Archer and colleagues (2015). Chemistry capital conceptualizes the resources a person possesses that have value in the field of chemistry. This encompasses social networks (e.g. knowing a chemist) as well as emotional and cognitive resources (e.g. attitudes towards chemistry and chemistry knowledge), and the engagement in chemistry-related activities. In particular, the concept allows analyzing the transmission processes of chemistry from the home environment to the individual student.
The qualitative analyses in the main study showed that the chemistry capital home environment influences the students in the field of chemistry in multiple ways. This supports hypothesis 3 (h3). Further, the data suggest that structural inequalities in the German school system might foster differences in chemistry. Students who already possess little chemistry capital in their home environments are in addition found more often at the type of school (Hauptschule) in which the proportion of chemistry teachers who do not hold a university degree in chemistry is the highest, depriving these students of another possible source of chemistry capital. Vice versa, students who already possess a lot of chemistry capital in their home environments more often attend school types (Gymnasium, Realschule) where also more formally qualified chemistry teachers are available, thus potentially widening the gap.
The mixed methods analysis in the main study suggested that a simple linear relationship between student chemistry self-concept and chemistry capital in the home environment does not exist. A study based on quantitative (or mixed methods) analyses of data of a larger sample on chemistry capital in the home environment and students’ chemistry self-concepts could provide further insights. It is not yet clear if the third hypothesis (h3) is true.
To sum up, the present research project thus advances the field of chemistry education in three regards: (i) it provides an approach to culture-sensitive academic self-concept. This approach proved to increase both the validity and the explanatory power of chemistry self-concept research. It is not chemistry-specific and can, thus, be used in other areas of research as well. (ii) The research discovered an interaction effect of gender and migration background on chemistry self-concept that was unknown in science education literature. (iii) It introduces and defines the concept of chemistry capital which permits to analyze chemistry education from a sociocultural perspective. Employing the concept of chemistry capital helps to shift the focus from the individual student to the resources a student possesses in the sociocultural context that help him or her succeed in the field of chemistry. This allows uncovering social inequalities in the field that need to be addressed in educational policy. Moreover, it can inspire intervention studies and application-focused research (e.g. approaches to culture-sensitive chemistry teaching).
Sprachförderung ist bildungspolitisch gesehen ein aktuelles Thema. Auch die frühkindliche Bildung gewinnt immer mehr an Bedeutung, der Begriff der Schulreife oder Schulfähigkeit taucht wieder auf, es ist die Rede vom frühen Fremdsprachenlernen, von Zeitfenstern, die zum Lernen genutzt werden müssen, usw. Die Lernpotenziale der ersten Lebensjahre werden also in den letzten Jahren besonders betont und Kinder sollen darum nicht mehr zurückgestellt, sondern lieber frühzeitig eingeschult werden. Andererseits scheinen immer mehr Kinder an Sprachentwicklungsstörungen zu leiden. Dies sind die Gründe, warum in den verschiedenen Bundesländern Rahmenpläne für den Elementarbereich und Sprachtests (meist ein Jahr vor der Einschulung) eingeführt werden. Kindertageseinrichtungen werden mit einer Vielzahl neuer (oder vermeintlich neuer) Aufgaben konfrontiert: Einführung und Umsetzung der neuen Rahmenpläne, Sprachförderung, Bildungsdokumentation etc. In dieser Arbeit gehe ich auf einen dieser Rahmenpläne, den „Orientierungsplan für Bildung und Erziehung für die baden-württembergischen Kindergärten“ ein. Spätestens seit der PISA-Studie ist bekannt, dass Kinder und Jugendliche mit Migrationshintergrund im deutschen Bildungssystem vernachlässigt werden. Viele von ihnen kommen mit geringen oder gar keinen Deutschkenntnissen in den Kindergarten. In der Schule verlieren sie wegen ihrer sprachlichen Defizite den Anschluss. Kinder mit Deutsch als Zweitsprache können jedoch unmöglich innerhalb von maximal drei Jahren in der Kindertageseinrichtung denselben Sprachstand im Deutschen erlangen wie Kinder mit Deutsch als Erstsprache. Darum muss Sprach- beziehungsweise Deutschförderung Aufgabe von Kindergarten und Schule sein. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, an einem Fallbeispiel Sprachtherapie anhand eines interaktionistischen Ansatzes vorzustellen.
Die Arbeit zeigt eine Möglichkeit von Sprachförderung in einer Vorbereitungsklasse auf für Kinder, die eine zweite Sprache erlernen. Im ersten Teil werden die gegenwärtig diskutierte Hypothesen zum Zweitspracherwerb vorgestellt. Wichtige Aspekte des Bedeutungserwerbs werden anschließend referiert und kritisch diskutiert. Dies wird zusammengefasst in einer Beschreibung der allgemeinen Bedeutung des Schriftspracherwerbs. Die Konzeption einer Vorbereitungsklasse wird vorgestellt. Am Beispiel eines griechischstämmigen Jungen wird eine Möglichkeit der Sprachförderung ausführlich dokumentiert: Nach der Vorstellung des Jungen und der Diagnostik, wird die eigene Vorgehensweise begründet und die durchgeführte Förderung dokumentiert und reflektiert. Den Abschluss meiner Arbeit bilden die Darstellung der erreichten Fortschritte und weiteren Vorschläge zur Förderung.
Sind körperbehinderte Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in unserer Gesellschaft doppelt benachteiligt? Dieser These geht die vorliegende Arbeit von Hainecker nach. Nach Ausarbeitung und Festlegung der verwendeten Begrifflichkeit (Migration, Behinderung) und des methodischen Instrumentariums werden Modelle zum Selbstkonzept referiert (Mummendey, Schuppener, Rosenberg und Neubauer) und mögliche Auswirkungen für das Verständnis der Situation von Menschen mit Körperbehinderung und Migrationshintergrund reflektiert. Zwei exemplarische Fallanalysen (nach Mayring) werden durchgeführt und ausgewertet.