Begriffsnetze (Concept Maps)

This worksheet introduces future professionals to the biopsychological foundations of adolescence. Learners should recognize that challenging behavior often results from neurological changes and is not a deliberate act of aggression. The goal is to distinguish between the person and their actions in order to act in a way that de-escalates situations, provides support, and maintains positive relationships in their daily professional practice.

Content and Methods:

The material combines theoretical input from developmental psychology with practical case studies and self-reflection. After exploring the neurological foundations, learners “decode” typical behaviors. In a subsequent case analysis, they critically evaluate educational interventions and develop alternative professional approaches. A concluding reflection on their own emotional “triggers” reinforces their professional attitude.

Competencies:

Learners can...

• explain the neurological and psychological changes that occur during adolescence (particularly the interaction between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex).
• psychologically interpret observable, challenging adolescent behavior (such as provocation, rule-breaking, or shame) and classify it as an age-typical developmental task.
• critically analyze the actions of professionals in acute crisis situations (e.g., in cases of extreme risk-taking behavior) with regard to de-escalation, the duty to protect, and relationship-building.
• Develop professional and practical alternative courses of action that simultaneously set clear boundaries and preserve the adolescents’ emotional safety.
• Reflect on one’s own emotional “triggers” when interacting with adolescents in order to maintain professional distance and composure in everyday work.

Target group and level:

Adult students or trainees in the field of social pedagogy, particularly aspiring educators.

This worksheet aims to provide aspiring educators with a solid sociological understanding of the “adolescence” life stage based on Klaus Hurrelmann’s model of developmental tasks. Learners will gain an awareness of the specific challenges, areas of conflict, and identity-formation processes that adolescents must navigate. They will learn to apply theoretical developmental tasks to concrete everyday situations faced by adolescents, analyze critical factors such as school-related pressure to perform, and develop strategies to alleviate these pressures in educational practice.

Content and Methods: This worksheet addresses the specific characteristics and challenges of adolescence, the four central developmental tasks identified by Klaus Hurrelmann (acquiring skills, forming bonds, consuming, and participating), as well as the tension between various societal influences and the development of identity in children and adolescents. Methodologically, the worksheet employs a combination of personal reflection and partner discussions to define concepts, an informative academic text with a tabular classification of everyday examples, and a small-group problem analysis to develop practical, stress-reducing approaches for educational practice.

Competencies:

Learners can...

• describe the characteristics of adolescence and distinguish it from childhood and adulthood, providing reasons for their distinctions.
• explain the four developmental tasks identified by Klaus Hurrelmann (acquiring skills, forming bonds, consuming, participating) and classify everyday situations according to these criteria.
• critically reflect on the causes and consequences of academic pressure on adolescents’ identity and personality development.
• design and justify action-oriented approaches and strategies to alleviate pressure in schools and educational settings.

Target group and level:

Adult students or trainees in the field of social pedagogy, particularly aspiring educators.

This worksheet aims to provide aspiring educators with a solid understanding of the stages of child development (early, middle, and late childhood). Learners should be made aware of how to correctly classify developmental phenomena and milestones in the areas of motor skills, cognition, language, and emotional/social development. They will learn to critically compare their own everyday experiences with scientific findings, to analyze everyday observations from a professional perspective, and to design needs-based educational interventions based on a needs assessment.

Content and Methods:

The worksheet combines visual stimuli, prior knowledge, academic texts, social media analyses, and case studies. After assessing their prior knowledge of the three stages of childhood, students explore the developmental characteristics of each stage in terms of motor skills, cognition, language, and social behavior. Using fictional tweets from professional practice, they classify developmental phenomena according to academic categories. The unit concludes with a case study from a selected stage of childhood, for which students conduct a needs assessment and develop a well-reasoned practical plan.

Competencies:

Learners can...

• describe and distinguish between the developmental stages of early, middle, and late childhood in terms of their motor, cognitive, and social-emotional dimensions,
• identify key developmental phenomena (e.g., the emergence of self-awareness, magical thinking, acquisition of cultural skills) in observational data and explain them using specialized terminology,
• systematically compare their own practical observations with expert knowledge of developmental theory,
• conduct a pedagogical needs assessment for a specific case study and, based on this, develop and justify tailored pedagogical interventions.

Target group and level:

Adult students or trainees in the field of social pedagogy, particularly aspiring educators.

 Students explore their own needs and personal sources of strength and reflect on what contributes to their well-being.

Content and methods: The worksheet uses a needs table in which students first identify their own sources of strength and then assess how well their needs are currently being met. They then identify the needs with the lowest scores, choose suitable self-care strategies, and develop concrete next steps. An audio example, an overview of different self-care strategies, and a buddy agreement support reflection and help students put their ideas into practice in everyday life.

Skills:

• identify personal needs and sources of strength
• reflect on their own well-being
• choose appropriate self-care strategies
• plan concrete steps for action
• make conscious use of support from others

Target group and level: Suitable for secondary school students, particularly for developing self-reflection, health awareness, and social-emotional skills.

The primary learning objective is advancing English reading comprehension, enhancing reading fluency on sentence and short paragraph levels, expanding thematic vocabulary, and developing written response skills in English for primary and lower secondary learners.

Contents and Methods: The worksheet combines a short, connected thematic reading passage with subsequent open-ended text comprehension questions. Methodologically, learners read clear, structured declarative sentences focused on everyday social interaction, empathy, and friendship. They then verify and deepen their reading comprehension by formulating concise written answers in English to targeted open questions regarding key details, central messages, and cause-and-effect relationships in the text.

Competencies:

• Reading & Decoding Skills (English): fluent reading, reliable decoding of simple connected sentences, and structural understanding of basic English texts
• Reading Comprehension & Text Analysis: extracting explicit details, identifying central themes, and understanding simple cause-and-effect relationships
• Writing & Expression Skills (English): formulating clear, short written responses in English using appropriate thematic vocabulary

Target Group: Grade 5 and above

This worksheet aims to provide trainee teachers with a historically informed and socially critical understanding of the life stage known as ‘childhood’. Learners are to be made aware that childhood is not a rigid, biological state, but is subject to constant social change. They will learn to analyse historical patterns of upbringing and living environments, to contextualise the contemporary view of the child (including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), and to draw conclusions for their own professional approach by comparing the past and the present.

Content and methods:

This worksheet combines historical text analysis, the development of empathy, analysis of contemporary issues and research into international law. Following a personal reflection and an analysis of a historical period, the pupils write a fictional diary entry from a child’s perspective and contrast this with the reaction of a child today. They then map out the cornerstones of modern childhood in a practical matrix and compare historical and contemporary living conditions. The activity concludes with research into the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including its historical context, and a reflection on their own pedagogical approach.

Competencies:

Learners can...

• Explain the concept of childhood as a socially shaped and historically changeable construct.
• Analyse children’s historical living environments in terms of educational objectives, work requirements and legal status, guided by specific criteria.
• Develop historical empathy through methods of shifting perspectives and reflect on different living conditions from multiple perspectives.
• Identify the dimensions of modern childhood (including subject status, institutionalisation and mediatisation) and illustrate them using concrete examples from practice.
• Independently research articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, place them in their historical context and relate them to today’s image of the child.
• Use historical insights to critically examine current patterns of upbringing and apply them to one’s own professional approach.

Target group and level:

Adult students or trainees in the field of social pedagogy, particularly aspiring educators.

Note: Internet access is required for the research task

The goal of this worksheet is to enable students to independently identify and critically examine manipulative marketing strategies in retail. Using a specific case study, they will develop the theoretical foundation needed to distinguish between genuine sustainability promises and deliberate consumer deception, so they can make informed, independent consumer decisions in their daily lives.

Content and Methods: The content focuses on the definition and strategic characteristics of greenwashing, its psychological impact, and an analysis of legal consequences. Methodologically, the worksheet combines an image-based case analysis with in-depth journalistic text analysis. A video-based summary of theoretical categories of deception and a practical, criteria-based checklist serve to reinforce knowledge and facilitate active application to students’ own consumer behavior.

Competencies:

Analytical Competence: Students can systematically deconstruct visual design elements, price placements, and advertising messages in digital user interfaces.

Substantive Competence: They understand the definition of the technical term “greenwashing” and can distinguish between vague marketing phrases and verifiable sustainability labels.

Critical thinking skills: Students are able to critically evaluate the discrepancy between corporate sustainability reports and actual environmental impacts.

Reflective thinking skills: They can critically examine their own susceptibility to manipulative sales strategies and identify alternative courses of action.

Target audience and grade level: Intermediate (8th-10th grade)

Objective: This worksheet uses the cooperative learning method known as the “group puzzle” to teach complex concepts in chemistry and atomic physics. The goal is for students to gain a deep understanding of the selected topic through self-directed learning and peer teaching.

Content and Methods: The content is taught using a structured five-phase model that combines cooperative and independent learning: In home groups, each member takes on a specific subtopic, which is then explored in a subsequent “expert phase” in groups of students with the same subtopic, using informational texts and in-depth tasks. Afterward, the students return to their core groups, share their knowledge with one another, and consolidate their findings together before moving on to a cooperative work phase in which they solve complex tasks that can only be mastered by combining all the individual aspects. The process concludes with a joint evaluation in a plenary session and a reflection on the learning process.

Competencies:

• Subject-Specific Competence: Acquiring in-depth knowledge of a topic in chemistry
• Social Competence: Fostering teamwork and communication skills through the “expert” model
• Methodological Competence: Applying cooperative learning methods to independently process information and convey knowledge
• Transferability: Applying expert knowledge to hypothetical scenarios, such as the discovery of new elements

Target Audience and Level: High School

This worksheet aims to raise students’ awareness of the mechanisms, economic dimensions, and psychological strategies of modern digital marketing in everyday life.

Content and Methods: The material focuses on the economic significance of social media marketing based on statistical data, as well as the analysis of specific digital posts. Methodologically, the worksheet relies on a combination of practical case studies—in which an exemplary social media post is deconstructed both textually and statistically—and theoretical insights into behavioral economic effects. In addition, the material encourages multi-perspective discussion through reflective writing assignments and the comparison of contrasting stakeholder perspectives. Finally, the discussion of complex issues is used to synthesize what has been learned into the formation of independent judgments.

Competencies:

Analytical and Deconstructive Competence: The ability to systematically examine media content and linguistic and statistical devices for their manipulative or promotional effects

Reflective and Critical Thinking Competence: The ability to critically examine one’s own consumer behavior and evaluate economic phenomena from different perspectives

Media and Economic Competence: Understanding of digital market mechanisms, psychological influence strategies such as the authority bias or the bandwagon effect, and their impact on the economy

Target Audience and Level: 9th/10th grade