During your degree program, you will learn about the foundations of both Political Science and Sociology.

In Political Science, the focus is on the academic examination of the foundations and processes of politics in modern societies as well as in international relations. It is the responsibility of politics to make binding decisions and to enforce them by means of power in order to shape human coexistence. The Political Science portion of the program explores the most important political actors and institutions. It also examines the political process, its content and goals. This includes, for example, the most important schools of political thought, as well as the constitutional structures and ideas that shape political action and guiding principles such as freedom, power and justice. Sociology investigates how society comes into being and how to analyze and understand the production of social reality. It teaches basic sociological concepts and approaches to explaining the inner workings of society. Thereby, students understand why social order usually entails inequalities and what effects major social transformations have on the current structure of society.

In subject didactics, you deal with the question of how open issues in society can become the subject of children and adolescents. You select, relevant knowledge in a well-founded way and analyze, plan, design and reflect teaching and learning processes: What (content) do I teach for what purpose (goals), with whom (learning conditions), how (methods), where (learning places and contexts) and what is triggered by this (consequences and effects)?

To this end, you will question the relevant disciplines (political science, sociology, supplemented by economics, cultural studies and law, media and communication studies) about their respective contributions and look for possibilities of democratic teaching and school culture development, both in and out of school.

• Enjoy working with children and young people.
• Strong interest in political science and sociological issues and in dealing with social problems.
• Enjoyment in designing political teaching and learning processes.

The contents of the subject differ from those taught in school in two respects. On the one hand, there is a noticeable deepening of the content, especially with regard to the functioning of the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany, the change in the social structure of Germany from pre-modern times to the present, as well as fundamental theoretical approaches from the fields of political science and sociology.

On the other hand, a variety of new content is taught, for example on questions of international politics and the history of political philosophy, changes in the world of work, the structure of social inequality, gender relations, the educational system, migration, and changes in private forms of life or the family.

Under certain conditions, students in all teacher training programs can apply for the academic degree “Bachelor” after usually 6 semesters according to the LAPO. The type of Bachelor’s degree depends on the type of school studied and, if applicable, the choice of subject. Further information can be found on the homepage of the Center for Teacher Education (ZfL).

Subject combination possibilities:

• elementary school
• middle school
• secondary school
• grammar school