Three years of searching for workarounds to educational federalism

He was supposed to achieve something big: to research digital possibilities and methods for their suitability for schools. It has been three years since the then Federal Minister of Education, Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), gave the go-ahead for the “Kompetenzverbund lernen:digital” (Competence Network Learn:Digital). 205 million euros were made available over its term. The competence network was intended to draw lessons from the major difficulties during the Corona pandemic, when a lot of technology was procured for remote teaching, but teachers often met the new, forced reality without much prior knowledge or support. At a two-day event in Berlin's Café Moskau, those responsible and participants now drew a final balance: What have the millions for lernen:digital actually achieved?

203 sub-projects of very different kinds took place within this framework, reported Katharina Scheiter, who heads the coordination office for the competence network. And otherwise, she did not spare harsh criticism of those politically responsible: Due to design flaws in the project, the primary goal from the outset was to “make the best of it,” said Katharina Scheiter, who is a professor of digital education at the University of Potsdam. There was a lack of preliminary planning and common goals. While the results achieved are good and valuable, they have so far missed the most important need of educational institutions: how students could learn better with digital tools. The “philosopher's stone,” namely how the transfer to students through good further training would succeed, had not been found either, agreed Torsten Klieme, the Bremen State Councillor responsible for education, with the critical assessment.

Design Flaw Meets “Momentum of Money”

The design flaw lamented by educational researcher Scheiter has several reasons. The actual main reason lies in educational federalism – the states are generally responsible for education, while the federal government is responsible for research. Due to the distribution of responsibilities, only research projects could be financed; everything else is a matter for the states, such as how teacher training is organized. Participants at the event therefore also noted that a significant part of the project's runtime had been wasted trying to align federal and state projects, i.e., bringing together federal research funds with the requirements of the 16 ministries of education and state institutions.

The originally desired practical relevance, i.e., how the education system can actually use digital possibilities, was apparently largely lost, and widespread scaling of findings was therefore out of the question. The focus on practice was lost as early as the conception phase, explains Stefan Luther, the department head responsible at the Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Seniors, Women, and Youth (BMBFSFJ). In addition, there was another problem: the funds had to be committed quickly. And in order not to let the “momentum of money” (Luther), which was available at the time, slip away, they decided to proceed anyway. This includes funds from the EU program “NextGenerationEU.”

“Too much money with too little practical effect,” concludes Torsten Klieme quite clearly. In the case of a continuation, which he considers sensible, it should therefore be set up differently, said the state representative. But how exactly this should look in the future is apparently still to be discussed. The results of “lernen:digital” should definitely be built upon, explained BMBFSFJ department head Stefan Luther.

Digitalpakt 2.0 on the Final Lap to the Finish Line

At least the two responsible political representatives placed their hopes on Digitalpakt 2.0. Although agreed in principle between the federal government and the states over a year ago, only the ink for the signatures of all parties involved is now said to be missing. It's only a matter of weeks, federal and state representatives said in unison.

State Councillor Klieme advocated that all future research and transfer programs should be oriented towards the objectives of the so-called Start-Chancen-Program: The goal is to halve the number of students who do not achieve minimum competencies. “That is what is holding back the quality of our education system,” explained Klieme. All other programs must ask themselves what they can contribute to minimum competencies, including the federal-state initiative within the framework of Digitalpakt 2.0. This pillar of the renovated federal-state financing package for digital education will also continue part of what was developed with the “Competence Center for Digital Learning.” A research cluster on the topic of didactics, i.e., on the teaching of knowledge and competencies, is planned, as is a focus on artificial intelligence.

After three years, it seems that above all one clear research result stands in contrast to the original lofty goals: Even 205 million euros and a multitude of research projects do not yet result in a coherent overall concept for better digital education. The much-used buzzword at the lernen:digital event in Berlin was therefore: “Co-constructive cooperation.” This primarily means: The federal government and the states, research, education, administration, and politics want to at least get in each other's way as little as possible in the future.

(afl)