Prof. Dr. Oktay Bilgi has changed universities and has been working at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences since December 2024.
You can reach him at:
For more information, please visit his website:
https://www.alanus.edu/de/hochschule/menschen/detail/oktay-bilgi
Main Areas of Research
- Care and Care Ethics
- Theoretical Development in Early Childhood Education in a Changing Society
- Phenomenology of human-nature relationships
- Educational anthropology
- Philosophy of Education
Curriculum Vitae
- 2003–2011 Studied Educational Sciences at Bielefeld University, specializing in Social Work, Migration Education, and Racism Research
- 2011–2014 Doctoral fellow at the Hans Böckler Foundation
- 2011–2014 Member of the doctoral program “Contradictions of Social Integration: On the Transformation of Social Work”
- Since April 2014: Research assistant at the Chair of Prof. Dr. Ursula Stenger—“Early Childhood and Family”—at Institute I (Philosophy of Education, Anthropology, and Lifespan Pedagogy) of the Faculty of Human Sciences at the University of Cologne
- 2020 Awarded the degree of Dr. phil. by the University of Cologne: “On the (New) Beginning in Pedagogical Thought. A Contemporary Diagnostic Analysis.”
Memberships:
- German Society for Educational Science (DGfE)
- German Society for Philosophy (DGPhil)
- Section “Social Pedagogy and Early Childhood Education” of the DGfE
- Theory Working Group of the “Early Childhood Education” Commission of the DGfE
- “Educational Anthropology” Commission of the DGfE
- Network for Educational Anthropology
- International Froebel Society Germany
- Network for Early Childhood Cultural Education
Publications
Monographs
2021
The (New) Beginning in Pedagogical Thinking. A Contemporary Diagnostic Analysis. Bielefeld: transcript.
2011
Institutional Discrimination in Kindergarten. An Institution Between Support and Demand, Hamburg, Bedey Media GmbH.
Edited Volumes
2023
On the Interconnectedness of Nature and Culture. Theory Development and Research Perspectives in Early Childhood Education (together with Christina Huf, Markus Kluge, Ursula Stenger, Claus Stieve, and Ulrich Wehner). Weinheim: Beltz Juventa
2021
The Human Being as Facticity. Pedagogical-Anthropological Approaches (with Thomas Senkbeil, Dieter Mersch, and Christoph Wulf), Bielefeld: transcript.
“Quality” Revisited! – Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives in Early Childhood Education (with Gerald Blaschke-Nacak, Judith Durand, Thilo Schmidt, Ursula Stenger, and Claus Stieve). Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.
2020
Care – a fundamental concept in early childhood education? (with Ulf Sauerbrey and Ursula Stenger). Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.
2017
Contradictions of Social Integration – On the Transformation of Social Work (with Kathrin Schulze and Marie Frühauf). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Book Series
“Transformation of the Social – Transformation of Social Work” by the HBS Doctoral College “Contradictions of Social Integration – On the Transformation of Social Work,” Wiesbaden: Springer VS. (co-edited)
Essays
2023
A Critical Phenomenology of Social Relations to Nature. Local Histories of the Child-Chicken Encounter in the Daycare Center. In: Oktay Bilgi, Christina Huf, Markus Kluge, Ursula Stenger, Claus Stieve, and Ulrich Wehner (eds.): On the Interconnectedness of Nature and Culture: Theory Formation and Research Perspectives in Early Childhood Education. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 217–238.
Making the complexity of realities tangible. Ethical-ecological aspects of collaborative constitutions of reality in the context of early childhood education and care (ECEC) (co-authored with Ursula Stenger). In: Malte Brinkmann et al. (eds.): Realities - Phenomenological and Pedagogical Perspectives. Volume 13 in the series of Phenomenological Research: Wiesbaden: Springer, forthcoming
Shaping the coexistence of humans and animals. Interview with Ulrike Henze. https://www.paedagogikblog.de/das-zusammenleben-von-menschen-und-tieren-gestalten/
2022
Educational Concepts and Ethical Questions of the Human-Animal Relationship in the Anthropocene. In: Peter Cloos, Jens Kaiser-Kratzmann, Melanie Jester, Thilo Schmidt, and Marc Schulz (eds.): Continuity and Change in Early Childhood Education: Fields of Action, Pedagogical Approaches, and Professionalization. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 115–129.
