DDS – Die Deutsche Schule: Issue Multiperspectivity as Didactic Principle for Dealing with Cross- Curricular Topics in Basic Social and Natural Science Education?

This article focuses on the didactic significance of multiperspectivity in basic social and natural science education (Sachunterricht) as an integrative principle for addressing cross-curricular issues such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and mobility. Cross-curricular issues are characterized by their societal relevance and their transdisciplinary nature, which inherently calls for an interdisciplinary didactic approach. Given its self-conception as a multiperspective subject, Sachunterricht appears particularly well suited for their implementation. Multiperspectivity is, however, defined and legitimated in different ways in the discourse. Using ESD and mobility as examples, the article critically illustrates how existing educational concepts particularly fall short of normative expectations. This raises the question of how to deal didactically with the normative framing of cross-curricular topics and how to reflect upon this framing in the classroom. Multiperspectivity as didactic principle offers a potential didactic pathway for engaging with socially relevant questions in a participatory and educationally meaningful way.

Keywords
multiperspectivity, basic social and natural science education, integrative didactics, interdisciplinarity