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SPIEGEL education newsletter: Paschas, staff shortages and the lone wolf problem

2023-01-24T09:50:44.141Z


Some federal states do a lot to snatch teachers away from others. Where is the group work? Also: how a statement by Friedrich Merz resonates to this day.


the good news first: the federal government donates money for education.

Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) has announced the amount that should flow into the start-up opportunities program: one billion euros per year.

At the same time, she expects, said Stark-Watzinger, "that the federal states participate financially in the same way."

The money is to be used nationwide to support 4,000 schools in a difficult social situation.

This is of course positive in itself, but at the same time the example shows in a sobering way how tough processes in German education policy are - and that apparently nobody is planning the really big hit.

The traffic light coalition had already promised the Start Chances program in 2021 in the coalition agreement as a central building block for a "decade of educational opportunities".

Then a lot of patience was required until the federal and state governments were able to agree on the financing.

(My colleague Miriam Olbrisch and I reported.) Now the money should only flow in the 2024/25 school year.

In addition, only about every tenth school nationwide benefits.

Even more »education billions«?

FDP leader Christian Lindner brought the word "education billion" into play at the epiphany meeting of the liberals two weeks ago.

The country must do more for education and research, he said.

Did Lindner already mean the billion for the start chance program?

In view of the refurbishment backlog of more than 45 billion euros at schools alone,

an

education billion per year does not seem particularly lavish, shall we say.

There are also problems that can no longer be solved with money alone: ​​These include the acute shortage of staff in schools.

This week, a group of experts wants to explain how politics should deal with it.

Meanwhile, Bavaria and Brandenburg are doing their own thing.

("That's going on")

How do you experience the teacher shortage in your area?

Please write to us at bildung@spiegel.de.

We are interested in your experiences.

The school barometer provided some insights into how well (or rather badly) many schools are prepared to deal with newly arrived children.

This sets new accents in the unfortunate controversy about children from migrant families, which CDU leader Friedrich Merz had initiated.

(»Debate of the week«)

I wish you a stimulating reading.

Sincerely, Silke Fokken

for the SPIEGEL education team

That's going on

1. Where is the group work?

The Standing Scientific Commission (SWK), which works on behalf of the Conference of Ministers of Education, wants to present on January 27 how the shortage of teachers can be got under control.

I don't have a crystal ball, but I could bet that the recommendations aren't aimed at practicing going it alone and chasing teachers away from each other – as has been the practice so far.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CDU) has just announced that he wants to hire 6,000 new teachers.

The work at schools in the Free State should be advertised "everywhere," he emphasized.

Teachers are sometimes paid significantly better than in other federal states.

At the same time, Brandenburg's Minister of Education, Britta Ernst (SPD), is causing a sensation because she wants to massively lower the entry barriers for teaching.

According to my colleague Armin Himmelrath, the new teachers should then be called at school, depending on their qualifications, education councilor or education office woman. 

Obviously, Ernst did not want to wait for the SWK recommendations and any joint KMK resolutions.

The "Tagesspiegel" complained: Potsdam doesn't give a damn about the approval of the other countries.

The "taz" demands that the countries have to get together for "federalist group work".

For the time being, Baden-Württemberg reacted angrily to the advance from Bavaria.

"So far, there has been consensus in the Conference of Ministers of Education that we have fair competition and that we don't steal teachers from each other," said Minister of Education Theresa Schopper (Greens) of the "Südwest Presse".

She received support from the Education and Training Association (VBE).

"It's like soccer!

Bavaria buys the best players and now also the teachers from the other federal states.«

With the Stralsund declaration of 2009, the federal states had actually agreed to refrain from offensively poaching teachers.

Not everyone adheres to it.

2. Are more and more children really "mentally impaired"?

Within two decades, the proportion of children with a special focus on mental development has increased from 0.7 percent to 1.4 percent in 2022.

My colleagues Susmita Arp and Miriam Olbrisch investigated how this can happen.

Experts therefore have doubts about some diagnoses.

The consequences for the children can be dramatic, as the colleagues point out.

For the impressive text, please go this way.

3. Does the SPD count the Minister of Finance?

The latest edition of the German School Barometer shows: There can be no question of a period of fine weather for schools (to stick with the barometer image).

According to the school administrators surveyed, more than a third of the pupils have “significant learning deficits”.

At schools in a socially difficult situation, this value is estimated to be almost twice as high.

Here in particular, catch-up programs would have achieved little.

The declared political goal of helping children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in particular with the programs was obviously missed.

See here for details.

The survey ultimately provided little new knowledge, but led to great outrage, including among SPD leader Saskia Esken.

The results are "no longer an alarm signal, but a sign that things are burning, especially in schools with disadvantaged students!" Esken told SPIEGEL.

According to Esken, this is a "blatant injustice" that robs children of their future and threatens cohesion in the country as well as the sustainable development of the economy.

"We must invest more and more specifically than before in equal educational opportunities," demands the SPD leader.

Is that an appeal to Finance Minister Lindner?

And anything else?

Tired of school frustration?

A headmaster in the Black Forest has thrown the structures that bothered him over the heap.

The »FAZ« describes how the »school miracle of Wutöschingen« came about.

There is now "probably the most innovative school in Germany".

There are no classes, no classrooms and no more 45-minute lessons.

debate of the week

Pashas, ​​racism and white education panic

The year 2023 had barely begun when, after the New Year's Eve riots, CDU leader Friedrich Merz ranted in a "Lanz" program about "little pashas" in elementary schools and special problems with children and young people from migrant families, "especially from the Arab world «, assumed.

Shortly thereafter, my colleague Sara Sievert aptly summarized what to make of it in a comment:

»Is the CDU chairman here accusing children of not being able to integrate as soon as they have an Arab background?

Whether intentionally or simply worded carelessly: This statement is generalizing and serves racist prejudices,« wrote Sara Sievert under the title »Selber Pascha«.

Merz is again fishing for votes with ambiguous statements about migrants on the right-hand side.

Nevertheless, the topic was set, and so in the wake of the statements, a sometimes highly questionable debate on integration and schools unfolded, which reverberates to this day.

Teachers' Association President Heinz-Peter Meidinger proposed a migration quota for school classes.

CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja demanded in the "Welt" that it was not possible "that languages ​​other than German were spoken in the schoolyard".

Gerhard Brand, chairman of the Education and Training Association (VBE), countered with the results of the school barometer.

According to this, more than half of the schools cannot guarantee adequate support in German for new immigrants: "Just as populist is the demand for compulsory German, one would have to ask why no right to learn German is implemented," says Brand.

The racism researcher Karim Fereidooni used the debate as an opportunity to criticize the lack of equal opportunities in the German school system, which also affects many children from immigrant families.

In schools, "migration background has become a diagnosis," Fereidoni criticized in an interview in "Zeit" that is well worth reading.

The white middle class's racist-tinged fears about education didn't make it any better, the researcher explains - and also calculates with the proposal for migration quotas.

On my own account

We call for the hands-on competition "Save diversity!": The children's news magazine "Dein SPIEGEL" and the drugstore chain Rossmann are looking for the best poster ideas for species protection.

We are looking for a poster that people simply cannot ignore: with a great picture and an understandable, haunting slogan that calls for the protection of the diversity of living beings.

Children and young people in the age groups 8 – 11 years and 12 – 16 years can take part.

The closing date for entries is April 30, 2023. All information about the competition and the entry form can be found here: www.deinspiegel.de/competition 

With that we say goodbye until the next newsletter.

Feel free to send us suggestions, ideas and feedback to bildung@spiegel.de - the »Kleine Pause« team thanks you for your interest!

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2023-01-24

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