Apropos Gegenwart #7: LANGUAGE AND SELF-WORTH

Too often children’s social background determines their educational prospects. Multilingualism in the family is seen as a flaw rather than an asset to be cultivated. Melisa Erkurt is a journalist and former teacher who left Bosnia for Austria as a child. She sees her own professional success as an exception to the rule. She argues that it is not the disparagingly named “educationally disadvantaged students” who need to change but rather Austrian schools – and at the same time the opportunities that society gives its youngest members. Sasha Marianna Salzmann speaks with Erkurt about possible solutions for a society that finally needs to face up to its diversity.

Das Projekt Tage der Jüdisch-Muslimischen Leitkultur befindet sich in Trägerschaft der Leo Back Foundation und wird von der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung und der Allianz Kulturstiftung gefördert. Deutschlandfunk Kultur ist Medienpartner der Veranstaltungsreihe.