Prof. Dr. phil. Markus Andrä

Academic Profile

Markus Andrä is a researcher and practitioner in the field of social work. He has extensive experience as a lecturer, researcher, social worker and educator. He aims not only to encourage students to analyse and critique social conditions, but also to seek out liberating alternatives for action. For him, the essential foundation of social work competence lies in the ongoing development of an approach that views social work as a human rights profession.

Academic and Professional Background

Markus Andrä studied social work at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Dresden from 1994 to 2000. He then worked in community-based youth work and at a nursery until 2010. From 2010 to 2014, he was a research assistant at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Dresden, where he was responsible for a study – funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth – on the pedagogical practices of early years educators.

Since 2011, he has taken on teaching assignments, including at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Dresden and at FH Campus Wien. From 2015 to 2017, he was also a lecturer and class tutor on the vocational training programme for early years educators at the vocational college of the DRK Bildungswerk Dresden. In 2017, Markus Andrä was awarded a Dr. phil. degree from Dresden University of Technology. In his doctoral thesis, he developed a qualitative videographic approach to gender constructions in early years education. Since 2018, he has been Professor of Social Work at Dresden University of Applied Sciences.

Main areas of research

His main areas of research include identity formation through microsocial discourses, career biographies, educational processes and spaces, as well as school absenteeism and family education. His research perspective is based on the interpretative paradigm. As social work takes place primarily within processes of interaction and relationships, qualitative research approaches focus on aspects that standardised methods are often only able to capture to a limited extent. In particular, Markus Andrä utilises videographic and metaphor-analytical methods to reconstruct processes of interaction and interpretation within their situational contexts.

Teaching

Markus Andrä delivers courses on the following topics:

History, Theories and Methods of Social Work

• History and Theories of Social Work 
• Professional identity and ethics of practice 
• Areas of practice and methods

Fundamental related disciplines

• Anthropology
• Communication and Interaction 
• Development, Socialisation and Learning
• Interculturality and Gender

Other subject areas

• Performative Interventions
• Men in Social Work, Early Years Education and Care

Projects (selection)

2018–2020: International interview study on the career trajectories of male professionals in early childhood education (“International research project on men’s career trajectories in and out of Early Childhood Education and Care”)

2019–2020: Evaluation of the ‘Straßenschule’ project run by Treberhilfe Dresden e. V. 

2019–2023: Study of support systems in the context of school absenteeism in Dresden

Since 2023: “F1” – Accompanying research into the socio-spatial development of family education at four locations in Dresden

Publications (selection)

Andrä, M. (2026). Professional Attitude in Social Work. A Journey Through a Broad Conceptual Field. Corax, 2026 (2), 14–17.

Andrä, M., & Pittius, K. (2025). School absenteeism from a biographical perspective. Pädagogik, 2025 (3), 35–38.

Brody, D. L., & Andrä, M. (2023). “It wasn’t a romantic marriage”: A metaphor analysis of male early childhood educators’ career narratives. Journal of Men’s Studies, 31 (1), 89–107.

Andrä, M., & Behnert, M. (2022). “I’m encouraged as much as possible, somehow”. The Treberhilfe Dresden street school as a socialising in-between space. In W. Baros et al. (Eds.), Critical Pedagogy and Educational Research – Connections to Paulo Freire (pp. 383–399). Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.

Andrä, M., & Wetzel, J. (2022). From the metaphysics of morals to the practice of the human rights profession. An attempt at a roadmap. Zeitschrift für Menschenrechte. Journal for Human Rights, 2022 (2), 115–132.

Andrä, M. (2020). Male childcare workers as promoters of diversity. Conclusions from a qualitative analysis in German EEC institutions. Early Years: An International Research Journal, 40 (1), 82–94.

Freely available texts and an overview of Markus Andrä’s research activities: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Markus-Andrae-2/research 

Presentations (selection)

Andrä, M. (2026). School absenteeism. Attempts at explanation involving individuals, social contexts and structures. 70th Paediatric Continuing Professional Development Evening. Dresden.

Andrä, M., & Pittius, K. (2025). Empirical research in collaboration with local authorities. Annual Conference of the Network for Reconstructive Social Work. Nuremberg.

Andrä, M. (2024). Ideological diversity in child and youth welfare and its significance for social work practice and professional attitudes. Organisation Day of gKJHG Roter Baum mbH. Dresden.

Andrä, M. (2023). From Philosophical Abstractions to a Human Rights-Based Practice. IFSW European Conference. Prague.

Andrä, M., & Brody, D. (2023). Digging Deep into Narratives. Metaphor Analysis as a Qualitative Research Tool. University of Lancaster. Lancaster (UK). (online)

Affiliations

Markus Andrä is a member of the following professional associations and initiatives:

• Trade Union for Education and Science
• German Society for Social Work
• Board of Trustees of the Sonnenstein Memorial e. V.
• Laubegast ist bunt e. V. – Network for a cosmopolitan, tolerant and diverse neighbourhood