The handbook serves as an introduction to educational science and its study. It provides insights into the foundations, dimensions, and fields of work in pedagogy, which are addressed against the backdrop of their societal conditions and frameworks. This introduction is critical in that it is based on a concept of pedagogy oriented towards fostering autonomy: education and learning must not be limited to their function of societal reproduction but should aim to enable reflective distancing from the given circumstances. In this sense, the handbook also offers a critical analysis of the prevailing tendencies towards the economic functionalization of pedagogy in theory and practice.