Duration: 01.12.2023 - 30.06.2026

Funding: ERASMUS+ (total: 400,000 euros)

Project leader: Henner Spierling (Agaplesion Diakonieklinikum Rotenburg in Lower Saxony)

Project participants (university): Wiebke Stöhr, Dr Anna-Maria Spittel

Cooperation partners: Agaplesion Diakonieklinikum Rotenburg, Fundació Privada C.H.M. Orienta, Systemisches Zentrum Wienerwald, Psiche Srl, Kidstime Deutschland e.V.

Project description: ALLES is a school project to promote equal opportunities, inclusion, diversity and fairness. The aim is to reduce educational disadvantage and prevent early school leaving. The project is internationally networked and enables the exchange of best practice at European level so that schools can learn from each other. The programme imparts knowledge on key topics such as digital media and mental health, emotions, child protection, children of mentally stressed parents, mental illness, bullying, shame, stress and coping. Concrete teaching programmes promote a positive school culture in the long term. ALLES is currently being implemented at selected primary and secondary schools in Germany, Austria, Spain, Iceland and Italy. The focus is on qualifying and strengthening teachers in the area of mental health. The "Whole School Approach" ensures that the entire school is involved. The project is being scientifically supported by the University of Oldenburg.

Reference to (external) homepage: https://kidsinmind.eu/

Duration: since 2024

Funding: by the participating universities

Project leaders: Prof. Dr Gisela C. Schulze & WM Wiebke Stöhr (Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation); Prof. Dr Barbara Moschner & WM Laura Ohmes (Institute of Educational Sciences)

Project participants: Prof Yuri Uesaka & WM Mengsi Liu (University of Tokyo); Prof Azumi Fukawa (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies); Kemma Tsujino (Osaka Metropolitan University); Prof Yohei Yasuhara (Dokkyo University)

Project description:

• Development from the research cooperation on school absenteeism and educational research by colleagues from Japan and Germany
• The University of Oldenburg (Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation & Institute of Educational Sciences) has the following co-operations:
  • since 2019 with Osaka Metropolitan University (MoU since 2019),
  • the University of Tokyo,
  • the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
  • Tokyo Tokyo University
• May-August 2025 Implementation of the study "Similarities and differences of shame events from the perspective of Japanese and German students" with a survey at the above-mentioned universities and participation of the European University of Flensburg and the University of Leipzig
• Currently analysing data and preparing the publication(s)

Publications:
Stöhr, W., Ricking, H., Schulze, G. C. in an interview with Tsujino, K. & Fukawa, A. (2024). School absenteeism - Perspectives from Japan and Germany: An interview with Japanese educational scientists. Journal of Curative Education, 74 (8), 371-374.

Duration: 01.11.2024 - 01.02.2027

Project participants: Dr Anna-Maria Spittel & Dr Steffen Kaiser (European University of Flensburg)

Project description: Students with caring responsibilities represent a group that has been little studied in the university context to date. In addition to their studies, they take on caring responsibilities for relatives or loved ones. This multiple burden can be accompanied by considerable temporal, physical and psychological challenges. Coping with academic demands and family responsibilities at the same time raises key questions regarding the compatibility of studying and caring and the organisation of university support services.

The aim of this research project is to investigate internal university support structures for students with caring responsibilities at the Europa-Universität Flensburg and Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. The focus is on the question of the extent to which existing measures, programmes and institutional framework conditions meet the special needs of this target group. In the long term, the project aims to develop empirically based recommendations for action for a more needs-orientated design of university support structures.

Project participants: Dr Anna-Maria Spittel, Dr Steffen Kaiser (Europa-Universität Flensburg), Prof. Dr Gisela C. Schulze

Project description: The term "young carers" refers to children and young people who take on a considerable amount of care and support tasks for relatives or people close to them. The demands associated with this responsibility can have a detrimental effect on their emotional, social and educational development. Coping with these young people in the roles of learner and carer can therefore be a challenge and lead to limitations in school performance, absenteeism or even dropping out of education. This can have long-term effects on their educational biography and future opportunities. In some countries, targeted measures have already been implemented that aim to identify and support young carers. In Germany, however, there is often still a lack of social awareness and support structures.

Current research projects with different focal points focus on the educational biographies of young carers in the transitions as well as the analysis and further development of support structures in the school context.

Publications:

Kaiser, S., Siegemund-Johannsen, S., Schulze, Gisela C., Spittel, A.-M. (2024). Basic Conditions for Support of Young Carers in School: A Secondary Analysis of the Perspectives of Young Carers, Parents, Teachers, and Counsellors. Healthcare, 12(11), 1143.

Duration: 01.01.2024 - 31.12.2025

Funding: ERASMUS+ (total: 60,000 euros)

Project leader: Henner Spierling (Kidstime Deutschland e.V.)

Project participants (university): Dr Anna-Maria Spittel, Wiebke Stöhr

Cooperation partners: Kidstime Deutschland e.V., Fundació Privada C.H.M. Orienta, Systemisches Zentrum Wienerwald, Okkar heimur

Project description: Kidstime formats based on a proven prevention programme for families with mentally ill parents are being established in Vienna, Barcelona and Reykjavik. As part of the project, the concept will be supplemented by e-learning tools (e.g. psychoeducational videos) that can continue to be used after the end of project. Accompanying online and face-to-face meetings will take place to develop and integrate digital learning opportunities to teach children about mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety in a child-friendly way. The transnational collaboration and the e-learning tools developed will sustainably expand existing programmes, strengthen resilience and understanding of the illness and improve possible applications, for example in schools, in the long term.