Strengthening educational opportunities through play

Increasing social justice through football and language

Ten-year-old Nadir grows up in his neighbourhood in Frankfurt a.M. in poor and educationally distant circumstances - yet he has just taken part in his first poetry slam for children. Nadir wrote his first rap for it, in which he deals with his favourite football club. After he has presented his poetry to the enthusiastic audience, his teacher Mrs. Blume comes up to him: "Nadir, if you don't become the next Goethe!" Mrs. Blume proudly looks back on the past school year: "Nadir is one boy among many who got the necessary motivation for reading and writing through their passion for football. Our twice-weekly football training, reading a children's football book or even this rap about their favourite club - sport manages to motivate the children for lessons in very different ways."

Background

As with Nadir, sport, especially football in Germany, can be a bridge to academic development for many children – a bridge of enormous importance for children who struggle to find sufficient motivation for school. Through exercise and teamwork, children improve their learning behaviour, can concentrate more easily, adapt better to different situations and challenges, and benefit from a positive group dynamic in class. In addition, children find many role models in sport – inspiring personalities who show them that learning and effort are worthwhile in order to achieve something later on. Goal orientation should also be encouraged in the children – it feels good to change and achieve something.Identifying which children do not realise their full potential in regular schooling is particularly important because children and young people in Germany grow up with unequal educational opportunities. It has not yet been possible to break the link between social background and educational success. The IQB education study (Stanat et al., 2022) illustrates that about one fifth of all fourth graders in Germany do not reach the minimum standards in reading, listening and mathematics. Due to the pandemic, pupils are on average more than half a year behind in learning compared to previous years. For children with a migration background, the average is even one and a half years (Ludewig et al., 2021).In addition, social inequality is noticeable in the area of physical activity and sport – here too, the problems were further exacerbated by the pandemic (Leopoldina, 2022). The large proportion of socially disadvantaged children who do not exercise enough (73%) rose again to 78% in 2022 (IFT-Nord, 2022). It is therefore all the more important to offer activities that meet the needs of all children and motivate them to get enough exercise.

The good deed

Your donation today will enable children growing up in particularly challenging neighbourhoods to receive a comprehensive range of language lessons, football training and cultural activities. Children's educational opportunities are to be decisively strengthened so that they are able to successfully master school and thus follow their own self-determined path. The twice-weekly combination of one half of football training and one half of language lessons offers an optimal methodical change - with the effect that the children can concentrate better, are more motivated for the school learning content and are better able to adapt their attention and their actions in different situations. In addition, football makes the children stronger as a group, which promotes a pleasant learning atmosphere in the language lessons. The programme is complemented by cultural activities that take place several times a year, such as a rap poetry workshop, where the children can express their interest in football in literary form, thus promoting writing and reading skills.