Digital lessons do not offer all children the same educational opportunities (symbol picture). (Stefan Puchner / dpa)
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The education union GEW carried out two member surveys in Lower Saxony in spring and summer, one after the start of the lockdown and the second during the restricted regular operations. In it, the school employees confirmed a perception that was also expressed in Lilienthal and Worpswede in the context of youth work and homework help: Corona had once again had a disadvantageous effect, in particular on already disadvantaged school groups, according to the Lower Saxony GEW spokesman Christian Hoffmann.
The pandemic intensifies what was there before, or as trade unionist Hoffmann says: “The failures of the past are falling on our feet.” The union has long been calling for an education investment offensive. And technology alone is not enough. “Nothing is achieved at all just by purchasing digital devices. That benefits the manufacturers ”, says Hoffmann and criticizes the lack of staff, equipment and space. Regardless of Corona, the GEW has long spoken out against staying seated and schooling.
No German for months
The GEW tries to keep an eye on the pupils who slip through the structures of the school system and to give them a voice. Christa Kolster-Bechmann has also been doing this for years. The chairwoman of the Lilienthal community foundation launched extracurricular learning support twelve years ago, a mixture of tutoring and support for around 70 children per year. The offer is aimed at children and young people from the first day of school through to their training “from families whose parents – for whatever reason – cannot support their children”.
Christa Kolster-Bechmann (Carmen Jaspersen)
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Through weeks of homeschooling, Kolster-Bechmann sees children with a migration background as “doubly disadvantaged”. It is possible that no German was spoken for months, and from reading or doing the multiplication tables, the homework helpers noticed that they had not practiced. As a psychologist, Kolster-Bechmann points out: “The learning process only works if you practice daily.” With breaks, and then counts the summer holidays following lockdown and restricted regular operations, what was previously learned also falls away.
“The children who come here did not take part in Internet learning,” says Christa Kolster-Bechmann. Teachers would have brought their homework to their front door, but the children couldn’t do it. In their workbooks, she saw many pages that were not filled out. “That doesn’t mean they didn’t want to, but they couldn’t,” says the chairwoman of the community foundation.
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The pandemic has also changed the community foundation’s homework help process. Many helpers belong to the so-called risk group. Only a part is currently active, and Kolster-Bechmann is hoping for new comrades-in-arms (phone 04298/46 77 01), because it would be nice if the community foundation could support even more children individually. Her goal: “We’re trying to catch up a lot.” But you can’t catch everything that was previously missed, says Kolster-Bechmann, underscoring this with a shake of the head. She says: “Children who are stronger in their performance will put it away. Sure, they could be better, but they will continue to do well in school. ”But a primary school pupil who reads hesitantly also has problems reading work instructions. The scissors in education already existed without Corona, now they have become even bigger.
Viola Burgy (Tom Wesse)
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The head of Lilienthal’s youth work, Viola Bürgy, has a similar view: “Under the magnifying glass of Corona there are educational winners and educational losers.” Some could use the new opportunities even better. But the children who do not have a laptop at home for school work and no domestic opportunities to study in peace or to pursue a hobby and on top of that are not supported by their parents in these activities, “they continue to be beaten”.
Help only at a distance
The youth work also takes place under pandemic conditions, says Bürgy: “We can’t absorb a lot.” And the head of the Worpswede youth center barn, Andreas Griebe, also made this experience from Lilienthal: “During the period of closure, the young people had problems, including at school. “Help with homework was only possible“ with a large margin ”. He fears: “Many will remain seated, that is becoming apparent.”
At the IGS Lilienthal, due to the type of school, the first transfer does not take place until after the 10th grade. Before that you move up automatically, repetitions of a grade are only voluntary, according to headmistress Karina Kögel-Renken. In their estimation, in the weeks of the lockdown in the spring “there was not as much backlog as one would think”. And if so, then they are not impossible to catch up. However, she also knows: “The children who receive a lot of support at home are supported at all times, while others are not.” For example, she found with some students that they found it difficult to learn after three months of absence from school. The IGS sees itself as a type of school that wants to ensure educational equality, but the means are lacking to absorb everything.
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In the Lilienthal grammar school there is the possibility of making up for deficits in homework supervision as part of the all-day school, according to school principal Denis Ugurcu. In addition, teachers have the deficits – for whatever reason they arise – in view. Nevertheless, Corona is a challenge for schools to bring the children back to the same level. For example, he received feedback from the languages department that readjustments had to be made there. But this is general and does not apply only to children from disadvantaged families.
“Sitting down is no longer a word in elementary school,” says Kerstin Kinner, director of the Am Borgfelder Saatland elementary school. Regardless of this, nothing is noticeable negatively on the children’s performance level. The school had worked with weekly plans in lockdown and these had been processed by the children. It was easy to build on that in the classes after the holidays.
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