Katharina Papke

Dr. Katharina Papke is an academic post-doctoral researcher (Akademische Rätin a.Z.) in the Department of General Educational Science at the University of Education Freiburg (Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg). She has held research and teaching positions at the University of Basel, the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, and Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Her work centres on inclusive education, qualitative research methodologies, and the sociology of knowledge in pedagogical settings.

Education

• 2015–2018: MA in Educational Science, University of Education Freiburg
• 2020–2025: PhD in Educational Science, University of Basel (Swiss National Science Foundation project no. 188805)

Research Interests

Dr. Papke’s scholarship explores the micro-politics of inclusive schooling, the discursive construction of autism in educational contexts, and the professional practices of teachers cooperating in inclusive classrooms. Employing praxeological and documentary methods, she reconstructs how organisational frames, professional milieus, and student perspectives intersect to enable or hinder participation. Her recent projects examine cooperative teaching arrangements, the categorisation processes surrounding autism, and the conditions under which inclusion policies are translated into everyday school practice.

Publications & Scholarly Trajectory

Across more than fifteen peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and edited volumes since 2019, Papke has advanced a situational-analytical perspective on inclusive education. Her forthcoming monograph Kooperation im Spannungsfeld synthesises extensive ethnographic work on classroom cooperation. Co-edited volumes with Köpfer (forthcoming, 2025) extend theoretical debates on autism, culture and schooling. Thematically, her oeuvre moves from vocational inclusion and teacher professionalism to fine-grained interaction analyses of reflexive teaching practices.

Scientific Memberships & Networks

• Member, Scientific Network for Educational Autism Research (WNEA, DFG project no. 530948278)
• Editorial board member, Zeitschrift für Inklusion
• Member, Section Sociology of Professions, German Sociological Association (DGS)
• Member, Society for Education and Knowledge (GBW)
• Associate Member, German Educational Research Association (DGfE)

Grants & Projects

Her doctoral research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project 188805). She has participated in the federal “Schule tatsächlich inklusiv” (StiEL) project, developing and piloting in-service training for inclusive education. Ongoing collaborations extend to international comparative studies on student perspectives in Germany, Canada and Switzerland.

Labs & Research Teams

Dr. Papke is embedded in the qualitative research environment of the Institute of Educational Science at the University of Education Freiburg and collaborates closely with the DFG-funded WNEA network, coordinating working groups on autism-related education research.