The Bachelor’s degree program in Education is aimed at prospective students who are interested in analyzing, organizing, shaping and guiding educational processes. The degree program qualifies students for professional educational action in line with the conditions of a globalized and diversified world. It focuses on the analysis, exploration and design of educational processes based on philosophical and theoretical knowledge in the field of education and with the help of educational research methods. The ability for educational professionalism is realized with regard to three specific professional fields and skill areas: (1) educational policy and philosophy of education, (2) adult education and continuing education and (3) social pedagogy.

Contents

The degree program is aimed at people with university entrance qualifications who are interested in the analysis, shaping and guidance of educational processes and who would like to qualify for pedagogical fields of employment in local, national and global contexts in a scientifically substantiated, well-founded way with a strong practical connection.

In order to deepen acquired knowledge and skills, students can choose one of the following three professional and competence fields as a specialization:

• Educational policy and philosophy of education
• Adult education and continuing education
• Social pedagogy

In this Bachelor’s degree program, students acquire professional skills for researching educational processes, developing innovative teaching concepts and models, and designing and shaping educational processes with digital media. In addition, personal and social skills such as professional team leadership and team development as well as ethical reflection and communication of educational and socialization processes are developed further.

This enables students to qualify – both academically and practically – for professional fields in pedagogy in local, national and global contexts.

The content of the degree program’s study plan (see below) can be divided into four areas that complement each other to form a complete picture. While the first semester, in particular, will provide you with a detailed introduction to the basics (blue area), the following three semesters will focus on research methodology (green area) and the social, political and institutional aspects of education (red area). Depending on your chosen specialization in the field of professional competence, you will work towards your Bachelor's thesis in the fifth and sixth semesters, which will reflect your specific knowledge and your first own scientific research questions.

In accordance with the framework curriculum of the German Educational Research Association (DGfE), the first four semesters (basic phase) impart basic knowledge of educational science as well as general methodological and ethical-reflective skills. In the fifth and sixth semesters (profiling phase), the program offers in-depth studies and research as well as job-related profiling opportunities for students from all different professional and competence fields (PCFs).

In the profiling phase, the focus is not primarily on internal logics of the disciplines from which the course content is derived, but rather on the qualification objectives and career opportunities of the students in the corresponding fields ("output orientation").

Students can complete the program in full-time or part-time.

Facilities

The three main scientific focus areas provide you with access to the research and teaching practice of several participating chairs. Staff members of the Chair of Philosophy of Education and Educational Theory, the Chair of Social Pedagogy and the Professorship of Lifelong Learning – to name but a few – are involved in the implementation and planning of this degree program, which is unique in Germany.

In contrast to comparable study offers of neighboring universities, our degree program has a strong anthropological-ethical orientation, which also takes up the role of religion and spirituality in educational and upbringing processes. An in-depth approach to value questions and the development of values as well as to global educational and development questions in the context of flight and migration are distinguishing features of the degree program and at the same time core skills for modern educational program design.

The flexible design of the study plan allows students to spend a stay abroad during their studies. All modules – especially those from the PCFs "Educational Policy and Philosophy of Education", "Adult and Continuing Education" and "Social Pedagogy" – can be taken in whole or in part in the context of equivalent courses at the Erasmus partner universities of the Faculty of Philosophy and Education, such as the University of Oulu, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University of Warsaw, University of Sofia, and many more.

Students are encouraged to complete the student research projects in the fifth semester of studies at an international and/or intercultural educational institution. This corresponds to the degree program’s strong focus on global issues of interculturality and worldwide migration and their relevance for educational work and policy.

The KU maintains a partnership network with around 300 universities worldwide. The KU International Office supports students in the planning phase and provides information on different financing possibilities for stays abroad.

In contrast to many other degree programs, this program includes two internships at different stages during the course of studies.

In preparation for your internships, the lecturers of the respective professional and competence fields offer 2-hour seminars in the second and fourth semester to impart formal requirements and job-specific knowledge both in general and in view of specific professional fields. The selected supervising lecturers (PCF-oriented) will accompany and advise you before, during and after the internship phase with regard to all aspects that are relevant in the context of the module. In this context, ‘in view of specific professional fields’ means that you can choose from the specializations mentioned above within the framework of these internships. This means that the supervision, reflection and analysis of the chosen practical specialization is supported by lecturers from the respective areas of specialization and approached together with you.

For individual advice and support in finding an internship and financing possibilities, the KU Career Service and the International Internship Service are happy to help.

Career prospects

A wide range of professional opportunities arise from the degree program that go beyond the classic fields of pedagogy and often receive less attention in society. Some examples are listed here.

• Educational counseling, school counseling
• Education management and administration
• Educational policy in political organizations with educational departments such as political parties, unions, foundations, NGOs and interest groups
• International and global education projects: among other things within the framework of the worldwide education and development work of the Catholic Church and relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations.
• Institutions for adult education and continuing education, e.g. adult education centers, night schools, specialist professional academies, academies for political education etc.
• Organizations and institutions in the field of work with children and adolescents, families and the elderly; organizations for integration support and service for the disabled as well as institutions in the area of preventive health care and work in the context of individual and social problem situations
• Organizational and human resource development in the public and private sector
• Professional fields involving initiation, organization and promotion of civic engagement
• Self-employed work: conceptualization and management of diverse educational offers in extra-curricular education and in the field of adult education, training and continuing education, coaching and organizational development, philosophical practice and counseling and advice.