The nursery school teachers have made it clear: Their work is a fundamental part of the education system - and it should be valued more highly. A statement on the occasion of the daycare strike by Prof Dr Rudolf Leiprecht, spokesperson for the Social Pedagogy department and the Pedagogy working group, as well as the Pedagogy student body.
We study, teach and research at the University of Oldenburg in the subject of (social) education and, as students, teachers and researchers, we support the demands of employees in the fields of social work, who are currently drawing attention to their work situation with various actions and fighting for more comprehensive recognition of their work, which is important for society as a whole.
Overall, this is a very broad field of activity that includes, for example, social counselling, school social work, drug help, child and youth work and family help. As a profession that traditionally began as a 'women's profession', the issue of recognition has played a central role since the professionalisation of social pedagogy and social work. Activities that have to do with caring, concern and support and that are actually indispensable for societies have long had and still have a hard time being truly visible and having a voice in society that is heard. Recognition is linked to payment. However, in view of the current average pay and grading structures in the fields of social work, we have the impression that appreciation is primarily conveyed as disdain.
At the moment, the field of child daycare centres in particular is being perceived strongly in the public eye. This is not surprising. With their strike, childcare workers have affected large sections of the population, i.e. mothers and fathers from a wide range of social classes and with different academic appointments. We, who are also involved in other fields of social work, follow this attention to our colleagues with respect and approval, and are grateful to them for their past strike actions, as they have developed an effectiveness and power that can also benefit other fields of social education and social work.
As educators at the university, we are also concerned to see that it is only in recent years, and unfortunately only to some extent, that what was actually long overdue has been recognised: daycare centres are a fundamental part of the general education and social system! Based on this fact, nursery teachers in many European countries study at a university, similar to teachers who later work in primary schools. And, logically, they also have an income that corresponds to that of primary school teachers. Unfortunately, neither is the case in Germany. The tasks for the kindergarten sector encompass a wealth of complex and important tasks, whereby the requirements have increased significantly in recent decades, and there are many similarities and overlaps with other fields of social work.
Work in daycare centres, for example, goes far beyond the "mere care" of children so that their mothers and fathers can pursue their academic appointments during this time. It begins, to name just three points from the professional debate, which are still far from being adequately realised everywhere:
- with differentiated developmental support, which starts with the social, familial and also linguistic "starting points" of the individual children and requires the "recognition" of these starting points, the observation and documentation of changes and progress;
- it is also about the systematic and diversity-conscious design of conditions in which all children can experience self-efficacy and appreciation, combined with counteracting negative attributions, exclusion and disadvantage;
- and finally, the respective institution must be able to be a low-threshold point of contact and contact point that has something to offer parents in different life situations with parenting problems and critical life events and - if necessary - opens up a "suitable" path in the confusing network of social counselling and help.
These few key words alone show that this is an extremely demanding and important task that requires a great deal of different competences from the respective professionals, the development and continuation of which must indeed be linked to high-quality training, continuous further training and appropriate equipment of facilities, also in relation to staff and group size. It should go without saying that appreciation and remuneration must do justice to these tasks and requirements.
Prof Dr Rudolf Leiprecht, spokesperson for the Social Pedagogy Section and the Pedagogy Working Group (Institute of Educational Sciences, School I - School of Educational and Social Sciences)
and the Pedagogy Student Council
