Family Education in two Generations. A Comparative Study of Parenting Practices and Development Concepts between two Generations in East- and Westgermany

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hans Rüdiger Müller
• Subject Area: General Education and History of Education
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 371185523

The study planned investigates how parents today actively structure the (potentially) detraditionalized family environment both mentally and practically. The study approaches this topic in light of the changes in family life in the past decades. It does so also against the backdrop of the structurally contingent increase in spheres of freedom for forming inner-family relationships and in view of increasing social expectations placed on educational institutions by families. The project intends to compare the current generation of parents with the previous generation of parents fathers and mothers in both East and West Germany. This is done in order to work out differences in the creation of pedagogic spheres of freedom within the groups respective social conditions both within the generations as well as between the generations. The study systematically inflicts a quota on the generation, social background (urban/rural, East/West Germany) and education level (university entrance requirements or below) of the parents interviewed and is diversified according to further criteria (life circumstance, family form). The study will use thematically centered interviews with narration to empirically reconstruct the practices of raising children and the daily concepts of child development among the different generations of parents (who are related to one another through family relationships). The study will also use biographical contemporary historical contributions from the interviewed parents themselves (oral histories) to aid in this empirical reconstruction. Additionally, these practices and concepts will be interpreted against the backdrop of the current literature on the topic of the respective social expectations of raising children (generational situation, public discussion on education and families).Grave social and political changes separate both generations. These changes are important when viewed against the backdrop of a generation-related comparison of parental concepts of child development and styles of raising children. These social and political changes include, for example: (1) The separation of Germany into East and West, the process of transition in East Germany during reunification, German Reunification as a whole, and the end of the Cold War; (2) A strong push toward globalization with new political control strategies, especially in reference to economic, social, family-related and educational policies; (3) The expansion of educational offerings outside of the family (day care centers, day schools with lessons in the afternoons); (4) The technical revolution in information and communications technologies with the opportunities and risks of new cultural avenues and social networks.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants