Profiling the Documentary Method for Research-based Learning during an Internship Semester Using the Example of Subjective Theories of History Teachers

Abstract

During the internship semester the danger of “imitation learning of teaching skills” (Bach, 2013, p. 123) is banned by the academic papers to be mastered in researching manner. If students in these papers focus on the subjective theories, which result from an individual reorganization of theoretical knowledge acquired in formal education, an intensive, reciprocal interrelation of theory and practice is necessary and a “theoretical-conceptual [...] throughout of [...] observed practice" (Baumert et al., 2007, p. 8) becomes possible. Since subjective theories act as a guide, especially in such domains, in which subject-specific and didactic theory offers little orientation, it is fruitful for the professionalization of students in the subject of history to focus on teachers’ subjective theories concerning the use of visual sources in history lessons. For historical learning visual sources are highly relevant due to their cultural significance. If the student’s interest is directed towards the exploration of these subjective theories, an orientation of the methodological approach to the documentary method can contribute to the success of the academic paper, since the three steps of 1.) formulating interpretation, 2.) reflecting interpretation and 3.) cross-case comparison do not only help students to cope with the complexity of empirical research, but also to increase the profundity of the results. The essay supports the application of the Documentary Method by detailing the characteristic procedure after brief theoretical explanations using the proven example of subjective theories of history teachers.