Franziska Herrmann

Dr. Franziska Herrmann serves as a Scientific Associate (Post-Doc) in the Department of German Didactics - Linguistic and Cultural Education within the Department of Education and Psychology at Free University Berlin since April 2024. Previously, she was a guest lecturer at the same institution during 2023-2024. Her academic journey includes a doctorate completed in 2023 through a cotutelle program between Technical University Dresden and Free University Bozen/Brixen, Italy, focusing on phenomenological approaches to creative writing experiences among primary school children and students.

Her research interests encompass literacy acquisition, literary learning, phenomenologically oriented writing research, children's text research, and university learning workshops. Dr. Herrmann employs narrative and inquiry-based learning methodologies in her work, with particular emphasis on how writing processes unfold in primary school settings. Her phenomenological approach examines the bodily and experiential dimensions of writing, revealing how children construct meaning through textual creation.

Analysis of her recent publications shows a strong focus on children's writing processes, particularly how they navigate creative expression, social themes like wealth inequality, and multilingual contexts. Her work frequently examines the physicality of writing as a bodily activity and explores how different writing tools affect the writing experience. She has made significant contributions to understanding how children make sense of complex social concepts through writing.

• Aloys Fischer Grundschulforschungspreis 2024 for her dissertation on creative writing experiences
• VignA-Award 2024 for the same dissertation work
• Innovationspreis Weiterbildung Sachsen 2013 for the educational program 'Kinder in guten Händen®'

Dr. Herrmann actively supervises research projects and collaborates internationally, particularly through the International Network of University Learning Workshops (NeHle) and the Vignette and Anecdote Research Network (VignA). Her current habilitation project 'Schreiben in der Schule' (2022-2026) continues her phenomenological investigations of writing situations in German language instruction across primary and secondary schools. She also coordinates the Learning and Research Workshop for Literary Education at Free University Berlin.

Her scholarly activities extend to numerous conference presentations across Europe, where she shares insights on phenomenological vignette research, writing processes, and creative learning experiences in educational settings. She serves on the board of the International Network of University Learning Workshops since 2021 and participates in multiple research collaborations examining writing, literacy, and pedagogical approaches across different educational contexts.