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The willingness to solve conflicts without violence and to strive for a reconciliation of interests is of central significance for the continued existence of democracies. In this paper, we aim to analyse school related determinants of adolescents' conflict behaviour. Models predicting the conflict styles of 'integrating', 'dominating', 'avoiding' and 'obliging' were developed drawing on different school climate and school development variables. At the individual level, almost all our hypotheses were confirmed. The highest correlations were found between an open classroom climate and the participation in a class council on the one hand, and an integrating conflict style on the other. On the class level however, most of the anticipated effects did not turn out to be significant. We hope that by providing information about different school climate and school development variables' impacts on adolescents' conflict styles, we can contribute to a more effective promotion of constructive conflict behaviour in adolescents. (DIPF/Orig.)

Pleasurable experiences in nature are suspected to promote a personal connection with nature, and subsequently, nature conservation in individuals. Using an Internet-based survey employing a convenience sample of the general population (N = 1,309), we developed a connection-with-nature instrument that relies on only simple self-reflection. That is, connection with nature is indirectly derived from inspecting reports of past bonding activities and responses to evaluative statements reflecting an appreciation of nature. As such, our instrument is intellectually easy and not particularly taxing to respond to. Although conceptualized as an attitude, our new Disposition to Connect with Nature scale converged with other connection-with-nature measures – with only one exception – and, simultaneously, turned out to be technically superior with regard to accuracy and validity.

Der Bericht stellt zunächst Auftrag und Kontext der externen Evaluation im BLK-Programm "Demokratie lernen und leben" dar. Die bisherigen Veröffentlichungen werden jeweils kurz beschrieben und den Arbeitsfeldern der Evaluation zugeordnet. Im Zentrum steht der Bericht zur Abschlussbefragung an den Schulen des Programms. Dabei wird auf Erträge aus Lehrer- und Schülersicht eingegangen. Neben einer Deskription von Maßnahmen und Erträgen werden auch die Bedingungen für positive Entwicklungen in den Schulen beispielhaft analysiert. Schließlich werden die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse auf die allgemeine gesellschaftliche Entwicklung bezogen und künftige Forschungsoptionen im Gegenstandsbereich Schule/Schulentwicklung und Demokratie dargelegt. (DIPF/Autor)

The goal of environmental education is ultimately to enable a person to strive for and to attain a more ecological way of life. In this article, we begin by distinguishing three forms of environmental knowledge and go on to predict that people's attitude toward nature represents the force that drives their ecological behavioral engagement. Based on data from 1,907 students, we calibrated previously established instruments to measure ecological behavior, environmental knowledge, and attitude toward nature with Rasch-type models. Using path modeling, we corroborated our theoretically anticipated competence structure. While environmental knowledge revealed a modest behavioral effect, attitude toward nature turned out to be, as expected, the stronger determinant of behavior. Overall, we propose a competence model that has the potential to guide us into more evidence-based ways of promoting the overall ecological engagement of individuals.