Selected Scientific Publications
How do students experience relationships in their classrooms? How can teachers make sense of difficult situations together? The publications below explore questions that arise in everyday school life.
Hover over a topic or select it to see the publications.Tap a topic to see the publications.
Professional Self-Reflection and Student Feedback
How can teachers better understand their students’ perspectives and their own reactions?
New book · Dietrich et al. (Eds.), 2026 · Verlag Julius Klinkhardt
Professionelle Selbstreflexion im Hochschulstudium
How can student teachers learn to recognise their own part in emotionally challenging relationships? This volume, edited by Lars Dietrich and colleagues, brings together theory, empirical research and examples of case discussions in teacher education.
Read full text (PDF, German) Publisher’s page ↗Dietrich & Franke (2025) · Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie
Das Teacher-ProGRESS-Instrument
What can teachers learn from their students about their own practice? This article introduces a questionnaire that lets students give teachers feedback on how they experience their teaching.
Read open-access article (German)Dietrich (2021) · International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies
Higher expectations of teachers are not sufficient
The article explains how student feedback and group-analytic professional development can work together to help teachers support their students’ social and emotional development.
Read full text (PDF, English)
Book reference Dietrich, L., Fickler-Stang, U., Hofman, J. & Zimmermann, D. (Eds.). (2026). Professionelle Selbstreflexion im Hochschulstudium: Theoretische Grundlagen und empirische Befunde am Beispiel der Pädagogik bei psychosozialen Beeinträchtigungen. Verlag Julius Klinkhardt.
Relationships and Conflict in the Classroom
How do students and teachers experience their relationships with one another? These publications draw on work associated with the BeKooL study.
Dietrich, Hofman & Zimmermann (2023) · ESE
Wie Lehrkräfte psychosozial beeinträchtigter Schüler:innen den Berufseinstieg meistern können
A case study of an early-career teacher explores authority, closeness and professional distance, and what it means to feel vulnerable when starting out in the classroom.
Read full text (PDF, German)Hofman, Dietrich & Zimmermann (2022) · Empirische Pädagogik
Konflikte zwischen Lehrkräften und Schüler*innen
What role does teacher care play for students who tend to withdraw or whose behaviour draws attention? The study compares the perspectives of 310 adolescents in 19 Berlin secondary school classes.
Free article from the publisher (German)Hofman, Dietrich & Zimmermann (2021) · Sonderpädagogische Förderung heute
Selbstregulation von Quereinsteigenden in schulischen Konfliktsituationen
This qualitative case study examines how a teacher who entered the profession through an alternative route balances closeness and professional distance during conflicts with students.
Article details and abstract (German)Dietrich, Zimmermann & Hofman (2021) · European Journal of Special Needs Education
The importance of teacher-student relationships in classrooms with ‘difficult’ students
Drawing on nine Berlin secondary schools, the study asks how relationships with teachers relate to students’ well-being and learning in classes with different student profiles.
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Classroom Climate and Bullying
How do classroom relationships and teaching quality relate to students being excluded or mocked for a mistake?
Dietrich, Jurkowski, Schwarzer & Zimmermann (2023) · Teaching and Teacher Education
The role of teachers in the bullying involvement of students with emotional and behavioral difficulties
The article examines how emotional support from teachers and the quality of relationships at school relate to students’ involvement in bullying.
Read full text (PDF, English)Dietrich & Cohen (2021) · International Journal of Bullying Prevention
Understanding Classroom Bullying Climates
How do class composition, teaching quality and relationships among classmates relate to bullying?
Read full text (English)Dietrich (2019) · Empirische Sonderpädagogik
Akademisches Schikanieren
What happens when classmates mock a student for making a mistake in class? This article examines the role of classroom relationships and teaching quality.
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Democracy Education
How can students experience democracy through the ways their school handles conflict and disagreement?
Dietrich & Weber (2026) · International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies
Western Liberal-Democratic Norms and Values: Why and How They Should Be Taught in Schools
Lars Dietrich and Petra Weber discuss how students can practise democratic debate at school, for example by taking part in resolving conflicts.
Read open-access article (English)