Key aspects

IDeA focuses on the analysis of individual developmental processes, the investigation of adaptive educational contexts for children with different learning requirements, as well as research into the professional skills of educational professionals in daycare centers and elementary school for dealing with heterogeneous learning groups. The members of the center have expertise in various fields, such as psychology, educational science, psycholinguistics, neuroscience, various subject didactics, sociology and psychoanalysis.

The research area Individual Development conducts basic research into children’s development and learning processes, for example with regard to language acquisition, mathematical skills and cognitive and social characteristics. In addition to understanding typical developmental trajectories as the basis for educational success, we are particularly interested in deviating trajectories, for example due to individual cognitive or neurobiological risks or due to educational disadvantage and social inequality. The research teams also develop and evaluate test procedures in order to diagnose certain abnormalities as early as possible and improve the prediction of academic performance.

The research area Adaptive Educational Contexts looks at children in different living and learning environments. The focus here is on the extent to which different contexts are adaptive, i.e. the extent to which they are tailored to children’s individual needs and starting points. Educational contexts are understood very broadly and include institutions such as daycare centers and schools as well as the family, peers and the children’s living environment. Furthermore, support measures are developed, evaluated and transferred into educational practice in this focus area.

The research area Professionalization examines the skills, orientations and attitudes of educational professionals in daycare centres and elementary school. The aim of these studies is to support teachers and educators in arranging learning settings in heterogeneous groups in such a way that children with different individual requirements can benefit from them. Furthermore, the researchers are investigating the expectations placed on educational professionals by the public, politicians and academics and exploring how the professionals themselves deal with these expectations.