Before the congress officially begins, we invite all congress participants to a varied opening programme. On Sunday, 22 March 2026, we will open the doors of the Anton Fingerle Education Centre (Schlierseestraße 47, Munich) at 2:30 p.m. After registering on site, exciting workshops and lectures will begin at 3:00 p.m. – some will last until 4:00 p.m., others until 5:30 p.m.
Those who would like to experience Munich in a different way or discover the congress theme of fractures from a cultural and artistic perspective can take part in one of our themed city tours or a workshop on the Japanese kintsugi technique. These also start at 3:00 p.m.
From 5:30 p.m., we cordially invite you to our welcome evening, which we are hosting in cooperation with the City of Munich. After a champagne reception, the official programme will begin at 6:00 p.m. We will then round off the evening together with light refreshments, drinks and good conversation – and those who wish can take part in a guided tour of Munich by night at 9:00 p.m.
Further information on the individual items on the opening programme can be found below.
Source: Own photograph
Workshops und Vorträge
In six varied workshops and lectures, we would like to give you the opportunity to deal with central questions of scientific practice and career planning. The program offers space for orientation, exchange and individual focus – as an invitation to network before the start of the congress and to take away impulses for your future career in science.
Registration via ConfTool is required. The cost is 7 – 15 euros per person.
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Open Access in Educational Science – Needs and Offers
Speakers: Anke Butz, Robina Mohammad, and Dr. Sieglinde Jornitz (DIPF)
Max. capacita: 30
Cost: 7 euros
The workshop provides insights into the existing Open Access offerings in educational science. It will introduce the Open Access repository peDOCS, the Open Access publishing platform OpenJournals@Fachportal-Pädagogik, as well as funding opportunities for Open Access publishing. Following this, we aim to engage in an exchange and discussion with participants about possible developments for the existing offerings, ideas for new initiatives, and needs from the professional community. Thinking outside the box is encouraged!
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Strategies for Systematic Literature Searches in Educational Science and Educational Research
Speaker: Ingeborg Jäger-Dengler-Harles (DIPF)
Max. capacita: 30
Cost: 7 euros
Despite seemingly promising AI approaches, searching for scholarly literature remains a challenge for researchers in educational science and educational research. Especially for extensive, complex searches used in research syntheses and meta-analyses, in-depth knowledge of online databases’ contents and search options, search-engine mechanisms, and the wide range of additional information sources is essential for a successful search strategy.
This workshop highlights what matters in targeted literature searches in educational science and educational research, and why it’s worth examining database subject coverage and the information services of various platforms. Different search paths and techniques will be presented and discussed. Participants are invited to contribute their own experiences and questions. Using the Advanced Search in Fachportal Pädagogik, we will demonstrate how to build a complex search step by step without losing sight of the overall strategy.
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Career Path to a University of Applied Sciences Professorship
Speaker: Dr. Dagna Zinkhahn Rhobodes (TUM)
Max. capacita: 30
Cost: 7 euros
Are you interested in the career option of a professorship at a University of Applied Sciences and would like to learn more about the job profile and application requirements? This event provides an insight into the diverse and varied fields of activity and responsibilities of a UAS professorship – from practice-oriented teaching and applied research to university management – and offers information on topics such as the appointment process, differences compared to a university professorship, and career planning. Afterwards, there will be ample time for participants’ questions and discussion.
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Research Data Between Openness and Responsibility: Challenges and Perspectives for Educational Research
Speakers: Dr. Sonja Bayer and Dr. Leoni Dörfel (DIPF)
Max. capacita: 30
Cost: 10 euros
RResearch data management (RDM) is gaining increasing importance in educational research — not only as an element of good scientific practice (DFG 2025) but also due to growing requirements from research funders, journals, and ethical guidelines. Against the backdrop of digital, institutional, and methodological transformations, the question of how research data can be prepared and used responsibly, transparently, and sustainably is becoming more pressing. This creates areas of tension between the aim for openness and reusability on the one hand, and the protection of personal information on the other. At the same time, new technological developments — particularly artificial intelligence — are opening up possibilities for legally compliant anonymization, preparation, and context-specific accessibility of data.
