Education at Robert Bosch Stiftung

In the area of Education support, we are committed to sustainable daycare centers and schools in Germany. With our own projects and through our funding, we test solutions and gather knowledge that benefits the entire education system. We work closely with stakeholders from educational institutions, administration, research and politics to accomplish these goals.

The situation

The German education system has massive quality problems in both early childhood and school education. Numerous comparative education studies show a worrying trend: In Germany, social background continues to play a decisive role in determining educational success. At the same time, the cooperation between stakeholders required for sustainable change is often weak and ineffective. Social challenges such as the shortage of skilled workers, migration, war, and the pandemic are exacerbating this tense situation. Teachers and educators are feeling the effects in their own work overload as well as in the declining performance and mental health problems among children and young people.

The goal

Our approaches are based on a broad concept of inclusion: An inclusive education system offers all children and young people the opportunity to participate in society because it helps them to acquire the necessary skills. We pursue three goals with our projects:

Well-being: Schools and daycare centers are places of learning and living where all children and young people feel a sense of belonging and well-being.
Educational equity: All learners have access to high-quality educational opportunities, regardless of where they come from or their social background. They can develop their individual strengths and talents to the best of their ability.
Performance: All children and young people can achieve their best possible individual performance. It is expected with confidence that they can perform at a high level.

Our strategy

The vision of a fair, sustainable and inclusive education system requires comprehensive change at all levels. A sustainable improvement in the quality of education and equal opportunities is only possible if administrative and support structures change alongside daycare centers and schools. Together with our partners from educational administration, educational practice and educational research, we contribute to the professionalization of educational staff and administration. To this end, we develop training and organizational development offers with a basis in both practice and research. By regularly collecting representative data from schools, we also contribute to a deeper understanding of the problem.

What we focus on

Vera Loitzsch

Good schools and preschools

Schools and preschools must see themselves as learning organizations and pursue continuous organizational development so they can address the challenges they face. For many years, we have been pursuing the approach “from practice for practice.” Grounded in an evidence-based understanding of quality, we identify good practices and facilitate the transfer of knowledge gained from experience. In this self-reinforcing cycle, we support innovative schools and preschools in testing new solutions so others can learn from and adapt them. For example, we are constantly developing further training and school development programs based on the concepts of schools that have won the German School Award.

Future-proof education system

Merely showing and disseminating examples of best practices is not enough to bring about sustainable change in the education system. This is why we work closely with stakeholders in education administration and education policy and jointly develop tailor-made support services for different systems. This also includes networking and training opportunities for decision-makers in administration. Our cooperation with ministries of education and state institutions ensures that the necessary conditions are created and that measures can have a long-term effect. In our programs, we see ourselves as a bridge that facilitates and moderates the exchange between educational practice, administration, politics and research.

Read our stories

German School Award

These are the 2023 award-winning schools

In Berlin, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Heidehof Stiftung award Germany’s most prestigious annual prize for...

Mental health of children and adolescents

Why schools must think of education and well-being as inseparable

An interview with Julian Schmitz who...

German School Barometer

More and more children worry about their family's financial situation

Teachers are increasingly observing signs of child poverty among their...

Video

Educational equity: Poor Parents, Poor Opportunities?

Educational opportunities are unfairly distributed in Germany. Our expert,...

Look into the Future

A Day At School in 2035

What will teaching look like in the future? Here’s some food for thought.

On the road with the German School Award jury

Scouting out good schools

In its search for the best schools in Germany, the German School Award jury...

Inclusive School

Diversity welcome

At the inclusive Ketteler Primary School, it is easy to see how schools can cope with the growing heterogeneity of pupils.

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Highlights

German School Award: Identifying and recognizing good practices

Since 2006, together with the Heidehof Foundation, we have been recognizing good schools with the German School Award, the most prestigious and most highly endowed award for good schools in Germany. The competition has since developed into a nationwide network with over 100 award-winning schools. An application is always a win. In addition to feedback, all applicant schools receive exclusive training, advice and networking opportunities.

German School Portal: Making good practices visible and disseminating it

We want good practices to spread. That's why we launched the German School Portal in 2018. This is where we bundle digital services for developing schools and teaching. On the online platform, educators will find a diverse digital training program, films that offer insights into the concepts of the school award winners, current information, infographics, reports and guest contributions from experts from research and practice.

Huyen Truong

German School Barometer: Current data on the state of schools

We regularly commission representative surveys on the current state of schools in Germany and make the results available to a broad public. The German School Barometer makes it possible to describe developments at an early stage, as people who help shape and experience schools and teaching on a daily basis are surveyed throughout Germany. The surveys are carried out by the opinion research institute Forsa.

AdobeStock

Monitor Education and Mental Health (Bipsy-Monitor)

In this project, we support the development of a nationwide monitor that maps the psychosocial care of children and adolescents in outpatient psychotherapy care structures and educational institutions. The goal is to improve psychosocial care in outpatient psychotherapy practices and schools in a sustainable and data-based manner.

Our subsidiary

Robert Bosch College UWC

Robert Bosch College UWC's mission it is to "make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future."

You want to submit a funding application?

We look forward to receiving your request. As a charitable foundation, we have limited funding at our disposal, which is why we can only support a small number of submitted project ideas. You will find some information on this below. Please submit your funding request via the foundation's portal.

Please note what we do not fund:
Projects that exclusively benefit a school or daycare center (this is only possible in connection with our own programs such as the German School Award)
Projects that do not involve the transfer of experience or research results
Infrastructure projects or costs, construction projects, renovation measures, operating equipment in schools, daycare centers or universities
Projects that are in the past, have already begun or are about to begin
Material purchases, printing cost subsidies and evaluation measures beyond the projects we have already funded
Individuals (e.g. doctoral projects or scholarships)

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Your contact persons

Dr. Dagmar Wolf

Senior Vice President

Quality in Education, Education System

Phone+49 711 46084-138

e-mail to Dr. Dagmar Wolf

Andrea Preußker

Director

Phone+49 711 46084-758

e-mail to Andrea Preußker

About

Learn more about our projects

Learning

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Education

Daycare and school for the 21st century