A Curriculum for Crisis and Community

When the World Shakes, We Learn

At a time when crises and disasters - from pandemics and extreme weather to war and disinformation - are increasingly affecting everyday school life, a central question arises: How can schools remain capable of action-taking capacity in such exceptional situations?

The Curriculum for Crisis and Community - developed through a Participatory, Practice-Based Research Project, can be activated in the event of an acute crisis It is not about emergency plans in the traditional sense, but about an educational framework concept that provides orientation, strengthens community and enables learning in difficult times.

The Curriculum for Crisis and Community is an educational framework for schools and education in exceptional situations - such as war, disasters, pandemics or other social crises. It is aimed at schools, teachers, school administrators, pupils and parents and offers orientation, structure and concrete materials for dealing with uncertainty, excessive demands and exceptional circumstances in everyday school life.

Central to the project is its participatory development: the Curriculum for Crisis and Community was not designed at a desk, but developed together with students, the state student council, parents, head teachers and teachers. Experiences from school, university and educational administration were continuously incorporated into the concept. The aim was to make real perspectives, needs and conflict situations visible and to take them seriously - especially those of the pupils.

The aim of the project is to keep education possible even when normality is no longer a given: not as a mere emergency operation, but as conscious, reflective and solidary educational work. The focus is on questions of attitude, responsibility, psychological stabilization, democratic practice and community in times of crisis.

The project includes, among other things

• the Curriculum for Crisis and Community as a conceptual framework, which resembles a curriculum in terms of the type of text and suggests learning opportunities in module form from which teachers can choose the right one for them.

• a Handout for school administrators and teachers with specific institutional options for action and opportunities for reflection on the question: What tasks do schools have in crisis situations?

• as well as the emergency school booklet as low-threshold, personal support material directly for pupils.

The project was developed at the TUD Dresden University of Technology, at the Chair of Didactics of Civic Education under the direction of Prof. Dr. Anja Besand.

You can find more about the project and the finished modules (after completion) here