DDS – Die Deutsche Schule: Issue 3/2026, 118. Volume Through the Introduction of a Multi-perspective Approach?

A central challenge of the 21st century is to prepare children for the demands of the digital age and to equip them with the necessary fundamental digital competencies. Research shows that children from less privileged families possess lower levels of digital literacy and that these disparities have widened in recent years. This article examines whether the introduction of a multi-perspective curricular approach for fostering digital literacy in Grade 5 can contribute to reducing social inequalities. Using the German federal state of Hesse as an example, the study investigates whether social inequalities in self-efficacies regarding competencies related to the digital world increase (reinforcement) or decrease (compensation) over the course of a school year when content about digital world phenomena is integrated into the classroom. Drawing on the framework of status reproduction theory and the concept of differential learning and development environments, two theoretically opposing mechanisms are outlined and empirically tested using data from the “Digital World” pilot project. The results show that while social disparities in digital self-efficacy do increase during a school year in general, this increase is mitigated tendentially by the introduction of “Digital World”.

Keywords
social inequality, digital self-efficacy, „educational offer“, „information Technology education“ und „Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)“, multiperspectivity