• Project

    “Fake news” as a subject of political education. Problem areas and possible courses of action in dealing with political disinformation in social science lessons.

    The phenomenon of “fake news” has become an integral part of political debate and is increasingly perceived as a threat across  disciplines. Politically motivated “fake news” can not only convey incorrect information, but also undermine trust in democratic structures and processes. Through emotional charging and the use of manipulative techniques, false or misleading information spreads particularly widely and rapidly on social networks. This means that school students in particular can quickly become targets of disinformation.

    For political education in schools, this raises the question of the right way to deal with “fake news” in social studies classes. The project aims to identify problem areas that arise in social studies classes as a consequence of the spread of disinformation — especially in the lives of schoolchildren. In particular, the mechanism behind and consequences of “fake news” will be examined in order to derive requirements for political education in schools. Building on this, possible approaches for the sensitisation of students will be analyzed, taking into account both the suitability for the identified problem areas and the didactic potential for social science teaching. In addition to the established approach of reactively refuting false information with facts (“debunking”), the first phase of the project will focus on the concept of “prebunking.” This concept is based on social psychological inoculation theory and aims to strengthen users' resilience to manipulative narratives and techniques through preventative confrontation.

  • Career

    Education

    12/2025 Acceptance into the Graduate School of Politics (GraSP), University of Münster
    since 04/2025

    Doctoral studies at the University of Münster
    05/2022 to 10/2023

    Preparatory service at the Center for Practical Teacher Training in Bocholt (state examination for teaching at high schools and comprehensive schools)
    10/2019 to 02/2022

    Master's degree in social sciences and history at the University of Münster (Master of Education)
    04/2018 to 02/2022

    Study scholarship from the Heinrich Böll Foundation
    10/2016 to 10/2019

    Bachelor's degree in Economics & History (Bachelor of Arts)
     
    Positions
    since 02/2025

    Teacher at Mariengarden High School – private high school run by the Hünfeld Oblates in Borken-Burlo
    01/2024 to 01/2025 Substitute teacher for social sciences, economics, politics, and history (Mariengarden High School)
    05/2022 to 10/2023

    Trainee teacher at the municipal Alexander-Hegius-Gymnasium Ahaus
    2021 to 2022 Student assistant to the management of the History Department at the University of Münster
    2019 to 2022

    Student assistant at the Institute for Political Science at the University of Münster (social sciences teaching methodology)
    2018 to 2022 Student assistant at the History Department (Department of Westphalian Regional History) at the University of Münster
     
     
     

     

  • Publications

    Monographs

    with Dr. Karin Meendermann (2025): Literatur als Brücke ins Politische. Wertevermittlung im sozialwissenschaftlichen Unterricht anhand von Kinder- und Jugendliteratur (Kleine Reihe Politische Bildung). Wochenschau-Verlag Frankfurt/M.

    (2024) Unternehmer als Gestalter. Eine Untersuchung im Westmünsterland um 1900. Tectum Verlag Baden-Baden. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783828851139

     

    Articles in journals and anthologies

    (2025) Arbeitskampf in Ahaus. Die christlichen Gewerkschaften und der Streik von 1913, in: W. Wilming, K. Schulte, W. Terwolbeck (Red.), Ahauser Heimatbriefe 2025. Beiträge zur Heimatkunde und Heimatpflege der Stadt Ahaus, S. 65-79.

    (2024) Von der Werkstatt zur Schuhfabrik. Die Geschichte der Firma Dües, in: W. Wilming (Red.), Ahauser Heimatbriefe 2024. Beiträge zur Heimatkunde und Heimatpflege der Stadt Ahaus, S. 161-176. Heimatverein Ahaus.

    (2023) Demokratie und Wahrheit im digitalen Zeitalter, in: Demokratie und Wahrheit. Über das theologische und politische Vermächtnis von Wolfgang Ullmann, Berlin (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Schriften zur Demokratie, Bd. 68), S. 103-106. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Berlin.

    (2023) Stadtlohn um 1900. Wandlungsprozesse einer Textilstadt im Westmünsterland, in: M. Black-Veldtrup/ A. Neuwöhner (Hrsg.), Westfälische Zeitschrift (Ausgabe 2022) Bd. 172, 147-166. Bonifatius Verlag Paderborn.

    (2023) Jan und Ysaak van Delden und die Industrialisierung in Ahaus, in: B. Fritsch, I. Höting (Red.), Von der Landstadt zur Industriestadt. Modernisierung im Westmünsterland 1900-1950 (Historische Landeskunde des Westmünsterlandes Bd. 7), S. 31-82. Achterland Verlag Bocholt/Breedvort.

    (2023) Jan und Ysaak van Delden: Die Gründer der Westfälischen Jutespinnerei und Weberei, in: W. Wilming (Red.), Ahauser Heimatbriefe 2023. Beiträge zur Heimatkunde und Heimatpflege der Stadt Ahaus, S. 79-100. Heimatverein Ahaus.

    (2023) Der Fabrikant als Politiker, in: Westfalen/Lippe – historisch, 17/02/2023, Blog der Historischen Kommission für Westfalen (LWL). https://doi.org/10.58079/pjh1

    (2021) Die Historische Kommission für Westfalen und Eduard Schultes Revolutionschronik, in: Lena Krull (Hg.), Der Archivar als Chronist. Eduard Schulte und die Revolution von 1918/19 in Münster (Kleine Schriften aus dem Stadtarchiv Münster Band 16), S. 33-49. Aschendorff Verlag Münster.

  • Further Information

    Memberships

    •    Member of the extended state executive committee of the German Association for Political Education NW e.V.

    •    Member of the executive committee of the Society for Historical Regional Studies of the Western Münsterland e.V.

    •    Member of the Association of Historians of Germany e.V.

    •    Member of the Association for History and Archaeology of Westphalia e.V.