Children’s Drawings as Traces into the World of Children. Epistemological and Methodological Approaches to Children’s Drawings (with Ursula Stenger and Simon Streiffels). In: Mirjam Kekeritz and Melanie Kubandt (eds.): Children’s Drawings – Approaches, Potentials, Limits. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 183–212 (peer-reviewed).
2021
An Educational Exploration of Ethics in Human-Animal Relations in the Anthropocene. In: Thomas Senkbeil, Oktay Bilgi, Dieter Mersch, and Christoph Wulf (eds.): The Human as Facticity. Educational-Anthropological Approaches. Bielefeld: transcript, pp. 301–316.
Introduction. In: Thomas Senkbeil, Oktay Bilgi, Dieter Mersch, and Christoph Wulf (eds.): The Human as Facticity. Pedagogical-Anthropological Approaches (Together with Thomas Senkbeil, Dieter Mersch, and Christoph Wulf). Bielefeld: transcript, pp. 9–26.
Quality from an Educational Perspective: A Historical-Systematic Contribution to the Understanding of Quality in Early Childhood Education. In: Oktay Bilgi, Gerald Blaschke-Nacak, Judith Durand, Thilo Schmidt, Ursula Stenger, and Claus Stieve (eds.): “Quality” Revisited. Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives in Early Childhood Education. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 49–67.
“Quality” in Early Childhood Education – An Introduction. In: Oktay Bilgi, Gerald Blaschke-Nacak, Judith Durand, Thilo Schmidt, Ursula Stenger, and Claus Stieve (eds.): “Quality” revisited. Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives in Early Childhood Education (together with Gerald Blaschke-Nacak, Judith Durand, Thilo Schmidt, Ursula Stenger, and Claus Stieve). Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 7–18.
Phenomena: Play and Learning (with Ursula Stenger). In: Bianca Bloch, Melanie Kuhn, Marc Schulz, Wilfried Smidt, and Ursula Stenger (eds.): Early Childhood Education in Germany – Issues in History, Theory, and Research. London: Routledge (peer-reviewed).
2020
Musical-aesthetic experience in early childhood in the tension between concrete-sensory and digital educational offerings – a phenomenological perspective. In: Marc Fabian Buck, Johannes Drerup, and Gottfried Schweiger (eds.): New Technologies – New Childhoods? Ethical and Educational-Philosophical Perspectives, Berlin: Metzler Springer VS., pp. 151–165.
Care: Phenomenological Notes on Care Relationships and Practices in Early Childhood Education (with Ursula Stenger). In: Oktay Bilgi, Ulf Sauerbrey, and Ursula Stenger: Care—a Fundamental Concept in Early Childhood Education? Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 60–81.
Introduction to the anthology. In: Oktay Bilgi, Ulf Sauerbrey, and Ursula Stenger: Care – a fundamental concept in early childhood education? (with Ulf Sauerbrey and Ursula Stenger). Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 7–11.
Concern for the Beginning. An Anthropological-Phenomenological Critique of Preemptive Strategies in Early Childhood (with Ursula Stenger). In: Thorsten Fuchs, Wolfgang Meseth, Christiane Thompson, and Jörg Zirfas (eds.): Realities of Upbringing in Times of Fear and Uncertainty. Weinheim/Basel: Beltz Juventa, pp. 117–134.
Care: Pedagogical-anthropological notes on childhood educational dimensions of care (with Ursula Stenger). In: Dietrich, Cornelie, Uhlendorf, Niels, Beiler, Frank, and Sanders, Olaf (eds.): Anthropologies of Care in Education. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz Juventa, pp. 154–166.
2019
Care: Notes on a Seemingly Forgotten Concept. In: Cornelia Dietrich, Ursula Stenger, and Claus Stieve (eds.): Theoretical Approaches to Early Childhood Education. A Critical Reassessment. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 465–474.
2018
It All Starts at the Beginning! Or: On the Neglect of Beginnings in Pedagogical Thinking. In: Gerald Balschke-Nacak, Ursula Stenger, and Jörg Zirfas (eds.): Children—Childhood. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 268–285.
2017
On the Significance of Foundational Theories in Early Childhood Education Research (with Ursula Stenger). In: Iris Nentwig-Gesemann & Klaus Fröhlich-Gildhoff: Research in Early Childhood Education X. Ten Years of Early Childhood Education Research – Assessments and Reflections. Freiburg: FEL, pp. 131–150 (peer-reviewed).
