SPIEGEL interview: „New school, poor grades – is that necessary?”

In an interview with Swantje Unterberg from DER SPIEGEL, Professor Silvia-Iris Beutel provides information on how parents and teachers can help children successfully manage the transition to high school as well as educational transitions in general and avoid dips in performance. It is recommended at elementary schools to create 'learning supports' for the transition to secondary school to ease the transition. Furthermore it is emphasized how important it is to support pupils in a timely manner to prevent negative impacts on their academic self-concept. Prof. Beutel suggests encouraging individual support for each student and to begin pedagogical and didactic approaches early, so that setbacks in their biography do not occur in the first place. It should be clear where the child stands and what support they need. Parents should therefore inform themselves early about performance expectations from teachers, which also need to be made transparent to the child. Parents are also advised to be open and ready for dialogue and to support their child as reliable companions during the transition to the new school. The corresponding article was published online in the 'SPIEGEL Panorama' section of the news portal 'DER SPIEGEL' on January 23, 2024.