from opportunities and limits

The parallels between social work and cultural education are evident in their holistic approach, which focuses on the strengths of the individuals involved. In addition, both disciplines address the interests and living environments of the participants, thereby supporting experiences of self-efficacy and creative power. They both promote resilience and diversity of perspectives.

Cultural education cannot replace social work, but it promotes general educational potential such as perception, expression, and creative skills, personal responsibility, social participation through involvement, and dealing with uncertainties and ambivalence. 

The combination of these two disciplines encourages (re)thinking, enables new perspectives and participation. Productive synergies can lead to rethinking. And so a frog can become a king. 

Katharina Brederlow: Yes, for example, the Education Advisory Board addresses out-of-school learning spaces, so the interface is being recognized. The opportunities offered by full-day schooling—such as in primary schools in Saxony-Anhalt—depend strongly on the respective federal state and raise further questions, for instance, whether after-school care already fulfills the requirements of full-day schooling. Better coordination between ministries, as well as closer integration of full-day programs and the “Startchancen” initiative, is needed to effectively address educational disadvantage.

Nadia Boltes: For successful collaboration between schools and extracurricular actors, practice and actual needs must be brought into closer alignment. Rigid requirements—such as six-hour workshop formats—create unnecessary barriers. Formats like a roundtable with LISA can help clarify what is truly needed and how freelance practitioners can be better supported in contributing to full-day programs. At the same time, professionals face additional demands, for example when dealing with topics such as sexualized violence, and require more socio-educational tools and methodological support when these issues arise within cultural education programs.

Prof. Dr. Vanessa-Isabelle Reinwand-Weiss: A stronger focus on higher education is needed to better support aspiring cultural educators—particularly in working with young people in precarious life situations. In municipal education landscapes, culture, social work, and education should collaborate more closely in order to address educational challenges together and on a broader scale.

Nadia Boltes: Many regions are affected by population decline and vacant properties—challenges that may continue to intensify in the future. At the same time, examples such as Zeitz show that targeted investments in cultural education can generate new momentum: when actors look for new spaces, vibrant meeting points and small cultural “gems” can emerge in rural areas.

Katharina Brederlow: From the perspective of municipal education management, a clear change is visible in southern Saxony-Anhalt: families are moving away from Halle, while school and daycare closures increase pressure. Nevertheless, new opportunities are emerging in rural areas. Greater coordination and more support from the state are desired—such as through funding programs—to bring urban cultural education offerings into these regions.

Prof. Dr. Vanessa-Isabelle Reinwand-Weiss: Model programs by the German Federal Cultural Foundation have demonstrated how effective it can be to establish artists and cultural educators as connecting actors in rural areas. At the same time, structural support is often lacking. A logical next step would be to specifically invest in such positions and embed them widely across rural regions.

Katharina Brederlow: Facilities such as the Grüne Villa and youth centers provide good examples of how to reach diverse groups of people; however, there is still a lack of infrastructure. At the Neustadt Campus, with a focus on STEM, programs for children and adolescents are planned, including offerings in cultural education. It remains to be seen whether these measures will be sufficient to meet the demand in the long term.

Nadia Boltes: Contemporary approaches rely on outreach methods: programs are brought directly to places where children and adolescents already like to spend time, in order to reach them more effectively and engage them in a low-threshold way.

In Saxony-Anhalt—particularly in cities such as Halle (Saale), with socially disadvantaged neighborhoods like Silberhöhe and Halle-Neustadt—the intersection of cultural education and social work is of central importance. Especially where children and young people grow up under precarious conditions, schools must function not only as places of learning, but as social and cultural living environments.

School social work performs an indispensable role in this context. It serves as the interface between the influences that flow into schools from families, peer groups, and the broader social environment, and the educational mandate of the school itself. In combination with cultural education, this creates vital spaces for participation, self-expression, and personal development—particularly for those children who would otherwise have only limited access to cultural opportunities.

At the same time, practical experience shows how heavily such engagement often depends on temporary funding—frequently from European sources. Establishing permanent budget allocations for school social work would therefore be a crucial step toward greater reliability and sustainability. Ultimately, much depends on the commitment of the local actors involved: the state of Saxony-Anhalt provides the framework, but how responsibility is concretely assumed and shaped is determined within the schools, the neighborhoods, and through direct engagement on behalf of the children.

As a school principal, three factors were crucial for me in sustainably connecting social work and cultural education.

First, it was essential to consistently open the school to its social and cultural environment. In Halle (Saale)—the cultural capital of Saxony-Anhalt—there are numerous dedicated cultural and social actors. This potential exists, but it does not realize itself automatically. The school must actively reach out to partners in the social sector, municipal institutions, and cultural organizations. The moment a school begins to engage with its social and cultural surroundings, equality of opportunity and lived diversity start to emerge.

Second, establishing reliable partnerships was central. Networking requires effort, time, and commitment—but it pays off. Integrating the city’s cultural resources into educational processes strengthens not only individual projects but the school’s overall profile.

Third, a clear concept of autonomy played a key role: challenges are addressed locally, together with partners on the ground. How responsibility is assumed and shaped depends largely on the commitment of the people involved. The nomination of the Lyonel-Feininger-Gymnasium for the German School Award, reaching the Top 15, demonstrates that this approach works—when schools strategically link social work and cultural education and develop them collaboratively.

Within the Ministry, there is generally an awareness of the issue. For example, Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff emphasizes closer collaboration with the State Center for Political Education of Saxony-Anhalt. During school visits, he observes a deficit in democratic knowledge and an incomplete understanding of democratic processes among students—an issue he takes very seriously.

At the same time, concrete actions are already being taken: the Ministry is establishing a digital database of extracurricular learning sites in Saxony-Anhalt, strengthening school social work, and working toward its long-term stabilization. The importance of social work is broadly agreed upon—there is consensus that school social work is necessary. Similarly, the significance of cultural education is increasingly being recognized.

From a practical perspective, however, there remains a desire for greater clarity and better coordination among the many actors involved. Additionally, there is a need for reliability in funding: established structures should not depend on temporary programs but should be secured as permanent, standard offerings.

We are looking back on a period of profound transformations, marked by significant growing pains. Digitalization, artificial intelligence and social media have fundamentally changed our society. Schools, by contrast, have evolved structurally only slowly and have so far not sufficiently adapted to the dynamics of this new reality.

At the same time, there is growing recognition that education must do more than simply impart knowledge. It should empower young people to navigate a highly digital, complex, and ever-changing world, find their own path, and develop their individuality. In this sense, education becomes a key future competency.

The shortage of teachers—particularly in rural areas—further exacerbates the situation. Often, attempts are made to address these problems with old solutions, such as increasing the employment of lateral-entry teachers, without questioning the fundamental structures. But it is not enough to merely stabilize what exists—we must fundamentally rethink the “future of the future” of schools: moving away from rigid subject boundaries, fixed schedules, and traditional role models toward more flexible, collaborative, and project-based learning formats.

Education for sustainable development also plays a central role in this process. Students must be prepared to live in an unstable world—learning to handle uncertainty, take responsibility, and actively participate in societal processes. Schools are therefore not just facing reform, but a fundamental transformation.