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Anti-Discrimination Counselling in School Settings: Practices, Professionalisation Processes, and Experiences

Racist discrimination is widespread within the German school system. Nevertheless, there are no binding nationwide legal and administrative provisions that effectively protect students and parents against racist discrimination in schools. As a result, they often encounter significant barriers when attempting to challenge racism on their own. Increasingly, they turn to anti-discrimination counselling services outside the school system for support. In response to the numerous reports of racism in educational settings, these services have increasingly specialised in addressing discrimination in schools. They have thus become an important part of the field of anti-discrimination work, which has been undergoing a process of institutionalisation since the 2000s.

The research project examines the practices and perspectives of these counselling services, the experiences of students and parents affected by racist discrimination when seeking advice and support, and current processes of professionalisation in the field of anti-discrimination work. Particular attention is paid to the conditions, opportunities, and limitations of counselling and support provided outside the school system, as well as to the tensions that arise when addressing racism in educational settings.

Research Approach and Methodology

The project investigates the field of anti-discrimination counselling in the context of schools and migration societies. It examines the practices and perspectives of counselling services alongside the experiences of students and parents affected by racist discrimination. Particular attention is paid to identifying and analysing the constitutive tensions inherent in the counselling and support provided outside the school system to students and parents affected by racism. In addition, the project adopts a comparative approach across Germany's federal states, taking into account the specific anti-discrimination policy discourses and institutional frameworks in each context. Data collection takes place in Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Thuringia.

Objectives and Knowledge Transfer into Practice

The study contributes to advancing research on racism in the school system, the experiences of students and parents affected by racist discrimination, and the ways in which racism is addressed by counselling services outside the school system. In addition, practice-oriented materials are being developed in collaboration with current and future professionals, parents, and students. These include teaching materials and concepts for university-based training of future professionals in anti-discrimination work, as well as recommendations for multiprofessional and discrimination-critical approaches to school development.

Expert Advisory Board

The project is supported by an expert advisory board comprising the following members:

  • Aliyeh Yegane Arani, Head of the Anti-Discrimination Office for Schools (ADAS), LIFE e. V., Berlin

  • Elisa Calzolari, Managing Director of the State Association of Migrants, MigraNetz Thüringen e. V.

  • Mercedes Pascual Iglesias, Professional Lead and Advisor at BANDAS, the anti-discrimination counselling service in North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Andreas Foitzik, Long-standing Coordinator of the Baden-Württemberg State Working Group on Anti-Discrimination Counselling and staff member at adis e. V. (Anti-Discrimination, Empowerment and Practice Development), Tübingen

  • Dr. Sally Riedel, Founder and Managing Director of MOSAIQ e. V., Hamburg; active in educational work that critically examines power relations and racism, as well as in a municipal think tank

  • Beate Seusing, Managing Director of the Association of Migrant Women, Migrants and Refugees in Lower Saxony (amfn e. V.), which also operates the Anti-Racism in Education Counselling Centre in Lower Saxony

Funding, Project Leadership, and Duration

Funding: Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) and the Zukunft.Niedersachsen funding programme

Project Lead: Prof. Dr. Ellen Kollender, University of Cologne

Research Associate: Christina Biel, Leuphana University Lüneburg

Project Duration: 15 January 2026 – 31 December 2029