SPIEGEL education newsletter: Without masks, without parents?

The corona numbers are going down, the temperatures are going up, and the school year is coming to an end.

Do the students have to wear mouth and nose protection in class even on the last days before the holidays, or can they finally hide the masks in their backpacks?

Some federal states have already banned the masks from the classrooms, but the German Teachers' Association seems to be really annoyed

("That's going on")

.

Meanwhile, parents are upset about the awarding of grades: Can teachers at all rate fairly if they cannot be sure whether the students did their homework with or without help?

A lawyer from Hamburg is already expecting a wave of lawsuits

("debate of the week")

.

How good is it anyway when parents help their children with homework?

Scientists at the Technical University of Munich answered these questions

(“Good to know”)

.

Have fun with the newsletter, I hope you can read it on the balcony or in the garden.

Get through the time well.

And if you would like to point out topics that we should take a closer look at, please send us an email.

Feedback & suggestions?

The team from »Kleine Pause«

Silke Fokken, Kristin Haug, Armin Himmelrath, Miriam Olbrisch

That's going on

1. Without masks?

Because of the sharp drop in corona numbers, there is increasing discussion in Germany about the mask requirement, especially in schools.

Katja Suding, the deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, now considers the duty in the classrooms to be disproportionate: “If air filters and tests are used consistently and across the board in schools, we schoolchildren can no longer wear masks for hours - especially when the temperature rises to expect. "

The President of the German Teachers' Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, spoke out against lifting the mask requirement.

Half of all teachers have not yet been fully vaccinated, according to Meidinger, and the risk of a fourth wave cannot be completely ruled out for Germany because of the delta variant of the virus, which was initially discovered in India.

Some federal states had already decided last week to lift the mask requirement in class, such as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony.

2. Without Marlis

Marlis Tepe once told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that refugees could also work as teachers.

She wasn't prepared for what came next.

She received emails with rape threats and requests to hang herself.

"It took me some time to come to terms with that," she said in an interview with SPIEGEL.

For many years she led the Education and Science Union.

Now she has resigned and takes stock of the major mistakes in education policy: "It can't be that it depends on where a child lives, how good the education and care options are." You can read the entire interview here.

3. Without custodians

For future schoolchildren, the legal right to care for eight hours a day is getting closer.

According to the Bundestag, children who start school from 2026 should be able to be cared for for that long - even during the summer holidays.

"This is an important signal to the children and families in our country, who have been exposed to great stress in the last few months," said Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) after the decision.

Now the Federal Council has to agree.

Nothing is said about the quality of the care - but that too has to be taken into account, as the Federal Managing Director of the Children's Fund, Holger Hofmann, demands - so that all-day care does not end in "mediocre custodial institutions".

What else?

Children differ significantly in their abilities just a few months after birth. From year to year the gap between origins tends to widen - until the children start school. This is the finding of the sociologist Jan Skopek in his essay "Socioeconomic Inequality in Children's Achievement from Infancy to Adolescence: The Case of Germany", about which the "Zeit" reports. The home advantage of a child from a privileged family therefore has its greatest impact in the first six years before school. "If you want to do something about educational inequality, you have to take action during this time," says Skopek. "Children whose parents regularly challenge them to dice games or number puzzles have, on average, better math grades at school," as researchers from Würzburg found out, as the newspaper "Die Zeit" continued.

Good to know

How helpful is it when parents study with their children for school?

A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich has carried out an extensive meta-study on this question - with astonishing findings.

Accordingly, learning together does not necessarily lead to better performance, but has a positive effect on motivation.

The experts even advise against regular checking of homework by parents.

On the other hand, it is helpful if parents create a pleasant learning environment - and if they get involved in their children's school, for example in the parents' council.

Debate of the week

How fair can certificate grades be at the end of this corona school year - and how legally secure?

The Hamburg lawyer Alexander Münch provides the answers.

SPIEGEL:

Mr. Münch, many students were unable to go to school for many weeks because of the pandemic.

How are teachers supposed to grade fairly?

Münch:

I don't want to be in their skin.

It will be difficult to give grades that reflect the actual performance level of the students.

SPIEGEL:

What do you mean by that?

Münch:

In Hamburg, where I work, the number of class tests has been reduced in many grades.

Instead, assignments that children and adolescents have completed at home are included in the grading.

It is not at all possible to say for sure whether the students performed the work independently and independently.

I think that's problematic.

SPIEGEL:

Because deception is possible?

Münch:

Also.

I also see the principle of equal opportunities being violated.

The learning environments at home are very different.

In addition, children and young people were allowed to write additional exams voluntarily.

The assessment bases are therefore very different from student to student.

SPIEGEL:

Do you expect parents to take legal action against their children's grades?

Münch:

Yes.

I can well imagine that - especially in grades six and ten, when it comes to staying at grammar school or transitioning to upper school.

How do you look at the awarding of certificate grades after this special school year?

Please

tell us about your experiences and write to

bildung@spiegel.de.

News from SPIEGEL Ed

"Faster than the algorithm ..."

On June 18, the two SPIEGEL Ed Fellows Naz Al-Windi and Fanus Ghorjani will be offering their newly developed workshop “Faster than the Algorithm…” on the nationwide Digital Day from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The workshop is aimed at schoolchildren from the age of 13 and interested teachers who want to learn how algorithms work and what effects they have on our democracy.

You can find more information about the offer and about Digital Day here

You can register by sending an email to info@understanding-europe.org.

Teaching units for the 2021 federal election

In the Republic of 21, SPIEGEL will be discussing important issues from politics and society until the federal election.

At SPIEGEL Ed, teachers can find teaching units for the middle and upper grades on selected questions in the months up to and including the election.

They can be downloaded for free here.

The good news at the end ...

... is a YouTube clip with Ed Sheeran.

The now 30-year-old Brit can be seen playing the role of Roger in a school performance of the musical "Grease" at the age of 15.

Those who want to see more can now get hold of a DVD with the almost two-hour recording.

The auction of the London auction house Omega Auctions is scheduled for June 29th.

That's it for this time.

The “Little Break” team is going into the summer vacation and will be back in August.

Ideas, suggestions, feedback? We look forward to

receiving

mail to 

kleinepause@newsletter.spiegel.de

.