Tijs Bolz

Dr. Tijs Bolz is an academic researcher specializing in Special Needs Education with a focus on Emotional and Social Development. He has held professorial positions at Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, where he administered a W3 professorship in the Department of Pedagogy and Didactics of Emotional and Social Development from October 2023 to March 2025. Previously, he served as an acting W2 university professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen from October 2022 to September 2023. His institutional affiliations also include Leibniz University Hannover's Institute for Special Education.

His academic background includes:

• Doctorate in Special and Rehabilitation Education from Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (December 2021), with dissertation titled "Student-teacher relationships from an attachment theory perspective with a focus on emotional and social development"
• Master of Education in Special Education/History from Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (2013-2015), specializing in "Education for Behavioral Disorders – Impairments in Emotional and Social Development" and "Education for Learning Impairments"

Dr. Bolz's research primarily focuses on student-teacher relationships, particularly with students exhibiting behavioral problems. His work examines diagnostics, prevention, and intervention strategies for impairments in emotional and social development, with special attention to intensive educational issues. He investigates internalizing behavior problems in school settings and explores the connections between attachment theory and emotion regulation in childhood and adolescence. His research often employs both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to understand the complex dynamics between teachers and students with special educational needs.

Analysis of Dr. Bolz's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on the intersection of attachment theory, emotional regulation, and special education. His work frequently examines teacher-student relationships from multiple perspectives (teacher and student), with particular attention to students with emotional and social development challenges. There's a clear trend toward multi-method research, including systematic reviews, qualitative interviews, and quantitative analyses, often conducted in collaboration with international research teams across Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Dr. Bolz actively collaborates on multiple research projects:

• Adaptation and validation of the Students Perception of Affective Relationship with Teacher Scale (SPARTS) (2019-2025)
• Adaptation and evaluation of the relationship-promoting intervention Banking Time including qualification concept (2023-present)
• Conceptual support and evaluation of the intensive educational program U-turn (2024-2026)
• Scientific monitoring and evaluation of special educational support for children and adolescents at risk in the district of Görlitz (2024-2025)
• Designing sensitive teacher-learner relationships to promote school-based educational processes (2024-2026)

His scholarly contributions appear in prominent journals including Empirical Special Education, Frontiers in Psychology, and European Journal of Special Needs Education, demonstrating his significant impact on the field of special education research.