Abstract (eng)
This master thesis focuses on the field of study choice of former students, who studied science of education. It is not only about the particular choice of field of study but also how the students (re)construct this process within their biography. There are a lot of quantitative studies dealing with this subject, however there are hardly any qualitative ones. The aim of this master thesis is to enlarge the theoretical concepts concerning this matter. The research question is, how former students, who studied science of education, (re)construct their course of choice of study and in what way biographical experiences were relevant. The biography research represents the theoretical framework.
In this master thesis four biographical-narrative interviews with former students, who studied science of education, were analyzed based on a reconstructive method of Dausien (1996).
The analysis shows that the choice for the field of study can be understood as a process, which is embedded in the particular biography. The biographical experiences can be seen as relevant for the choice of field of study: The biographers learned ‘social competences’. Also the institution of school and the ambitions of the family affect this decision. Significant others take part in the decisions of the biographers. Moreover, the self-concept of the biographers is important regarding this decision. The concrete choice of the field of study is constructed differently in the particular biography. The choice can be an ‘active’ one, a ‘coincidence’ or it can be a ‘second choice’. Furthermore, it can be embedded in an emancipation from external structures