‘We need a vision of how school education in Germany should develop’
Interview with Philipp Schulz vom Forum Bildung Digitalisierung
The German federal and state governments recently agreed on the Digital Pact 2025, which will provide five billion euros over several years for digitalisation in German schools. The new budget still has to be approved before the money actually flows, but the pact offers hope. However, technical equipment alone is not enough - there needs to be a fundamental recognition of the potential of using digital media in school education, appropriate training for teachers and support for the transformation of learning content.
We spoke to Philipp Schulz from Forum Bildung Digitalisierung, who will be presenting the Navigator Bildung Digitalsierung (Navigator Education Digitalisation) at LEARNTEC xChange on 30 January.
Digital education in Germany - a topic supported by the Digital Pact for Schools and its updates. Aside from the digital infrastructure, what frameworks are needed to turn digital equipment into a digital transformation?
A sustainable digital transformation in schools requires much more than just a functioning technical infrastructure. On the one hand, it is important that the potential of digital media is recognised and that its use to promote learning is also reflected in qualifications at all stages of teacher training. We in the Forum Bildung Digitalisierung are also concerned with the question of digital-friendly governance and, in particular, cooperation between stakeholders such as school supervisory authorities, school boards and school management. A cross-actor and cross-system exchange is particularly important to ensure that the digital transformation actually succeeds. Equally, and this is particularly important to me, the perspective of pupils should be included in all school transformation processes without exception so that we do not develop schools without taking into account the needs and visions of young people.
What opportunities are currently available for teachers - especially in the areas of exchange, qualification and concept creation?
The state institutes and quality institutions of the federal states offer a wide range of good courses for teachers and we are also seeing progress in the first and second phases of teacher training with regard to digitalisation-related content. A whole range of materials and training courses for school and lesson development in the culture of digitality are also currently being developed in the lernen:digital competence network, in whose transfer centre we participate as a forum. The transfer centre makes the results visible to teachers, promotes co-constructive further development with practitioners and supports the nationwide transfer to teacher training. It is definitely worth taking a look at the current events. We also offer low-threshold exchange formats such as regular community calls, which are intended to strengthen a nationwide, professional learning community.
As part of LEARNTEC xChange, you are presenting the Navigator Education Digitalisation, which has analysed the current status of digital transformation in school education from various perspectives and developed indicators. How can this roadmap advance school education?
I hope that we can use the Navigator Education Digitalisation (Navigator BD) to provide more guidance on where we currently stand with regard to the digital transformation in the school education sector in Germany. The results of the studies we have reviewed show that there is still a lot to be done. Above all, we need an overarching vision of how school education in Germany should develop that is jointly supported by all stakeholders. The Navigator BD shows which future-relevant topics, such as creativity, participation or resilience, we could focus on even more so that schools, learning and cross-actor and cross-system cooperation can be transformed.
Society's desire for digitalisation is also putting pressure on schools/school leaders - is the workload expected of schools feasible under the current conditions?
Shaping schools in the culture of digitality in a way that is effective for learning and appropriate for the times and the future poses a number of challenges for school leaders and other school managers. They are the key players in shaping the digital transformation and it is therefore particularly important to empower them. In order to encourage and empower school leaders and their teams to manage and professionally implement digital school development projects in their school, we at Forum Bildung Digitalisierung have developed the BD school leadership qualification. The qualification concept strengthens school leaders in their role and provides a professional foundation for the design and management of school transformation processes. It is now being implemented in specific professionalisation programmes in many federal states.
What do you expect from the upcoming LEARNTEC - and what focal points will you be presenting on the part of the Forum Bildung Digitalisierung?
Above all, I am looking forward to talking to many different stakeholders again at LEARNTEC 2025. Last year, we already had a valuable dialogue from which I was able to take away important ideas for our work. The Forum Bildung Digitalsierung will provide insights into its work and topics as part of the school@LEARNTEC programme and will also be represented with an information stand. I also hope that we will be able to incorporate the perspective of students from our Generation BD project. And, of course, I'm looking forward to seeing many familiar faces from our community at the ‘class reunion’ in Karlsruhe and making new contacts.
Thank you very much for the interview.
INFO:
Philipp Schulz will be presenting the Navigaotr Bildung Digitalisierung as a roadmap for digital transforamtion in schools at our online event xChange on 30 January, 2pm. You can find free tickets and the complete programme HERE.
