Positioning the Pedagogical Readings within the GDR’s lesson preparation literature: an exemplary investigation of German lessons

In der DDR gab es verschiedene Medien, auf welche Lehrer*innen potentiell für ihre Unterrichtsvorbereitung zurückgreifen konnten, von denen der Lehrplan, das Lehrbuch sowie die Unterrichtshilfen am bekanntesten sein dürften. Während der Lehrplan als ein staatliches Instrument zur Lenkung und (gewissen) Vorstrukturierung von Bildungsund Erziehungsprozessen fungierte, zeigten Unterrichtshilfen konkretere Realisierungsmöglichkeiten dieser Vorgaben und hatten einen stärkeren Empfehlungscharakter. In welchem Verhältnis dazu die Pädagogischen Lesungen standen, wurde bislang aber nicht thematisiert. Daher versucht der Beitrag, dieses in jüngster Zeit an Interesse gewinnende Quellenmaterial medial zu verorten und seinen Platz innerhalb der gängigen unterrichtsnormierenden bzw. -unterstützenden Formate zu schraffieren. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich u.a., dass auch in der DDR trotz aller Vorgaben und Empfehlungen die Lehrperson für die möglichst effektive didaktisch-methodische Gestaltung des Unterrichts verantwortlich war. Gerade hier eröffnen die Pädagogischen Lesungen neue Forschungspotenziale, da sie per definitionem ein solches Format darstellten, in welchem Lehrer*innen ihre in der Praxis erprobten Erfahrungen aufbereiten und der pädagogisch sowie didaktisch-methodisch interessierten Öffentlichkeit darbieten konnten.In the GDR, there were various media that teachers could potentially use to prepare their lessons, of which the curriculum, the students’ book, and the teaching aids are probably the best known. While the curriculum functioned as a state instrument for guiding and (to a certain extent) pre-structuring educational processes, teaching aids showed more concrete ways of implementing these guidelines and had a stronger recommendatory character. However, the relationship between these publications and the Pedagogical Readings has not yet been investigated. For this reason, this article attempts to locate this source, which has recently gained in interest, and to outline its place within the common formats that standardize or support teaching. The result shows, among other things, that even in the GDR, despite all the guidelines and recommendations, the teacher was responsible for identifying the most effective didactic-methodical design of the lesson. It is precisely here that the pedagogical readings open up new research potentials, since by definition they represented a format in which teachers could process their experiences tested in practice and present them to an audience interested in pedagogy as well as didactics and methodology

How to Tackle Key Challenges in the Promotion of Physical Activity among Older Adults (65+): The AEQUIPA Network Approach

The paper introduces the theoretical framework and methods/instruments used by the Physical Activity and Health Equity: Primary Prevention for Healthy Ageing (AEQUIPA) prevention research network as an interdisciplinary approach to tackle key challenges in the promotion of physical activity among older people (65+). Drawing on the social-ecological model, the AEQUIPA network developed an interdisciplinary methodological design including quantitative/qualitative studies and systematic reviews, while combining expertise from diverse fields: public health, psychology, urban planning, sports sciences, health technology and geriatrics. AEQUIPA tackles key challenges when promoting physical activity (PA) in older adults: tailoring of interventions, fostering community readiness and participation, strengthening intersectoral collaboration, using new technological devices and evaluating intervention generated inequalities. AEQUIPA aims to strengthen the evidence base for age-specific preventive PA interventions and to yield new insights into the explanatory power of individual and contextual factors. Currently, the empirical work is still underway. First experiences indicate that the network has achieved a strong regional linkage with communities, local stakeholders and individuals. However, involving inactive persons and individuals from minority groups remained challenging. A review of existing PA intervention studies among the elderly revealed the potential to assess equity effects. The results will add to the theoretical and methodological discussion on evidence-based age-specific PA interventions and will contribute to the discussion about European and national health targets

Hotspots, Large Igneous Provinces, and Melting Anomalies

This chapter describes the progress that has been made over the past decades in understanding observations of large-scale melting anomalies that are not readily explained by plate tectonic theory. Fundamental observations include the volume and geochemistry of flood basalts and ocean island basalts, the age progression of volcano chains, the geometry of hotspot swells, and the seismic imaging of crust and mantle structures. Observations of a subset of melting anomalies can be explained by classical plume theory, in which buoyancy-driven upwellings rise through the entire mantle to cause massive flood basalt volcanism that is trailed by an age-progressive hotspot volcano chain. However, a range of observations call for significant extensions to classical theory, and some sites of excess volcanism are better explained by alternative mechanisms, such as small-scale convection or shear-driven upwelling, than by plume theory. Detailed studies of upwelling and melting can provide constraints for heat and material fluxes through the mantle and provide a better understanding of the long-term thermal and chemical evolution of the Earth's interior