Challenges and Potentials of Digital School and Teaching Development in Disadvantaged Contexts

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Digital transformation and educational equity in the German education system: Perspectives on opportunities and challenges in school and classroom development

Proposal

Schools as "learning" and continuously evolving organizations in the digital age can be seen as key factors for effective digitalization-related school and instructional development processes (Obermeier et al. 2023). With the gradual onset of widespread digital transformation, which had cautiously begun in many schools even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus on equitable educational opportunities has intensified, also within German-speaking contexts (Bremm & Racherbäumer 2020). However, recent international comparative studies show that German schools lag significantly behind many other countries in terms of both technical equipment and the frequency of digital media use (Eickelmann, 2018; Eickelmann et al., 2019). This is due to insufficient digital infrastructure in schools and underdeveloped digital skills among teachers (Eickelmann, 2018; Bos et al., 2016). Although the need for action has long been recognized (KMK, 2016), the slow progress in addressing this issue became especially critical with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, social disparities within the German education system, reflected in a digital divide, manifest in different patterns of digital media use and the corresponding media habitus among students. This situation particularly brings schools in so-called challenging contexts into focus—mainly urban schools, where residential segregation is highly pronounced (Fölker, Hertel & Pfaff 2015; Bremm & Racherbäumer 2020). These schools, where the student body is predominantly composed of socially disadvantaged children and youth, require special institutional and systemic efforts. Teachers in such contexts face the challenge of adapting their teaching to the diverse (learning) needs of their students. Here, the use of digital media in teaching offers expanded opportunities to inclusively address these diverse (learning) conditions (Schulz 2023).
Building on the discourse of transformation and innovation (Stalder 2016) and the assumption that digital transformation processes can also alter institutional and social practices, this contribution addresses the following question: How does digital transformation manifest in schools in so-called challenging contexts, both in terms of organizational and structural frameworks and in concrete instructional practices? Additionally, it explores the extent to which schools in so-called challenging contexts perceive the use of digital media as part of a new, innovative school culture, positioning themselves as learning, transformative systems capable of fostering innovation (Eickelmann et al. 2024). A particular focus will be on the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary (re)organization of teaching.
This research question will be addressed using qualitative-empirical data from the ongoing school development project "Talent Schools.”, which involves over 50 schools in so-called challenging contexts across one federal state of Germany. The data are based on repeated group discussions with school leaders and teachers, as well as field observations of subject-specific instruction at two selected secondary schools that are analyzed using grounded theory.
Early findings suggest that schools with established cultural practices around digital technologies and a reflective approach to digitalization in teaching prior to the pandemic were generally better equipped to navigate the crisis and manage their digital development more effectively.

Authors

• Laura Beckmann, University of Duisburg-Essen

• Isabel Dean, University of Siegen