how big should the influence of parents be on the work in schools?
The question is a bit tricky, after all it all depends on whose perspective you take.
The State Parents' Advisory Council (LEB) in Baden-Württemberg, for example, would like more co-determination: Parents hardly play a role in school politics, the dominant opinion makers are the teachers' associations.
"As a parent, you are not heard to the extent that would be appropriate for a customer," said LEB chairman Michael Mittelstaedt of the "Schwäbische Zeitung": "Even someone who has little money, maybe doesn't speak German or is simply unsympathetic must be able to leave his child at school and be sure that it will be supported in the same way as the academic child.«
A right of veto for parents?
And then Mittelstaedt followed up in the "Südwest-Presse": Parents should have a "right of veto" in fundamental questions of educational policy, so as not to be "just a decorative accessory" that "is allowed to participate in completely irrelevant questions by being heard will".
Now, with Winfried Kretschmann, Baden-Württemberg has a former teacher as state father who didn't say anything - and he promptly retorted: "We don't need any more formalized co-determination of the parents' associations beyond what we already have," said the Greens politician of the German Press Agency: It certainly doesn't make sense for the parents, who are already overly committed anyway and accompany their children to the classroom, to be even more present - and the others who should actually come are still there didn't come to parents' evening.
According to Kretschmann, nothing has been achieved with this.
Incidentally, the parents should take a good look at their own noses: "There is sometimes a lack of cooperation."
On the "News4Teachers" web portal, a teacher at a secondary school turned the tables: "Responsibility must finally be handed over to parents again," she demands: "Parents have rights and that's good and right, but also duties.
Well-intentioned is not well-done.« Which, in turn, provoked reactions from parents who, after all, see the school as responsible.
Teachers at the limit?
Which leads us to the question: How do you perceive the role of parents in schools?
Do fathers and mothers interfere too much?
Or do you have to hold them much more accountable?
Please write to us at bildung@spiegel.de, we look forward to the debate.
Also in the "little break" this week: the integration of refugee children and young people from the Ukraine.
It plays a role in a nationwide survey of school administrations as well as in our interview with the new KMK President ("That's going on").
And then there is a young teacher from the Rhineland who is amazed at how little education policy is preparing for what he considers a huge problem: the cancellation of an entire Abitur class in the federal states that have returned from G8 to G9 ( »Debate of the week«).
I wish you a stimulating reading!
Armin Himmelrath
for the SPIEGEL education team
That's going on
1. Do we still need the KMK?
The education, school and culture ministers and senators of the federal states meet four times a year (more often if necessary) for the joint conference of ministers of culture, the KMK.
And what comes out of it?
Far too little when it comes to Franziska Brandmann.
"The confusion of responsibilities in education policy is the root of the problem," says the federal chair of the Young Liberals in SPIEGEL: "The numerous actors and levels pass the buck to each other, federal, state and local authorities."
Brandmann draws a provocative conclusion from this: »The KMK has not fulfilled its tasks in recent years.
Who else is responsible for the fact that fewer and fewer fourth graders meet the minimum standards?
If it doesn't have any suggestions as to how the trend can be reversed, what's the point of the KMK?' The ministers would have to admit to themselves 'that they don't have any answers to central questions'.
Naturally, the new president of the institution being scolded, Berlin school senator Astrid-Sabine Busse (SPD), sees things differently.
In the SPIEGEL interview, she conjures up “a new strength” for the KMK: “The distress of the pandemic has welded us together as ministers.” The fact that the troops are often perceived in public as a disunited bunch is completely unfounded: “At our last meeting At the beginning of December, I perceived a great deal of unity.
Almost everything went unanimously, characterized by compromises and consensus.«
Is it all just a question of perception?
In any case, buses in Berlin do not want to artificially increase protests by teachers against poor working conditions and overwork: “If you look at who is listing and demonstrating the troubles, it is a clear minority.” Of course, the job is “incredibly demanding and exhausting.
You have to be resilient, I don't want to downplay that at all.
But it is also a beautiful, meaningful job.«
Let's leave it at that.
2. Teachers at the limit
The keyword "overload" was mentioned when looking at the teachers, and figures from a survey of school administrations at grammar schools provide an indication that it could very well be serious.
They urgently demand more support for the integration of refugee children and young people from Ukraine.
After all, the teachers simply can't do it anymore.
According to the survey, other resources are also lacking.
Example: digitization.
A good three years after the start of the digital pact, the high schools surveyed are disappointed with the implementation - even though this type of school is still relatively well equipped with technology.
3. Teacher shortage?
no longer an issue...
… that would be good news for the new year.
However, the reality is very different.
Thuringia's Minister of Education, Helmut Holter (left) and the former SPD State Secretary for Education in Berlin, Mark Rackles, have therefore put together a few new ideas for dealing with the problem: dispensing with compulsory university degrees for teachers, the teaching profession as a dual studies and even a lowering of the technical requirements.
Pretty strong tobacco?
You can find more here.
And there is something that fits in with this that is rather rare: a state student council gives praise to the Minister of Education.
