Education between Academic Discipline and Profession in Germany after World War II

Abstract

This article analyses the development of the science of education in Germany between 1947 and 1990, focusing on the relationship between discipline and profession. First, it describes the shifts from a unity concept to a concept of difference between discipline and profession. The second part outlines an analytical concept of discipline based on communication and publication, and describes sources and methods used for an empirical investigation based on educational journals. Part three presents the findings. In view of the occupational profiles of authors, it shows the process of ‘academisation’ of educational communication and the exclusion of ‘profession’. In view of the cognitive texture of science of education, it finds a stable continuity over time. The results support the thesis of a decoupling of the development of the social structure of disciplinary communication and the theoretical concepts.