23. - 27.11.2026
Lisa Mehmel
Interactions between Teachers, Students, and Subject Matter when Considering a Literary Work with a High Degree of Polyvalence
The teacher’s management of conversations in class has already been investigated early in conversation analysis studies. These studies illustrated that a task-solution pattern which is implicitly based on the fact that the teacher already knows the solution to the task, and that the students try to figure it out, dominates classroom discussion. This pattern, which aims at developing a ‘correct’ solution, already indicates difficulties within the context of the here focussed literary texts, since the central characteristic of these texts is to allow, even demand, several (diverse) interpretations and approaches to the text. Accordingly, classifying the learners’ contributions into ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ does not seem possible without more ado.
Within this doctoral thesis, it would be necessary to investigate and identify the interaction patterns as well as moderation-, management-, and support procedures in conversations about the subject matter when dealing with ambiguous literary texts. Particularly in the field of German didactics, there are only a few studies that focus on how lessons are precisely structured with regard to the interactive development of the subject matter when considering a literary work with a high degree of polyvalence.
Studies and degrees
04/2022 – 03/2025: Doctoral Researcher in the DFG Graduate School “Subject-Specific Learning and Interaction in Elementary School” (INTERFACH)
08/2018 – 12/2018: Semester abroad at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG)
10/2015 – 12/2021: Teacher Training Degree programme (for Secondary Schools, subjects: English, German) at the University of Kassel, First State Examination (grade: 1.0)
Professional Experience
since 04/2025: Research Associate at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in the Department of German / Aesthetic Education
04/2022 – 03/2025: Doctoral Researcher in the DFG Graduate School “Subject-Specific Learning and Interaction in Elementary School” (INTERFACH)
03/2021 – 06/2021: Staff member for Student Support in distance learning (English lessons, grade 9) at „Wilhelm-Leuschner-Schule“, Niestetal
10/2020 – 02/2022: Substitute Teacher at „Wilhelm-Leuschner-Schule“, Niestetal
11/2019 – 03/2022: Student Assistant in the Department of Empirical Classroom Research at the University of Kassel, collaboration in the project MOVIE (Comparing Modelling Activities in Mathematics Lessons Using Video data)
08/2019 – 04/2020: Afternoon supervision in remedial teaching for English (grades 6–9) at „Rhenanus-Schule“, Bad Sooden-Allendorf
02/2019 – 06/2019: Substitute Teacher at „Rhenanus-Schule“, Bad Sooden-Allendorf
04/2018 – 03/2022: Tutor at the Institute of German Studies at the University of Kassel, focus on Literature and Literary Didactics
- 2024-9-18: Vortrag auf der 25. Jahrestagung des Symposion Deutschdidaktik (SDD) (Uni Mainz): Interaktive Deutungsentwicklung in Unterrichtsgesprächen über Bilderbücher mit hohem Polyvalenzgrad (gemeinsam mit Michael Ritter)
- 2024-06-21: Datensitzung beim Arbeitskreis Gesprächsforschung in der Lehrer:innenbildung (AK GeLb) (online)
- 2024-03-21: Datensitzung auf der Arbeitstagung Gesprächsforschung (FSU Jena)
- 2024-01-13: Vortrag auf dem Jahrestreffen der SDD AG Mündlichkeit (Online): Lehrpersonenseitige Steuerungsverfahren der Deutungsentwicklung in Unterrichtsgesprächen über Bilderbücher
- 2023-08-21: Vortrag auf der nets21-Sommertagung (PH Zug, CH): (Literarisches) Lernen im Gespräch: Unterrichtsgespräche über Bilderbücher mit hohem Polyvalenzgrad
- 2023-05-05: Datensitzung beim 7. DokGF-Netzwerktreffen (Online)