In Lower Saxony it came about after Julia Willie Hamburg (Greens) said: "For at least ten years we will go through a bottom where we will not have enough teachers." Reaction of the students: "Finally a prognosis that is honest .«
Also fitting: the look of colleague Paul Munzinger in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" on the figures relating to the shortage of teachers in Germany.
And he starts with a striking example of how politics calculates the supply of teachers: “In 2021, purely mathematically speaking, 115 percent of the completed trainee teachers were able to look forward to a position, according to the overview of the Conference of Ministers of Education.
In 2019 it was even 125 percent.
It's a bit like a baker who puts 100 pieces of dough into the oven and pulls out 125 finished loaves of bread.
Can that be done properly?' Worth reading.
4. What else?
When it comes to school grades, the question of meaning is asked again and again.
Now a state minister, Helmut Holter, has done the same thing – rather flippantly, rather incidentally when asked by an MDR reporter.
Physical education without grades, is that conceivable?
Yes, the left-wing politician was quoted as saying, from his personal point of view, the pressure to perform should take a back seat when it comes to getting children moving.
In this respect, he supports a debate on the question of grades.
You can read about the debate that sparked here.
debate of the week
Bye G8, welcome G9 - bye teachers!
Christopher Kohl (29) works at a high school in Neuss.
He completed his legal clerkship in German and history in Cologne-Buchheim in 2021 - and is very surprised at the educational policy nonchalance with which, for example, the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia is handling the return from G8 to G9 in high schools.
Here is his guest comment:
»The first G9 class is rolling towards the upper school in North Rhine-Westphalia. NRW wants to use this to solve staffing problems at other types of schools by shifting teachers from secondary schools to others.
Don't know how to do this? Are you surprised because no fewer children will attend these schools? You don't know the country's job planners very well! Here's a quick rundown of what's currently going on and what's coming up.
The country's problems:
Germany is plagued by a shortage of teachers.
North Rhine-Westphalia too.
The shortage of teachers basically affects elementary schools and vocational colleges.
In all types of school there is a lack of people who can teach natural sciences.
In some subjects (German, humanities) there is an oversupply of upper secondary teachers.
The initial situation:
In the summer of 2023, the first G9 cohort will be in the 10th grade, not in the upper grades.
Between 2023 and 2026 there will only be two senior year classes per school, not the usual three.
This is called the »white vintage«.
This puts schools at a disadvantage when it comes to staffing.
The teacher-pupil ratio has a more positive effect on the position plan in the upper secondary level than in the lower and middle levels (Sek I).
Although no fewer children will be attending school from the summer, the volume of job plans will decrease.
From the summer of 2023, many schools will have too many teachers in the position plan, purely in terms of numbers.
You are "overhanging".
From 2026 there will be significantly more permanent positions, because there will be three upper school years again.
The country's proposed solutions:
The teachers from upper secondary schools who work in seemingly overstaffed secondary schools are seconded to understaffed schools (mostly elementary schools and vocational colleges).
The radius of the possible deployment site around the place of residence will be extended from 35 kilometers to 50 kilometers.
Salaries for all civil servant teachers are to be raised to A13 level by 2026.
The problems of secondary schools:
The position plan is reduced, the need remains de facto the same.
Schools decide who is seconded to other schools "from the backlog."
Example: If I've just started at a high school in Cologne, I can be seconded to a primary school within a 50 km radius from summer 2023 to 2026 - without being able to do anything about it.
In 2026, the position plans will increase, but it is unclear whether all MEPs will then return - which will lead to a huge shortage of staff by 2026 at the latest, because...
... the number of student teachers and trainee teachers is falling everywhere.
Even worse: Those who are currently being trained for a foreign language such as Spanish must hope to be able to support themselves with temporary substitute positions by 2026. Because nobody needs the subject at elementary schools and vocational colleges.
The assertion that NRW would »deliberately combat the shortage of teachers« is therefore misleading. Because the state government is shifting teachers at short notice. It does not solve the basic problem (shortage of staff). To do this, she would have to increase the attractiveness of the profession (insider tips: reduce weekly hours and workload, reduce administrative tasks, hire administrative staff).
New hires are excluded until 2026. Meanwhile, the students, parents, schools and teachers are left staring – again.«
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New at SPIEGEL ed: revised version of the course »Good News!«
The course, which was updated in the school year 2022/2023, contains three new in-depth workshops that deal with the pressing issues of our time on media consumption, representation and discrimination against minorities:
1. »Everything fake?
How do I recognize serious news?”,
2. “Me, Myself and AI – algorithms in the media”,
3. “Discriminatory language in the media – ›Mirror, mirror on the wall, what’s going on in media country?‹«
In terms of anti-racism and diversity-oriented educational approaches, the course format was revised to be target group-oriented and low-threshold.
The course can take place on site or digitally via Zoom.
All information about the free courses can be found here.
With that we say goodbye until the next newsletter.
If you have a topic that we should take a closer look at, then please write to us at bildung@spiegel.de - the "Kleine Pause" team thanks you for your interest!