Education + Generational Conflict in the FRG Flashcards
What was the aim of schooling post war?
- Allies wanted to de-Nazify the curriculum and educate for a democratic society
- They had removed Nazis in universities, Nazi teachers and textbooks.
- Allied reforms focused on pre-university education
Who still controlled education and why was this a problem?
Länder
- They had too many differences, e.g few secular schools in the south compared to the North
- They had disputes. e.g how should history be taught? Should they teach about the Nazis?
- They often resorted to dry fact based teaching about Europe more generally and acted as a block to reform
What did the Brandt Gov attempt in 1971?
- Attempted to introduce a federal framework for restructuring schools that the Länder would have to adopt
- It included extra help for disadvantaged kids, less streaming by ability, more mobility in secondary schools and a restructuring of the university system
- Passed with a narrow majority in the Bundestag but did not get the required vote for the Bundesrat to become law
- Therefore when it passed it was simply restating the existing system and school restructuring did not happen
What was the university crisis in the 1960’s?
- Student numbers had risen and the facilities, e.g lecture theatres, were inadequate
- The curriculum was too old fashioned and so was technology
- Economics for example still only catered mostly to the children of academics, civil servants and those who were well off
- 1971 Federal Education Promotion Act provided a mix of state funding and loans to encourage working class kids to go to university
Why were parents encouraged to keep their kids in school? (include stats)
- Schooling was free up until the end of secondary
- No. of children in Gymnasium went from 853,400 —> over 2 million
- No. of children in University went from 239,000 —> 749,000
What did Older Germans want? (culturally)
- They wanted to return to the state where Germany were the lead of European culture
- Instead the allies had flooded the zones with news that had democratic themes
- USA had introduced Hollywood and Britain used Shakespeare
What was the anti-nuclear movement?
- Various movements grew in the 1950’s
- Shared a rejection of consumerism and a desire for a peaceful and equal society
- They had a desire to change established society, some wanted a better society and some wanted to change it to save it from destruction
What were the generational tensions in the 1960’s?
- With the ‘year zero’ approach the younger generation wanted to confront the older generation
- Older generation wanted more traditional culture with consumerism to avoid the shortages of the 40’s
- Whereas the younger generation wanted a less consumerist lifestyle with a culture that faced the immediate past, not the distant past or American culture
Who were Alexander and Margarete Mistscherlich?
Two psychoanalysts who had left Nazi Germany but returned after the war
What did Alexander and Margarete Mistscherlich say in their book ‘The inability to mourn’?
- They suggested Germany who lived through the Nazi era behaved as if Nazism was an infectious disease that they had caught
- They acted as if they had recovered from this and were not responsible
- This was widely read and highly influential and some Länder reformed and taught about Nazi Germany
