We all actually know that things are rarely black or white.
The gray tones make life interesting - and sometimes also complicated.
This can currently be seen pretty well in the school strategies of the countries in the corona crisis: There is one recipe with the perfect solution for everyone, where the best possible protection against infection, the need for education and social needs all equally benefit - this standard recipe exists Not.
Because depending on the situation and perspective, the experience of this school year differs considerably.
There are children with previous illnesses and / or disabilities who can only smile tiredly when the school is open: They are largely excluded from classroom teaching.
And a teacher also contacted us and only gave a shrug of the shoulders for the so-called school openings - at least at his school there was actually no closure (
"debate of the week"
).
Nevertheless, there are a number of teachers who are happy.
Some maybe on the announced vaccinations, which are supposed to start this week in some federal states.
Others are happy about mishaps in digital lessons and use the therapeutic power of laughter - and still others so unrestrainedly on the returning pupils that they have already recorded a song (
“That's going on”
).
We hope that, despite the circumstances, you were able to keep yourself in a good mood, at least at times.
If you would like to tell us about it or point out topics that we should take a closer look at, please send us an email.
Or join the discussion tonight at the Clubhouse: At 9:00 p.m. we will talk in »Tuesday, last hour« about whether this school year can still be saved - and whether it has to be saved at all.
The team from »Kleine Pause«
Silke Fokken, Kristin Haug, Armin Himmelrath
That's going on
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Martin Ruppenthal and Ulrich Munz in the satirical video on distance teaching
Photo:
The teachers Munz & Ruppenthal / YouTube
1. School fun
Do you know Ben Charles, the principal of England's second oldest school, King's School in Rochester?
His colleague Tom Morgan from the primary school management?
The daycare manager Catherine Openshaw?
And the school chaplain Father Padfield?
You should definitely get to know the quartet - because the four of them greet their students returning to class with a music video (and lots of enthusiasm).
With the take-that hit "Back for good".
You'll love it!
The whole story (and above all: the video!) Can be found here with the colleagues of the »FAZ«.
Now, of course, it is not the case that only British teachers in a good mood take action against the Corona frustration.
Martin Ruppenthal and Ulrich Munz also rely on the therapeutic power of laughter.
In the interview, they told us where they found the ideas for their video persifs in online lessons: »Ms. Schmelzle, you have to wake him up.
Your son has to sit here himself. "
2. School seriousness
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Elementary school classroom
Photo: Michael Taeger / imago images / Jan Huebner
Britta Ernst, Minister of Education in Brandenburg and current President of the KMK, currently does not have to pay any entertainment tax for her work.
Now she is pleading, also on behalf of the 15 colleagues from other countries, that all schoolchildren in Germany should see the inside of a classroom again in March.
Is that visionary?
Reckless?
Or unrealistic?
Should help, that is political consensus, comprehensive and, above all, regular rapid tests based on the Austrian model.
But there are critical voices that must be taken seriously and warn against overestimating the self-tests and rapid tests.
In the worst case, according to the critics, such tests only create a pseudo-certainty with serious consequences.
A look at the federal states shows how unclear the situation is at the moment.
Because rapid tests - at least the ones with the unpleasant throat swab - have been around for some time.
Nevertheless, the supply of teaching staff is not sparking as the federal states have hoped.
What is it
Several countries blame the lack of acceptance among teachers for this, further possible answers can be found here.
Or in the email that a special needs teacher from Nuremberg sent us.
She is annoyed that Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder claims that the rapid tests have not yet been well received by teachers.
“Thank you, Mr. Söder,” the mail says, “we will be offering these tests for the first time on March 8th and 9th.
How should I have noticed them before that? ”A legitimate question.
3. What else?
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Risk patient Ole:
"It tears our hearts apart"
Photo: Ina Preuß
The protagonist in the following story is five years old and doesn't go to school yet.
Nevertheless, we would like to invite you to get to know Ole.
He is a disabled boy.
And: lung disease.
In the corona crisis, his parents have to think about much, much more than they usually do.
And then Patrick, the father, becomes infected with the virus and family life is completely out of step.
My colleague Sandra Schulz wrote this story of fear and responsibility, of closeness and loneliness.
Yes, you may need a handkerchief, and yet it is also about a lot of love for life.
If you like: You can find the text here.
Good to know
"Experiences of racism were and are unfortunately part of our everyday life," says Hannes.
His aunt had already told him: "We have learned to live in the shade." Hannes belongs to the Sinti national minority and went to school in the 1970s and 1980s.
The frightening: His daughter Nele also reports very similar experiences in her third grade school today.
In a survey, around 600 Sinti and Roma described their experiences of discrimination in the education system - and the figures for higher education qualifications or participation in studies show that there seems to be a system problem here.
Debate of the week
Marek Hampel is a primary school teacher.
And maybe a little annoyed, at least from the public debate.
In any case, when he read our text "The Test Case in Schools", it prompted him to send us this letter to the editor as a contribution to the debate (you are reading a slightly abridged version).
I am a primary school teacher in Lower Saxony myself, and that also means that I have been teaching all of my classes with my colleagues since mid-May 2020, both in "Scenario B" with half a class and in "Scenario A", last autumn, with a full class - to that extent I always found all SPIEGEL articles very "funny" that reported "school closings and openings", because for us GS teachers in Lower Saxony there were no closings except for one week in January!
In addition, since March 2020 we have had over ten different scenarios at my school, each of which contained new provisions and rules that we had to learn ourselves and then convey to parents and children, about every two months on average - in addition to the actual core business of teaching. We got no masks (my boss bought at some point from her own school budget, which is not that high in elementary schools anyway), no tests, no air filters, but we were supposed to train ourselves in testing and help the health department with it. Sometimes soap and disinfectants are not enough in the district, and the WLAN structure is not sufficiently developed to enable reliable distance learning.
Our new curricula also require even more fields of learning and competencies, which we should convey as far as possible, of course in the same teaching time. However, there are still a number of clear decrees and ordinances missing for grades and specialist teaching. To forget something? Certainly. Oh yes, if our doctor's appointments (e.g. for tests) fall during class time, then it also has negative effects, that is, you have to be lucky with the test appointments in the local area.
Hm, perhaps this mélange of reasons may lead to some teachers being a little annoyed or not being able to take advantage of some »offers«. Incidentally, these only come after nine months! In spite of everything, however, I experience that we teachers still extremely enjoy going to school and look forward to working with the children!
That's it for this week.
The “Small Break” team thanks you for your interest - see you next time, stay healthy!
Ideas, suggestions, feedback?
We look forward to receiving mail to kleinepause@newsletter.spiegel.de.
Icon: The mirror