180075 SE Subject Didactics Psychology, Philosophy and Ethics (2020S)

The seminar aims at taking a closer look into the subject of “The Modern World of Work“ that is currently worked into the curriculum of teaching philosophy and psychology in school.
The seminar course is divided into a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part is focused on modern personnel management instruments and how they characterize today’s working world, especially in the service sector. Based on the film documentary “Work Hard, Play Hard“ by Carmen Losmann, elements of modern personnel management instruments are examined in reference to R. Sennett. They are compared with conditioning and discipline procedures which have been described by J. Bentham and discussed by M. Foucault and which are in a next step compared with R. Weiskopfs‘ analysis. Moreover modern personnel management instruments are evaluated against the background of I. Kant’s practical philosophy.
After analyzing and evaluating the current personnel management instruments, the perspective is expanded to the position of human beings at work. Leading questions are how, according to M. Weber, the “spirit of protestantism“ changed human relationship to work and how K. Marx as opposed to P. Lefargue assesses the relationship of people to work, following up Hegel’s connotation of “work” in the “Phenomenology of the Mind“, which for Aristotle are the premises of the good life and how they relate to modern wage employment.
The focus of the practical part of the seminar are the methodical and didactic questions of transforming philosophical ans psychological subjects into subjects for philosophy and psychology lessons in school. In small groups the students should conceptualize a teaching unit, whose material consists essentially of the material used in the seminar. In a final presentation of their teaching concepts, participants should justify their selections of the text and film material, their order of lessons and the text abbreviations as well as the opening questions to text and film.

Theoretical input provided by the lecturer will be alternating with group and partner work by the students. Text reading is mandatory, as well as two written assignments. At the end of the seminar two written assignments are to be handed in, as a part of a portfolio.