Analysis of the possibilities for discussing questions of global justice in geography classes on the use of methods of empirical social research when analyzing the teaching of geography in class

Abstract

This study examines students’ orientations with regard to questions on the implementation of justice in production structures of the global textile industry. The students worked with the Mystery Method from the Thinking Through Geography approach by David Leat and with Lawrence Kohlberg's Method of Dilemma Discussion. During this process, the pupils developed complex questions which were highly imbued with normativity. For this purpose, Ralf Bohnsack's documentary method was used as a research instrument complex enough to capture and evaluate both explicit and implicit knowledge on the part of the students in complex situations of teaching and learning. It has been reconstructed that students prefer morally complex approaches, differentiated in terms of content, when addressing processes of globalization in class. Based on the results of the present study, it is strongly recommended to use both methods in social science subjects (also biology and physics didactics) to foster the acquisition of complex personal, social, and political competence.