Nazi Germany - Education Flashcards
Define indoctrinate
- to teach people to fully accept the ideas, opinions & beliefs of a particular group,
- & to not consider other ideas, opinions & beliefs
Define Gleichschaltung
- '’making the same’’
- the process by which Nazi Germany successively established a system of complete coordination over all aspects of society
List the variety of aims of Nazi Education Policies
- for children to adhere to nationalistic Nazi ideas & beliefs
- militarise a physically healthy youth
- centralised state-run system
- impose social darwinism - destruction of the weak
- brainwashing to make them fight for the Fuhrer
What were the continuities with weimar education regarding the structure of the school system
- classless, equal state-system of education
- compulsory education from 6-14
- state school structure remained
What were the continuities with weimar education regarding the role of teachers
- right-wing profession
- (1933 - 300 university professors signed an appeal to the German people to vote Nazi)
What were the continuities with weimar education regarding the students & the curriculum
- right-wing student base
- (1931: anti-semitic riots in universities, 60% of students were members of the Nazi Student’s league)
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the structure of the education system
-Centralised structure
- The länder lost control of education, it became centralised
- Bernhard Rust was made head of the new Ministry for Education, Culture and Science of the Reich in May 1934.
- 1935 series of central directives (orders) controlled what was taught in schools for all years & all subjects across Germany
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the structure of the education system
-abolition of certain school-types
- Private primary school education was abolished
- Confessional schools abolished
- Fee-paying secondary schools and universities remained only for “pure Germans”
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the structure of the education system
-divided education
- March 20, 1933: Separate secondary education for boys and girls (to prepare for stereotyped roles)
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the structure of the education system
-military schools
- April 20, 1933:
- 21 National Political Education Institutions (Napolas) opened
- schools to train group of boys for the armed forces
- (12-18 years)
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the structure of the education system
-govt schools
- 1937 Adolf Hitler Schools set up for students, 12-18 years,
- You would be selected by local Germans Young Folk,
- if you had skills the state seekd for parliamentary jobs in the future
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the structure of the education system
-elite boarding schools
- Castles of the Order (Ordensburgen): 3 elite boarding schools to train boys for entry into government service (12-18 years)
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the role of teachers
National Socialist Teachers League
- National Socialist Teachers League (NSLB) established in April 1929
- By 1935, 25% of teachers joined
- By 1937, 95% of teachers had joined as it was impossible to get a job if you were not a member
- it ran compulsory courses for teachers e.g. Nazi ideology and changes to curriculum
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the role of teachers
undesirable teachers
- “Undesirable” teachers purged by law in April 1933
- 60% of teachers were purged
- 15% of university professors racial and political grounds
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the role of teachers
-more control over who can be a teacher
- September 24, 1935: Ministry of Education controlled the selection and training of teachers and professors.
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the role of teachers
-respect
- Reduced respect for teaching profession
- 1938: there were 8,000 teaching vacancies
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the role of teachers
-the leadership principle
- Eührerprinzip (the “leadership principle”) was introduced in schools and universities
- Teachers were not consulted on education policy.
- Headteachers made all the decisions which had to be based on Nazi ideals
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the students & the curriculum
-purpose of curriculum
- Curriculum was determined by central government -
- specific subjects had to be taught to educate children to become “good Nazis”;
- schools were a place to indoctrinate children, and to teach loyalty to Hitler and Germany
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the students & the curriculum
-Nationalist socialism
- December 1st, 1936: A law was passed which stated that all German youths were te be educated according to the philosophies of Nationalist Socialism from the age of 10
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the students & the curriculum
-radical curriculum
- Radicalisation of curriculum:
- Greater emphasis on physical fitness, 15% of curriculum)
- racial purity (Aryans = superior race, Slave races were inferior and Jews the source of Germany’s problems)
- History (creation of a Volksgemeinschaft and sense of nationhood)
- anti-intellectual and Health Biology (focused on race, eugenics and motherhood for girls)
- Religious Studies dropped
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the students & the curriculum
-stereotypes
- Stereotyped roles:
- Girls - modern languages or home economics
- Boys science, modern languages or classics → prepare for university
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the students & the curriculum
-labour
- Students completed Labour Service (e.g. work on farms) and military training for a number of weeks of the year
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the students & the curriculum
-textbooks
- Censored textbooks - booklets printed to support new areas of curriculum;
- sources of propaganda, e.g. maths equations
- enforcing that schools were vehicles for communicating Nazi ideology
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving the students & the curriculum
-anti-semitism
- Jewish children were forced out of German schools to attend Jewish schools (abolished 1942)
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving outside of school
-Hitler Youth
- The Hitler Youth movement was set up with separate groups for girls and boys.
- All other youth movements were abolished
- In 1936, the Hitler Youth had 4 million members, and it became compulsory to join the Hitler Youth.
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving outside of school
-indoctrinating classifcation of boys
- Boys: Pimpfen (“Little Folk) from 6 years
- Jungvolk (“Youngsters”) from 10 years
- Hitler Jungend (“Hitter Youth”) from 14-18 years
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving outside of school
-indoctrinating classifcation of girls
- Girls Jungmadel “Young Girls” from 10 years
- Bund Deutsches Madel “Association of German Young Women” from 14 years
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving outside of school
-pamphlets
- These organisations aimed to reinforce messages taught in schools.
- E.g. Pamphlets were issued which condemned the Treaty of Versailles, and explained racial purity and the importance of having strong, healthy babies
Describe the key changes in Nazi Germany involving outside of school
-obedience in the Hitler Youth
- Members of the Hitler Youth were expected to report on anything their teachers (or family) did which went against Nazi values.
Impact of Nazi policies affecting the structure of the education system
- Those in university were still mainly upper and middle class children
- Exactly the same number of working class children went to university in 1939 as in 1933
Impact of Nazi policies affecting the role of teachers
- Standards of education declined under anti-academic ethos of schools
- Reduced respect for teaching profession
- Reduced standards of entry employing unqualified teaching assistants
Impact of Nazi policies affecting the students & the curriculum
- Fewer students completed academic education (government control over selection of university students and quota established for each region)
- Only 10% of university students were female
- Exactly the same number of working class children went to university in 1939 as in 1933
Impact of Nazi policies affecting outside of school
- 1939: 90% of young people in Germany were members of the Hitler Youth
- Hitler Youth became less popular once it was compulsory
