Alte und neue Herausforderungen einer sozial gerechten Bildungspolitik

Old and new challenges for a socially just education policy This article is a critical discussion of recent education reforms in Germany. Particular attention is paid to developments in the sectors of early childhood education and care, school policies and vocational education and training. From a social justice perspective, the broad direction of reform dynamics in these areas is positive. The core thesis of this article is, however, that there is a danger that many of the recent reforms will stop at the half-way mark. The partial implementation of reforms entails the risk of exacerbating existing educational and social inequalities rather than mitigating them – as this article shows in several examples. Progressive education reforms are therefore often confronted with the dilemma of promoting equality-enhancing reforms, which may create new kinds of inequalities. Furthermore, the article also devotes attention to the topic of how the digital transformation of the world of work influences vocational education and training. Most probably, the rapidly proceeding automation and digitalisation of employment will reinforce existing centrifugal forces in the German vocational training system.