Study revealed: Viennese students in German funding classes excluded

Study revealed: Viennese students in German funding classes excluded

A recently carried out study by the University of Vienna throws a critical light on the situation of pupils in German support classes. These students therefore get strong in isolation and experience difficulties in integrating into the regular classes. Despite their desire to learn the German language and integrate into the community, they often feel excluded from their peers and teachers.

In the study, 78 levels 5 to 9 were interviewed who attend German support lessons at middle schools in Vienna. The majority of these students had only recently moved to Austria, mostly as part of family reunions. The results of the surveys show that the pupils are often treated differently in the standard formation and there is a noticeable gap between them and the other classmates. They expressed this perception unmistakably.

school preconditions and integration

The investigation, led by Professor Susanne Schwab, also illuminates the educational requirements of the respondents in their countries of origin. Many did not have enough access to educational institutions, which meant that some were not even literally in their mother tongue. Such educational gaps directly influence the composition of the classes and make the integration process more difficult in Vienna.

Although the relationship with the teachers in the German funding class is largely assessed positively - with a strict but constructive approach - it looks different in regular lessons. Here many report neglecting and a lack of reference to the teachers. A student expresses that the teachers often act with a different attitude towards these students, which affects their motivation and ability to learn.

A student indicates: "The teacher is stricter, but I think that's good because then we get better." In contrast, many students complain about the tone in the regular classes: "Because he is constantly scolding ... He does not want to do anything to be considerate of us." These statements illustrate the challenges with which the students are confronted in the American school system.

The desire for German and integration

The respondents emphasize their clear will for integration. Many of them want to speak German to be included in the community faster. This can also be seen in the answers such as: "I think it's good that we can only speak German, so we learn it faster." The language becomes a bridge for them to not only adapt, but also to help their families, as a student says: "I have to master German to help my family."

The study also criticizes that there is a lack of extensive training and further education programs for teachers who would help take the linguistic diversity in the classes better. "However, as so often, the suffering of the numerous educational structural failures are the students: inside themselves, which are often affected by direct and indirect discrimination mechanisms," says the study. These circumstances have a negative impact on their school well -being and their learning development.

Susanne Schwab and her team advocate changes in the education system in order to recognize and use multilingualism as a valuable resource. The report concludes with an urgent call to rethink the efforts of integration and to offer the conditions for pupils with a migration background.

A detailed article on the background and results of this important study is on www.meinbezirk.at to be found.