Integration through education
Germany is a country of immigration. More than every fourth person has a migration background. With the increasing diversity and heterogeneity of social coexistence, the demand to deal with this very diversity is also growing. This applies to society as a whole, but also to the education sector in particular.
Without the interaction and dialogue of a multitude of actors in their respective responsibility, integration through education cannot succeed. This is the starting point of the dialogue forum of the same name, which was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in 2020." As DLR-PT, we support the BMBF and the experts in this communication and networking process," explains Mandy Böttger, Head of the Department of Vocational Education and Training, Integration at DLR Projektträger: "Because education must be designed in such a way that it also offers children and young people with a migration background equal opportunities, regardless of their social or ethnic background and other characteristics."
In concrete terms, the aim is to design educational processes in such a way that they also offer equal education opportunities to children and young people with a migration background, regardless of their social or ethnic background or other characteristics.
DLR Projektträger as an important partner right from the start
"As a society, we benefit when each and every individual can develop and contribute their talents and skills in the best possible way," says Böttger. However, in order to increase the educational opportunities of people with a history of migration, more interdisciplinary and practice-orientated research is needed. The ESF Plus programme "Integration through Education" (IntBi) therefore funds "research-practice tandems" that provide findings for a diversity-sensitive education system and also make them effective for special target groups such as girls and women with a history of migration.
DLR-PT worked closely with the BMBF to shape the content of the announcement. To this end, discussions were held with experts to ensure that the perspectives from science and practice were appropriately taken into account in the funding programme. The high response to the programme has shown that the funding announcement has received broad attention in the specialist community and has taken up the needs.
Experts from DLR-PT support all phases of the new funding programme: they advise applicants on the final project idea and the technical application modalities, encourage professional exchange between the projects and network the offers within the framework of programme events. They also bring together successful project approaches and promote the transfer of knowledge in order to initiate further professional developments and innovations in the area of "Integration through Education".
DLR-PT expertise in the thematic area of integration
Collapses
How pedagogical action in the classroom can be successfully designed with an increasingly heterogeneous student body and how both individual and collective learning can be supported is the central question of the new funding guideline Dealing with diversity, which the experts from the DLR Projektträger are supervising for the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the empirical educational research framework programme. The programme aims to fund research projects that investigate teaching concepts for diversity-sensitive and effective learning in the classroom. The concepts should take into account the individual learning requirements and needs of all pupils, focussing on both subject-specific and interdisciplinary learning development.
The funding guideline Language Education in the Immigration Society, which the DLR Projektträger is supporting as part of the empirical educational research framework programme on behalf of the BMBF, aims to make a contribution to securing and improving language education for people living in Germany. This involves developing instruments to support learners and researching their effects. Based on the resources and prerequisites of the learners, integrated language education should help each and every individual to realise their individual potential. The interfaces between the educational institutions, the subsystems of the education system and the transitions between the educational stages are particularly important.
The DLR-PT experts supervised the funding priority "Promotion of social competence in dual training, especially for the integration of refugees" for the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi, which today is the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection). Among other things, the innovative model projects have developed practical and creative concepts and products, such as integration tandems, online learning platforms and smartphone apps. In addition, application-related guides, training documents and method collections have been produced. In addition to providing administrative support for the model projects within the framework of funding management, DLR-PT has supported and organised professional exchange and dialogue between the project participants at specialist conferences, networking events and webinars. It has also compiled the results in a programme monitoring and, as part of the transfer of results, produced a brochure (German Version) that presents the products of the model projects to the public.
On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), DLR-PT supported the funding guideline for the municipal coordination of educational opportunities for new immigrants, which promotes the integration of refugees. Education is a prerequisite for participation in society. The municipalities play a decisive role in the integration of immigrants. In 2021, the final brochure (German Version) on the funding programme, "Education networked. Integration strengthened", was published in 2021.
