The Institute for Educational Research (IfB)

Foundation and Development

The Institute for Educational Research (IfB) is an integral part of the School of Education, which was established in 2010. As the Center for Teacher Training and Educational Research of the University of Wuppertal, the School of Education operates as an independent organizational unit. It provides essential support to the various faculties regarding their teacher training programmes. Within this framework, the Institute for Educational Research oversees research-related activities and coordinates the educational science components of the teacher training curriculum.

Research Priorities

The research fields at the Institute for Educational Research are highly diverse and encompass all dimensions of the educational system, including instruction (interaction), school (organisation), and society (system). Against this background, the IfB has defined specific research priorities focusing on teacher professionalism and social inequalities in educational participation. Various research projects addressing these areas are conducted at the IfB, funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation), the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research), as well as state and foundation grants.

The institute’s research departments cooperate on these and related issues, complementing one another through their diverse disciplinary perspectives. For instance, the institute also explores psychological and linguistic questions. These departments are further supported by the methodological expertise of Junior Professorships for quantitative and qualitative methods. The newly established research departments, which focus on the language acquisition of students with a migration background and the needs of children with special educational needs, complement and complete the multi-perspective orientation of the Institute for Educational Research.