The focus of this workshop is the reflective handling of research data throughout the entire project cycle — with an emphasis on legal foundations (e.g., data protection and copyright), data security, and concrete challenges from educational research practice. In addition, we will provide insight into the potential and limitations of artificial intelligence in research data management: Which tasks can AI take over in specific steps such as data preparation, anonymization, or contextualization — and where are the current limitations or legal uncertainties?
In the interactive part of the workshop, we will address your experiences, questions, and uncertainties. Questions can be submitted in advance to: verbund@forschungsdaten-bildung.de
The workshop is aimed at researchers of all career stages who wish to acquire basic knowledge in research data management or reflect on existing routines and questions regarding the handling of research data in educational research.
3:00 PM – 5:30 PM AI Transforms Qualitative Research?!
Speaker: Dr. Thorsten Dresing (audiotranscript)
Max. capacita: 30
Cost: 15 euros
In a short period of time, artificial intelligence (AI) has been rapidly transforming the landscape of qualitative research. While more efficient automatic transcription methods (+50%) have already become widespread, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Claude & others are opening up fascinating — yet challenging — new perspectives for the analysis of qualitative data. But how transformative is this change really? The aim of the talk is to present participants with a “hidden object” picture of current developments and enable them to identify and critically assess relevant tools and methods for their work.
This presentation navigates the tension between hype and practical reality (hence the “?!” in the title). Starting from the potentials and limitations of automatic transcription, it highlights common pitfalls and problems when using LLMs in qualitative research practice — from insufficient results due to simple prompts to the complexity of prompt engineering and the rapid pace of technological change.
At its core, the talk focuses on current solution approaches: alongside a critical assessment of technical tools and platforms, the emphasis will be on methodological innovations and integration strategies. Examples will be discussed and demonstrated, such as integrating AI into established methods (e.g., Qualitative Content Analysis or the Documentary Method) as well as newer, more AI-specific workflows like query-based analysis as an alternative to traditional coding, or hybrid interpretation strategies using multiple LLMs. The examples will be adapted to the current state of development (Spring 2026).
The presentation offers a practice-oriented mix of overview and demonstrations of selected approaches. It concludes with concrete recommendations for a reflective, methodologically sound, and ethically conscious use of AI in one’s own qualitative research practice.
3:00 PM – 5:30 PM Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Speaker: Dr. Olga Chernikova (LMU)
Max. capacita: 30
Cost: 15 euros
Guided Tours
As part of the opening program, we invite you to discover Munich from various perspectives. Whether it’s a historical city tour, a walk through alternative Munich, or a feminist tour of the city center – our guided tours offer new perspectives on familiar places. In terms of both content and atmosphere, they build a bridge to the congress theme “Breaks” and provide opportunities for exchange, encounters, and movement.
Registration via ConfTool is required. The cost is 10 euros per person (except for the Night Watchman Tour).
The tours start at 3:00 PM and end at 5:30 PM (except for the Night Watchman Tour).
The tours will be conducted in german language.
Grand City Walk – National Socialism & Resistance
- Provider: Eva Hoegner
- Meeting point: Marienplatz
- Max. capacita: 40 people
In Munich’s historic city center, we will trace the footprints of the National Socialists and explore the rise of the movement as well as its role after the so-called “seizure of power” and during the war. On the way to the university, we will also look at Munich’s resistance movement. In the Maxvorstadt district, not only did the main protagonists of the White Rose operate and live, but also “famous figures of the resistance” such as Georg Elser and the now almost forgotten Walter Klingenbeck. The tour visits authentic sites and sheds light on Munich’s forgotten resistance.
Munich CulTours meets BiSS
- Provider: Münchner Bildungswerk
- Meeting point: Metzstraße 29
- Max. capacity: 20 people
The city tour shows how people used to live in this neighbourhood and what social challenges existed back then and still exist today. In cooperation with the street newspaper BISS, employees tell their own stories and those of former residents.
