What ‘images’ of space do (prospective) teachers have and how does this influence their professional actions in the context of school (cf. inter alia Matthes 2016)? To what extent are exclusion and disadvantage in educational processes also spatially determined (cf. inter alia Echazarra & Radinger 2019; Soja 2010; Harvey 1992)? And can learning architecture serve as a bridge to further develop the ‘grammar of school’ (Tyack & Tobin 1994) along the challenges of a knowledge and information society of the 21st century? Processes of social transformation and their changing demands on schools (cf. OECD 2022) also affect spatial reorganisations, as illustrated, among other things, by the differentiation of virtual spaces, the increase in non-places (cf. Augé 1994) or the fragmentation of urban living spaces. Against the background of a re-figuration of (educational) space (cf. Löw & Knoblauch 2019), spatial reorganisations are in a conflict-ridden relationship with the habits of practising teachers regarding the interpretation and use of school space. From the few existing studies on the subject, it can be deduced that teachers still work largely with a deterministic understanding of space (cf. Deinet 2007). For space to become a medium of change, it must first become tangible as a pedagogical category. However, this is still a desideratum in educational research and pedagogical practice (cf. Bentlin & Klepp 2021, Sesink 2014).
In the context of educational and occupational biographical research and based on a relational understanding of space, researchers at the chair are working on the transformation potential of educational spaces, the corresponding roles of diverse actors, and possibilities for initiating emancipatory spatial practices in educational contexts, among other things, in the research area ‘Multicollectivity, Education and Space’.