DDS – Die Deutsche Schule: Issue 2/2026, 118. Volume School Pedagogy Between Knowledge Production and Development

Against the backdrop of growing expectations for co-operation between school research and educational practice, the article aims to provide a school-pedagogical conceptualization of the frequently used yet theoretically still under-specified concept of co-construction. Starting from the premise that co-construction cannot be meaningfully conceptualized without considering the tension between knowledge-oriented and development-oriented approaches in school pedagogical research, the article conceptualizes the system-level differentiation between research and practice as a constitutive feature of their relationship. Building on this, design- and development-oriented research approaches as well as Design-Based Research, Research-Practice Partnerships and Boundary Work are discussed as complementary reference points for conceptualizing this relationship, before five structuring principles for co-constructive school improvement research are derived.

Keywords
school improvement, research, differentiation, design-based research, co-operation, boundary work