It All Depends on the Beginning!: Or on the End of Time. In: Oktay Bilgi, Marie Frühauf, and Kathrin Schulze (eds.): Contradictions of Social Integration – On the Transformation of Social Work. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 245–266.
Contradictions of Social Integration: On the Transformation of Social Work – An Introduction. In: Oktay Bilgi, Marie Frühauf, and Kathrin Schulze (eds.): Contradictions of Social Integration – On the Transformation of Social Work. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 1–11.
2016
“We’re Just a Multicultural Society.” An Exploratory Approach to the Discursive Production and Management of Difference in Early Childhood Education (with Gerald Blaschke-Nacak). In: Doris Edelmann, David Nolte, Marc Schulz, and Ursula Stenger (eds.): Diversity in Early Childhood Education. Between Construction and Normativity. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 183–198.
Does the beginning matter?: The pedagogical gaze as accountability. In: Friederike Schmidt, Marc Schulz, and Gunther Graßhoff (eds.): Pedagogical Gaze. Weinheim/Basel: Beltz Juventa, pp. 104–120.
2015
Are the Limits of Recognition the Limits of Community? On Processes of Subjectivation and Recognition in the Context of Early Childhood. In: Gerald Blaschke and Stefan Hößl (eds.): Islam and Socialization: Current Studies. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 15–38.
2014
A Successful Dissertation Through a Structured Doctoral Program? (with Gloria von Papen Robredo): In: Educational Science. Newsletter of the DGfE 83–85, Vol. 25, No. 48, pp. 83–85.
Lectures
2024
Perception of Crisis and Transformation Strategies as a Generational Issue: The Case of Human-Animal Relationships in Daycare Centers. As part of the symposium “Perceptions of Crisis and Transformative Movements in Daycare Centers. Contributions to Opportunities for Learning and Living Together in the Face of the Climate Crisis” at the DGfE Congress (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg) (March 2024)
2023
Cultures of ‘Aliveness.’ A Critical Phenomenology of Human-Animal Relationships in Daycare Centers. As part of the Fribourg Evening Lectures at the Center for Early Childhood Education (University of Fribourg, CH) (Nov. 2023)
Anthropology of Care: Dimensions of the Concept of Care in Educational Science. As part of the expert forum “Theoretical Perspectives on Child Day Care” (German Youth Institute, Munich) (Nov. 2023)
Panel Discussion: Discipline-Specific Topics, Questions, and Issues. As part of the publication “The Early Childhood Education Project – Search Movements and Perspectives (working title).” Editors: Peter Cloos, Edita Jung, Claus Stieve, Susanne Viernickel, and Dörte Weltzien (online). (Oct. 2023)
Childhood as a Longing for Vitality – Fröbel’s Contribution to Socio-Ecological Transformation. Symposium “Fröbel – The Nature of the Child” (University of Erfurt) (September 2023)
Research Meets Practice – Humans and Animals Living Together. As part of the FRÖBEL consultation service (online) (March 2023)
Learning to Live Together: Ethical-Ecological Perspectives on Places of Upbringing in Early Childhood (together with Ursula Stenger). As part of the Commission Conference “Early Childhood Education” (DGfE) on the topic “Shaping Children’s Upbringing” (University of Leipzig) (March 2023)
2022
“Climate Kids” – The Desire for Life. (Podcast) https://transformatorische-bildung.de/2022/12/20/transformatorische-bildung-folge-139-klimakinder-das-begehren-nach-dem-leben/ (Dec. 2022)
Panel discussion as part of the Public Climate School (PCS) on the topic “Education in Times of the Climate Crisis” (University of Cologne) (Nov. 2022)
Early Childhood Cultural Education. As part of the online network meeting of the BDK, Professional Association for Art Education (Bauhaus University Weimar) (Nov. 2022)
Making the Complexity of Realities Tangible. Ethical-Ecological Aspects of Collaborative Constitutions of Reality in the Context of Early Childhood Education and Care (together with Ursula Stenger). As part of the 6th Symposium on Phenomenological Educational Science titled “Realities – Phenomenological and Pedagogical Perspectives” (Humboldt University of Berlin) (September 2022)
Panel discussion as part of the conference “Opportunities and Challenges of (Self-)Critical Early Childhood Education” (Volkswagen Foundation; Hanover) (April 2022)
Constitution and Ethical Implications of Daycare Centers as Places of Shared Learning and Living in the Anthropocene (together with Ursula Stenger). As part of the symposium “Places and Practices of Collaborative Learning: Pedagogical-Anthropological Explorations of Borderline Experiences and Practices in the Anthropocene” at the DGfE Congress (University of Bremen, Mar. 2022)
