Education and integration
How refugees can also obtain the German school-leaving certificate
If young refugees want to complete their secondary education diploma, they have to overcome certain challenges, above all, the German language. New integration concepts are being trialed and scientifically monitored at an experimental school in Bielefeld – a successful model.
When asked what skills refugee students need for the Abitur, Professor Martin Heinrich has an immediate answer: the German language! “Those who don’t yet have sufficient German language skills must be supported pedagogically so that they can meet the high demands of the German Abitur. But language, says Heinrich, can only be one important building block. He knows what else is needed: empowerment.
Heinrich heads an academic institution that is part of the “Oberstufen-Kolleg” (upper school college) experimental school in Bielefeld. Both the research center and the school are linked to Bielefeld University. The aim behind this special connection is to implement new pedagogical concepts in practice and conduct research at the same time. To this end, Heinrich works with more than 60 teachers and researchers. In 2010, the school received the German School Award for its work.
![[DE Copy] Professor Martin Heinrich from the University of Bielefeld](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs= "[DE Copy] Professor Martin Heinrich from the University of Bielefeld / Photo credits: [DE Copy] Universität Bielefeld / Mike-Dennis Müller")
Prof. Dr. Martin Heinrich sees education as a dynamic construct that needs to be constantly adapted. And is successful in doing so.
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High school with special language support, then the Abitur
The extended entry phase is one of the concepts being trialed at the Oberstufen-Kolleg Bielefeld. The program is aimed at young immigrants who have reached language level B1. The special feature of the concept: Year 11 extends over two years. In the first year, German as a technical and educational language is specifically promoted: “This also includes the specific promotion of writing didactics and lessons in DaZ (Deutsch als Zweitsprache), which translates as “German as a second language,” says Heinrich. In the second year of the extended entry phase, there are also courses in DaZ, but the focus shifts to the compulsory course program of Year 11.
The concept is also based on the idea that language support alone is not enough. There should therefore also be room for empowerment in the extended introductory phase: “This means that the immigrant pupils should also learn to position themselves with their individual stories and culture,” says Heinrich. “For example, when a student spontaneously involves everyone on a joint excursion in the Yazidi celebration of the Batizmi festival, all of her classmates get involved, but they also change the ritual, adapt it for themselves individually, and reflect on it afterwards.”
Here, Heinrich is addressing something that rarely occurs in the current education system. Teachers are often able to take only little account of different biographies and levels of knowledge. It can be challenging to meet migrant pupils appropriately in everyday school life. In this respect, the teachers at the Oberstufen-Kolleg Bielefeld continue to develop with each school year.
The concept shows how the upper secondary school level in Germany could become more inclusive.
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The teachers at the Oberstufen-Kolleg take on a dual role. They’re also researchers – in other words, they work closely with the academic institution. Professor Heinrich explains: “We have our offices in the experimental school so that we can fully experience the character and atmosphere of the school.” Through their involvement in the scientific work, the teachers themselves become researchers to a certain extent, he adds. This also influences the further development of the educational concepts.
50immigrant young people were given the opportunity to obtain the (technical) Abitur through the experimental school
40of them have already successfully completed their Abitur, or the school-based part of the entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences
The extended entry phase is a so-called research and development project. Concepts and educational measures are constantly being revised, also based on input from the young immigrants. “If we get feedback that something doesn’t fit, we adapt it accordingly,” says Heinrich. This flexibility for research and development in the education system is necessary in order to develop sustainable educational concepts.
“In most cases, however, pedagogical concepts are not granted this openness. This is because making adjustments whenever pedagogical practices demand it also means not being able to define a proper evaluation plan with specific timelines.” This leads to a chronology of concept development with the result that hardly any school year is the same as the previous one. “Given the great heterogeneity of the pupils in the extended entry phase, new phenomena are constantly emerging that we have to deal with in all their complexity” – such as when the pupils are unable to imagine their own future or are blocked by fears caused by having had to flee. A philosophy teacher therefore read Georg Simmel’s essay “The Stranger” with his student class. This philosophy lesson addressed their own identity in such a substantial way that they founded ZUsammenKUNFT, an association “of strangers for strangers,” to pool their diverse reflections and pass them on to other students with refugee experience. “This is empowerment through education, which is what we need in the Abitur,” says Heinrich.
So, how do you evaluate such a concept? When is it a success? Is the number of graduates the decisive factor? Or is it their proud smiles at the graduation ceremony? As of February 2024, 40 students at the college have completed their Abitur or vocational Fachabitur, and almost 50 young immigrants are currently studying for one or the other of those certificates.
If you ask Martin Heinrich how he rates the extended introductory phase, he does not have to think for long. “The way the pupils write their contributions, argue in class, make videos, and create teaching materials for subsequent classes – in my view, all of this documents very impressively that this is a successful model. The concept shows how the upper secondary school in Germany could become more inclusive.”
It is an example of a cultural change that anchors diversity in the education system. It shows that the integration of young refugees can succeed – through the joint work of researchers and teachers. And through new ideas that take into account not only curricula, but also individual life paths.
Ali, a graduate of the program and now a business administration student, describes it this way: “I never really used to feel like I belonged. But now I do: I’m here, so I’m part of society.”
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