The paper is part of a project that analyses videos of classroom observations in history and civics courses in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) from the 1970s to the 1990s. Building upon research on civics courses in East and West Germany that has relied primarily upon written sources (such as curricula, textbooks, lesson plans, teaching aids and educational policy materials), my research introduces video recordings of classroom interactions in order to enhance our understanding of pedagogical aims and practices in both halves of Cold War Germany. Moreover, this paper demonstrates possibilities for using these recently discovered media sources in historical research.

The videotaped classroom observations were used for teacher education purposes as well as for contemporary scholarly research. The full range of videos shows different uses of teaching materials (like textbooks, chalkboards, overhead projectors) in the documented lessons. In some of these videos, the presence of media in classrooms appears to have belonged to typical instructional practices. However, other sources describe media as a pedagogical innovation. Finally, some videos were produced to evaluate the effectiveness of new teaching materials.

Surprisingly, the video camera itself points to the intentions of these various recordings. Camera angle, placement, length of shot – mis-en-scene considerations, in other words – must be included in any analysis of the subject of the recordings. By recognizing that the video recording leaves out as much as it includes in camera’s gaze it becomes possible to see a more complex picture of the relationship between media and pedagogy.

This paper argues that contemporary discipline-specific-discourses about using media in classrooms, including pedagogical and didactical goals, influenced the manner in which instructional media materials were filmed as well as perceived by educational functionaries and practitioners. In comparative case studies I examine these many interconnections. How does an attempt to reconstruct East and West German classrooms illustrate the development of media pedagogical theories? In this manner, I make explicit that which was implicit: Camera work both documents and comments on the role of media in education.

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