Online reports – Politics – Are Basel schools overwhelmed by their freedoms?

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Teachers complain about too high a density of meetings.

GLP Grand Councillor Sandra Bothe proposes to further restrict schools' autonomy so that more resources remain for teaching. Teacher representative Jean-Michel Héritier explains.

From Jan Amsler and Alessandra Paone

How do we deal with foreign refugees in schools? How do we organize special support and how do we distribute the money available for it? These are just some of the issues that are the responsibility of schools – in addition to lessons, meetings and the demanding work with parents.

With the introduction of partial autonomy over ten years ago, the tasks have also increased. Since the reform, the individual school locations have had more extensive powers, both in pedagogy and in organisation and finances.

“Are the limits of partial autonomy correct?” asks Sandra Bothe. The Green Liberal education politician from the Basel Grand Council believes that she has found one of the causes of the many problems. The schools lack teachers. The Basel education system is one of the most expensive, but the local schoolchildren are still falling behind in key areas compared to the rest of the country. And then there is the excessive demands of the integrated school.

In a proposal that she plans to submit soon, Bothe will ask the cantonal government whether the effectiveness and impact of partial autonomy has already been examined. The freedoms gained may be too much for schools. Are there still a balance between autonomy and minimum requirements?

Too many meetings

Bothe refers to several opinions and surveys that conclude that the teaching profession has become less attractive. The working conditions are further exacerbating the shortage of staff.

In fact, a survey on the stresses of the teaching profession conducted by the Baselland Teachers' Association (LVB) in autumn 2022 shows that reducing bureaucracy is a key wish of those surveyed. Over 90 percent said they had too little time for their core business due to administrative tasks. The many meetings are also perceived as stressful.

The LVB sees the partial autonomy of schools as an important reason for the “excessive number of meetings”. Under the general term of partial autonomy, every single school is almost constantly busy developing its own concepts for every conceivable topic.

Do not restrict schools, but relieve them

Bothe names areas that she believes could be organized centrally: “Does every single school have to deal with individual concepts for things like reading promotion, digitization, gifted education and other measures?” If these overarching tasks were also delegated to higher authorities, teachers would have more resources for teaching. In order to ensure the quality of education and equal opportunities, the various semi-autonomous concepts should not differ too much from one another, she believes.

_{Sandra Bothe will relieve the teachers. © Photo by Grosser Rat}

The Green Liberals stress that their aim is not to curtail the powers of schools. Their intention is to relieve their burden.

But what do Basel teachers think about partial autonomy? The feedback is mostly positive, says Jean-Michel Héritier. He is president of the Voluntary School Synod of Basel and works as a co-class teacher at a primary school. But it always depends on the topic. When it comes to substitutes, for example, the teachers prefer a central coordination office. “It is very time-consuming for the schools to have to deal with the substitutes.”

The same applies to teachers who have lost their previous position due to restructuring or illness. They must organize the move to another location themselves and apply accordingly. A superior and internal agency that has an overview of the vacancies at the cantonal schools could be helpful here, says Héritier.

More flexibility in inclusive schools

As another example, Héritier cites the increased measures for children with acutely conspicuous behavior. The schools had a certain quota that they had to make do with. If this was needed, they had to negotiate with other schools for the resources. “With the number of such children currently constantly increasing, this is a major challenge,” says Héritier. In the future, the schools would like more autonomy and flexibility in the integrated school, as a recent survey of teachers shows.

Bothe submits her proposal in the form of a written request. The government must respond to this within three months.

The cantonal parliament will soon be discussing the counter-proposal to the so-called support class initiative. This also focuses on the burden on teaching staff. The focus is on the integrative school system, which is closely linked to the issue of partial autonomy – because each school develops its own support concept.

19 August 2023

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“Too much external control”

Schools have always been in crisis! When I started teaching as a primary school teacher 50 years ago, I found a sick school. The basic grades were there to make the students compliant so that they would learn what was prescribed by the teaching materials and required by the teacher. Martin Wagenschein called this meeting “retrieving knowledge”. There was no approach to learning out of interest or enjoyment.

Schools have remained one of the most backward areas of society, even today. All the knowledge gained from pedagogy, psychology and neuroscience has not been able to change the old, entrenched views. This basic knowledge, which could influence the pedagogical attitude, is still ignored or not perceived. Why? What is the problem with schools?

When the Education Department of Basel-Stadt set out to implement the inclusive school, we thought that something had finally happened. Before that, the head of the Education Department, Arnold Schneider, FDP, had said in a public speech that all reforms would have their disadvantages. This meant that changes could be avoided.

Christoph Eymann finally brought central support structures to the school in Basel-Stadt. At the beginning of his term of office in 2001, he commissioned an external study of the well-being of the Basel teachers. This resulted in two areas in which the teachers wanted support: low-threshold counseling options and a crisis intervention center. This brought great relief. Difficulties, especially with the administration and the teaching staff, could be easily addressed with an external specialist. The crisis intervention center made it possible to bring help into the classroom or to have an individual student looked after externally for a period of time.

The BS concept of the integrative school was and is not feasible. The contradiction between integration and selection was not recognized. Integration needs a pedagogical concept without selection as a basis, otherwise it cannot succeed and remains a structural integration.

The partial autonomy of the school buildings brought new hope. We now hope for the development of diverse school building cultures, shaped and supported by the main actors in the school: the teachers!

Nothing came of it. The teaching staff were structured hierarchically and part of the responsibility was transferred from the staff to the school administration.

Teachers do not need to be relieved of as much of their workload as Sandra Bothe thinks. What they need is relief from too much external control. Teachers have a highly responsible job. No administration can take that away from them. Teachers must be able to develop into viable teams that must be treated accordingly. Strengthening personal responsibility and building communicative autonomy. The government, politicians and school administration must show them a caring attitude so that they can fulfil their core task in the most educational and non-bureaucratic way possible. In the future, we need people with a strong sense of shared responsibility. Your teachers must be able to work like that themselves. Party-political wrangling is detrimental to school development.

Viktor KrummenacherBottmingen

“The school system is in crisis”

Too few (qualified) teachers and too many (difficult) children, too few (suitable) classrooms and still more (complex) subjects that need to be taught, too much (superfluous) autonomy and still more (unproductive) bureaucracy. This and unfortunately much more: aren't these actually signs that the school system in the canton of Basel-Stadt is also fundamentally in crisis? Even if those responsible for the system, particularly in politics and administration, as well as the media, do not want to admit this.

If crises are even perceived as such, they are often glossed over. For example, with elaborate and grandiosely staged so-called reforms: They usually serve the purpose of keeping everything the same. Because it seems that the majority would rather suffer with the familiar than try something new. Crises that are repressed cannot be used proactively and independently as an opportunity for change. This applies generally and fundamentally, both individually and collectively: locally, regionally, nationally and globally.

Here are seven possible steps to get through an individual crisis: 1. Accept a crisis and turn to it. 2. Let fears and chaos, anger and insults, powerlessness and rage out of your head and stop brooding. 3. Let go of comparisons with others. 4. Avoid unhealthy and inappropriate coping strategies. 5. Get involved in the drama of the crisis and come out of the drama with your heart. 6. To do this, strengthen your grounding, backbone and self-confidence. 7. Be upright and honest, truthful and real in the world and keep your head free and open to the light of heaven.

I am currently particularly concerned with the question of how a social crisis, such as that which manifests itself in schools, can be accepted and used collectively as an opportunity, analogous to an individually designed process of change.

Ueli KellerAllschwil