2021
On the Pedagogical and Ethical Significance of Cross-Species World-Making. Notes on a Phenomenology of the Body in Childhood. As part of the authors’ workshop “Science Fiction of the Body. Potentials, Possibilities, and Requirements of Educational Body Theory and Research” (University of Hildesheim Foundation, Oct. 2021)
Expert hearing as part of the BMBF collaborative project “RaumQualitäten. A Topography of Pedagogical Space in Childcare Facilities” (Cologne University of Applied Sciences, June 2021)
Ethics of Ecological Difference. On the Normativity of the Human-Animal Relationship in Early Childhood Education. As part of the Theory Working Group of the “Early Childhood Education” Commission of the DGfE on the topic “What Is (Still) Nature? The Relationship Between Nature and Humans in Early Childhood Education” (TH Köln, May 2021)
Educational Approaches and Ethical Questions Regarding the Human-Nature Relationship in the Anthropocene. As part of the Commission Conference “Early Childhood Education” of the DGfE on the topic “Continuity and Change in Early Childhood Education: Fields of Action, Educational Approaches, and Professionalization” (TH Köln, March 2021)
2019
Quality from an educational perspective: A historical-philosophical contribution to the concept of quality in early childhood education. Presented at the joint conference of the Empirical and Theoretical Working Groups of the DGfE’s “Early Childhood Education” Commission on the topic “‘Quality’ in Early Childhood Education – New Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives” (DJI Munich, Nov. 2019)
Concern for the Beginning: An Anthropological-Phenomenological Critique of Contemporary Immunization Strategies in Early Childhood (together with Ursula Stenger). As part of the section conference “General Educational Science” on the topic “Educational Realities in Times of Fear and Uncertainty” (University of Cologne, March 2019)
2018
Care: Systematic-Historical Notes on a Seemingly Forgotten Concept in Early Childhood Education. Presented at the 10th Conference of the Theory Working Group of the “Early Childhood Education” Commission (University of Cologne, Nov. 2018)
Supervision – Pedagogical-anthropological notes on childhood educational dimensions of care (together with Ursula Stenger). As part of the annual conference of the “Educational Anthropology” Commission of the DGFE (University of Cologne, September 2018)
2017
On the Significance of Theory in Early Childhood Education Research. As part of the 4th Conference of the Empirical Working Group of the “Early Childhood Education” Commission on the topic “Good Research in Early Childhood Education? Research Approaches, Subjects, and Methodologies” (St. Bonifatiushaus Hünfeld/Fulda, August 2017)
2016
Commentary on the joint project “Dealing with and Interpreting Poverty in Childcare Centers” between the Evangelical Fröbel Seminar in Kassel and the University of Kassel (University of Kassel, Oct. 2016)
It’s all about the beginning!? Or on the neglect of beginnings in pedagogical thinking. As part of the colloquium on General Educational Science/Theory of Education at the University of Wuppertal (University of Wuppertal, June 2016)
2015
Difference as Encounter: The Experience of the Other. As part of the lecture series “Reflections of the Other – Social Work in Dealing with Difference” at the Institute for Social Work and Social Policy, Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Duisburg-Essen (University of Essen, Nov. 2015)
Beginnings, Childhood, and Ethics. As part of the annual conference of the “Educational Anthropology” Commission of the DGfE (University of Cologne, Oct. 2015).
“We’re Just a Multicultural Society” – An exploratory approach to the discursive production and handling of difference in fields of early childhood education (together with Gerald Blaschke-Nacak). As part of the annual conference of the DGfE’s “Early Childhood Education” Commission: “Between Construction and Normativity: Diversity in Early Childhood Education” (University of Cologne, March 2015)
It All Starts at the Beginning?!: Natality and Ethics. As part of the conference “Contradictions of Social Integration: On the Transformation of Social Work” (Zeche Carl Essen, Jan. 2015).
Visible Invisibilities – The View of the Other in Social Pedagogical Contexts as a Methodological Challenge (together with Nadine Günnewig). As part of the conference “Pedagogical Perspectives: An Educational Science Approach to a Central Element of Pedagogical Practice” (University of Siegen, May 2014)