Fritz Kempas

Fritz Kempas is a Researcher in the Department of German Didactics within the Department of Education and Psychology at Freie Universität Berlin. His academic work focuses on linguistic and cultural education specifically within primary school settings, with particular emphasis on addressing challenging historical and societal topics in German language instruction.

His research interests form a cohesive program examining difficult subjects in primary education:

• Addressing the Shoah (Holocaust) in primary school lessons
• Political dimensions of German language didactics
• Research on prospective teachers' orientations toward difficult topics
• Multilingualism in the context of colonial continuities
• Power dynamics, colonialism, and language education
• Children's literature for sustainability education

Kempas's scholarly work reveals a consistent focus on how to approach historically and politically complex subjects in primary education. His research examines both the pedagogical possibilities and limitations of introducing topics like the Shoah and climate catastrophe to young learners, while simultaneously investigating how future teachers develop their professional stances toward these challenging subjects. Methodologically, he employs qualitative-empirical approaches to understand the intricate dynamics of teaching and learning in primary school German education.

As an educator, Kempas teaches specialized courses on didactic concepts for German instruction, with recent offerings focusing on literary approaches to difficult topics, Holocaust education in primary settings, and the intersection of power, colonialism, and language. He also conducts class visits during practical semesters, providing direct mentorship to student teachers in classroom environments.

His academic contributions include presentations at major national and international symposia including the International Workshop for University Learning Facilities, the Symposium for German Didactics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the Annual Conference of the Association for Migratory Pedagogical Second Language Didactics, demonstrating active engagement with the broader academic community in German education research.