Project management: Prof. Dr. Heike Herrmann
Funded by: Fulda University of Applied Sciences
Duration: 2009-2010
Cooperation partner: Dr Christine Posner
Helmut Schmidt University, University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg

Project description:
At the latest since the Berlin speech of the Federal President Horst Köhler on 21 September 2006 entitled "Education for all!", it has become clear that an economically prosperous country like the Federal Republic of Germany has neglected the education sector. The results of the PISA studies in particular repeatedly show that Germany must rediscover the topic of "education" if it wants to continue the successes of the past. This means that it is not only a matter of developing individual opportunities. From the perspective of society as a whole, issues such as "educational equity" or the participation of all classes in education also play a central role: the acquisition of education, knowledge and information is the social issue of the 21st century.

Declining birth rates in recent years have meant that fewer and fewer young people have to help develop and carry the economic power of tomorrow. At the same time, the proportion of children from educationally deprived, socially disadvantaged families and/or from families with a migration background is growing, especially in the big cities. Their potential cannot be dispensed with in view of the future of the service and knowledge society. The German education system, and especially the school system, has so far succeeded too little in improving their demonstrably poor educational opportunities. As before, it is the social origin or social status (measured by the "Index of Economic, Social and Cultural Status" in the context of PISA) and the migration background of the family that enormously increase the risk of achieving only a low level of educational attainment or none at all. Especially in parts of the larger cities, the educational situation is becoming more and more problematic. Schools with the same resources city-wide meet different educational milieus, so that "educational success" is more difficult to achieve, possibly only by new means. A concentration of poverty and social disadvantage in certain areas of cities ("socio-spatial segregation") leads, according to a hypothesis to be tested in the project, to a concentration of educational poverty in certain areas of the city. In these areas in particular, it is important to break the cycle of a) social exclusion through poverty, b) poorer educational opportunities and the associated access problems to gainful employment c) the entrenchment of poverty in future generations.

The aim of the research project is to examine the relevance of socio-spatial aspects in the distribution of educational opportunities. In a preliminary study, secondary data will first be analysed and expert interviews conducted in the cities of Hamburg (introduction of "district schools" in 2009) and Kassel (tripartite school system supplemented by reform schools, etc.). Within the framework of the project, an initial description and typification of the educational spaces in these cities will be created. Exemplary school concepts will be analysed that can promote and achieve educational success taking into account specific educational spaces. The central question of the project, following on from the preliminary study, is: "How can educational success be achieved and improved among socially disadvantaged young people?" In a follow-up project, ways are to be identified that can break the cycle of social exclusion, poorer educational opportunities and, as a consequence, the entrenchment of poverty.

Publications:
In preparation