CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Schmidt, Lea-Marie |
|---|---|
| Title | Governance Meets Innovation: AI Integration in German Schools. A Multi-Level, Typological Plausibility Probe of Policy and Practice in Education |
| Summary | The rapid development of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot is fundamentally reshaping debates around the future of education. While these technologies are increasingly accessible, their meaningful and responsible integration into school settings remains uneven, especially across Germany’s federal education system. This thesis investigates how different governance structures – at both the state and school levels – influence the implementation and use of AI tools in secondary schools. Originally designed to evaluate whether the EU AI Act acts as a regulatory barrier or catalyst, the research shifted to a prior analytical step: mapping the institutional conditions under which AI is currently entering schools. In response to a lack of structured data, the study adopts the logic of a plausibility probe, not aiming for statistical generalization but the development of first hypotheses and pattern-based insights. Using a theory-driven mixed-methods design grounded in Multi-Level Governance (MLG) and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI), the study combines policy and website analysis with a standardized school survey across Berlin, Hamburg, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Typologies were developed to classify state governance models, school-level structures, and AI usage patterns. The findings suggest that governance influences AI implementation primarily through visibility, framing, and institutional ownership, rather than through mandates or infrastructure alone. The study highlights policy-practice gaps, uneven preparedness for regulation, and the need for more aligned, multi-level governance strategies. It offers an initial conceptual and empirical contribution to understanding how innovation is governed in education – and under what conditions it can take root. |
| Supervisor | Ashraf, Cameran; Pareja, Pablo |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/schmidt_lea.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2025, Central European University