23. - 27.11.2026
Olivia Kleinfeld
Everyone makes mistakes
Observations on making mistakes in elemantary school German and Mathematics lessons.
The project focuses on scenes in elementary school mathematics and German lessons in which subject-specific errors are addressed. These are collected and analyzed using an ethnographic research approach. The focus is on the intertwining of everyday school practices for dealing with errors and subject-specific requirements in order to investigate possible subject-specific characteristics of error processing in the elementary school subjects of Mathematics and German. With a detailed description and analysis of the functions of mistakes and of the various ways in which subject-specific errors are dealt with, the project attempts to provide empirical insights into how errors are (or can be) marked and dealt with by participants in specific teaching situations. Another attempt is to provide insights on the interactive conditions under which errors are dealt with in a subject-specific manner.
since 04/2022: Research Associate in the DFG Graduate School “Subject-Specific Learning and Interaction in Elementary School” (INTERFACH), based at the Center for School and Education Research at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
10/2019 – 03/2022: Research Associate in the unit Elementary School Pedagogy at the Institute of School Pedagogy and Elementary School Didactics at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
08/2016 – 07/2017: Teacher of Ethics at a Secondary School (50% position)
10/2013 – 07/2017: Scholarship holder of the Studienkolleg of the Foundation of German Business (Stiftung der deutschen Wirtschaft)
10/2011 – 06/2019: Teacher training degree programme (for Secondary Schools, subjects: Ethics, French, Philosophy). Studies in Elementary School Teaching (subjects: Ethics, German, Mathematics) at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
final thesis: “Everyone Makes Mistakes. An Exploratory Observation of Making Mistakes in Classroom Teaching”
Parental leave: 04/2021 – 03/2022 and 08/2017 – 03/2018