Education Section B

Question 1

Aim of education - Weimar

Answer 1

A fairer system with a mixed, non- confessional intake with no religious education

Question 2

Structure of education - Weimar

Answer 2

• Education controlled by the Länder
• Compulsory 6-14 years
• Secondary education from 10 years old had to be paid for, Tripartite system.
• 1931: 29000 protestant schools
  15000 Catholic schools, 97 Jewish schools, 8900 non-confessional schools, 295 secular schools

Question 3

Aim of education - Nazi

Answer 3

Classless, equal state of education

Question 4

Structure of education - Nazi

Answer 4

• Länder lost control of education, centralised control of education
• Education still compulsory 6-14 years.
• Tripartite system remains
• Confessional schools (religious schools) abolished, private primary schools abolished
• Separate secondary education for boys and girls
• Specialised secondary schools established, e.g. Adolf Hitler Schools, National Political Education Institutions, Castles of the Order.

Question 5

Aim of education - FRG

Answer 5

De-Nazification of the system, no religious education, teach democracy to a new generation

Question 6

Structure of education - FRG

Answer 6

• Article 30 Länder remained responsible for education (Like Weimar) which meant educational opportunity and curriculum varied between regions.
• Länder having control also made it harder to reform education as the Federal gov could not always make the Länder adopt their proposals.
• The Dusseldorf Agreement 1955 regulated term dates, exam standards and subjects across nation
• Tripartite system remains
• Free education up until the end of secondary school

Question 7

Role of teachers - Weimar

Answer 7

• Right-wing teaching profession (in 1933 300 university professors signed an appeal to the German people to vote Nazi)
• Teachers were paid poorly especially after 1929 (this increased support for Nazis as they promised to make education the foundation of the new Reich

Question 8

Role of teachers - Nazi

Answer 8

• National Socialist Teachers League (NSLB) established in April 1929. By 1937 95% of teachers had joined as it was impossible to get a job if you were not a member.
• Reduced respect for teaching profession (In 1938 2500 teachers were qualified and there were 8000 teaching vacancies
• Führerprinzip introduced in schools ands unis. Teachers not consulted on education policy, headteachers made all decisions.

Question 9

Role of teachers - FRG

Answer 9

• Nazi teachers and university professors removed under Year Zero policy
• Teachers in US zone focused on teaching democratic values/also teacher exchange programmes with USA led to influence of US culture in FRG

Question 10

Students + curriculum - Weimar

Answer 10

• Right-wing student base. (In 1931 anti-Semitic riots in universities , 60% of students were members of the Nazi Student’s League)
• Diverse range of education in schools, no limitations to learning based upon political ideology
• Students had to pass the Abitur exam to go to uni, majority of uni students were middle or upper class (2.3% were w/c)

Question 11

Students + curriculum - Nazi

Answer 11

• Schools as a place to indoctrinate children and to teach loyalty to Hitler and Germany.
• Students required to join the Nazi student union
• Radicalisation of curriculum: greater emphasis on physical fitness, racial purity, German history, anti-intellectual and Health biology (focused on race, eugenics, and motherhood for girls). Religious studies dropped
• Censored textbooks; booklets printed to support new areas of curriculum; sources of propaganda. Schools were a method of communicating and enforcing Nazi ideology
• Stereotypes roles: Girls learned modern languages or home economics, boys learnt science, modern languages or classics to prepare for university)

Question 12

Students + curriculum - FRG

Answer 12

• Curriculum varied widely between Länder
• History was an issue due to Year Zero, people wanted to remove the history of the Nazis and their propaganda – led to it being dry and factual with a focus on Europe over Germany.
• May 1946 – Allies ban Nazi school books, films and slides that taught racial theory
• Gov funded students to access uni, as less than 7% went to uni in 1971. Enrolment increased by 75% by 1992 BUT only 38% were women