VDOE education network meeting held successfully

The event was moderated by Prof. Dr. Christine Küster, Professor of Socioecology of the Private Household at Fulda University of Applied Sciences, and Irmtrud Wagner from the VDOE and Gabriele Börries from Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences.

Great interest in the network meeting on education
The event met with great interest among the participants. In the spirit of exchange and networking, almost 30 participants from science and practice took part in the network meeting.

Needs and opportunities in nutrition and home economics education for people with reading and writing difficulties

"Where do I sign?" At the network meeting on education, the participants were able to get an impression of what it can mean in everyday life and beyond to have difficulties in reading and writing. The speaker, Prof. Dr. Birgit Peuker, Professor of Nutrition and Home Economics/ Vocational Didactics at the European University of Flensburg, focused on people with functional illiteracy based on central studies. This often remains undetected due to various coping and concealment strategies. "Indications of difficulties with reading and writing", said Prof. Dr. Peuker, "can be frequent forgetting of glasses, memorising whole passages as well as bandages on the hand". Together with the participants, experiences and needs from everyday work were looked at. "How can counselling be designed effectively here?" asked one of the participants in the context of nutrition counselling. The open and sensitive personal approach to people can help to create a basis and find individual solution strategies. In conclusion, Prof. Peuker gave the audience various tips on how to deal with those affected. "Nutrition and home economics education can be a key factor in supporting those affected," Prof. Dr. Peuker highlights.

Limits and opportunities of digital teaching - a snapshot from the vocational education sector

In her presentation, Dipl. oec. troph. Isa Dossenbach (Studienrätin) and Torsten Bosse (Studiendirektor) from the vocational schools Ritterplan in Göttingen described how digital teaching was designed in the COVID 19 pandemic and how it was received by the trainees. What challenges and potentials were associated with digital teaching? "It had to be switched to online teaching quite quickly because of the pandemic," says Torsten Bosse. This was associated with some challenges for the trainees, such as insufficient technical requirements or logistical difficulties within family circumstances. However, the teachers also received positive feedback: "Then I can sit directly at the PC in my pyjamas" or "We think it's good to have well-structured online lessons twice a day with few breakdowns". What was lacking was the social interaction in the class group and the direct supportive contact with the teachers. "The aspect of the seriousness of the sources of learning materials was particularly emphasised," Isa Dossenbach described. "The trainees also wanted to be able to use the learning materials selected by teachers in online lessons, so that they could be sure that they were serious. Following the lecture, the focus was on the advantages and disadvantages of hybrid events - i.e. the mixture of online and face-to-face teaching - for everyday education. It was stated that these usually represent an enormous challenge for teaching staff and are therefore rather unsuitable, especially for interactive events.

Future online and face-to-face events of the Education Network

After the presentations, the organisers focussed on various possibilities for organising further events of the Education Network. When the participants were asked to what extent network meetings should be organised in the future, it became clear that both online and face-to-face formats are desired. While the independence of the location as well as the low-threshold possibility of "getting a taste" spoke in favour of online events, the individual exchange and networking at a meeting in presence could not be replaced. In the future, both formats will be served within the framework of the network meetings.