Nothing Works Without Women
- Provider: Barbara Schöne
- Meeting point:
- Max. capacita: 20 people
It’s about queens, a royal mistress, enterprising market women, a notorious con artist, a scandalous celebrity, pioneers of modern art, a young resistance fighter, and the tram-track-groove-cleaning lady — all remarkable and famous women in Munich to whom this city tour pays tribute for their unique contributions.
Streetart-Safari
- Provider: Munich Safari
- Meeting point: Donnersbergerbrücke
- Max. capacita: 30 people
Munich has a diverse and vibrant street art scene. More than that: the German graffiti movement originated here in the early 1980s — Munich had the first German Hall of Fame and was home to the first European whole train. The Street Art Safari takes you to some of the most beautiful graffiti and murals on Munich’s oldest and most established street art tour.
World-Aware Munich
- Anbieter: BUNDjugend Bayern
- Treffpunkt: Haidhausen, Ostbahnhof
- Max. Teilnehmer:innenzahl: 30 Personen
The consumer- and system-critical city tour WELTbewusst highlights how people can take simple steps in their everyday lives to combat global injustice. At various stops, we will listen to information, discuss it, and see positive examples of fairer consumption. In this way, breaks in previous consumption habits can occur, creating space for new actions.
Night Watchman Tour
- Anbieter: Weis(s)er Stadtvogel
- Treffpunkt: Marienplatz
- Max. Teilnehmer:innenzahl: 30 Personen
- 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM
- Kosten: 15 Euro
On this nighttime tour through Munich’s old town, you will experience firsthand what it means to be a night watchman. Once the large city gates have closed and the honest townsfolk are at home in their beds, the night watchman’s hour begins. His task is to ensure peace and order, making sure no riffraff is roaming the streets. Over the years, he has experienced much on his rounds and knows all sorts of strange, amusing, and long-forgotten stories.
Kintsugi – The Art of Making Breaks Visible
Broken does not mean ruined. Beauty lies in the flaw — not in perfection. That is the motto of this workshop on the Japanese Kintsugi technique. Is your favorite plate damaged? No reason to be sad: under the guidance of Ms. Bruns, you will learn how to carefully piece your broken treasure back together. The fracture lines will be emphasized with gold or silver — deliberately highlighting them.
As part of the DGfE Congress, the workshop also ties closely to the congress theme “Breaks.” The Kintsugi technique does not conceal breaks but instead intentionally draws attention to them. From something broken emerges something new and unique — an artistic engagement with what remains, what changes, and what can be created from it.
Registration for the workshop is via ConfTool. The cost is €30 per person.
Welcome Evening
Together with the City of Munich (Department of Education and Sport), we cordially invite you to our welcome evening starting at 5:30 p.m.
The welcome evening provides an opportunity to discuss the conference theme of ‘breaks’ in relation to different phases of life and their educational challenges – whether in direct contact, in the organisation of educational measures or with regard to political consequences.
After a welcome address and a musical programme by the Munich Music School, you can look forward to four thematic keynote speeches:
- Ms Henselmann, Head of the ‘Strategic Education Management’ department of the City of Munich, will report on current measures within the framework of the local education guidelines.
- Dr Martin Ecker, Management Director of the Munich Adult Education Centre (MVHS), will present MVHS activities related to the congress theme.
- Prof. Dr Susanne Kuger, Research Director of the German Youth Institute (DJI), will provide insights into relevant research activities in the field of child and youth welfare.
- Mr Holger Kiesel, Disability Commissioner for the Free State of Bavaria, will address disruptions in education and life trajectories from the perspective of people with disabilities and highlight the political prerequisites for successful inclusion.
Refreshments will be provided – we look forward to an inspiring and enjoyable evening with you.
Registration for the workshop is via ConfTool. The cost is €5 per person.