These are situations that could arise in class: The representative of a party had publicly called for children who had fled their homeland to be prevented from crossing the border into Germany by force of arms if necessary. The children in a secondary school class recently had a new classmate who fled herself and are now asking their teacher: Can the German police do that? Point guns at children? Or, another example: A student wants to know whether what Member of the Bundestag XY said is true: that Hitler and the Nazis are a marginal note in German history.
These are not easy questions that teachers are constantly confronted with in class. When the buzzword “remigration” triggers fears in our society, when people talk about Hamas’ terrorist attack on Jews in Israel and the war in Gaza, about demonstrations against right-wing extremism and freedom of expression – then these are of course topics that children and young people also have to deal with and which they bring with them to school, into the classroom. Teachers have to deal with this – but how do you do it?
The term duty of neutrality is often used in these situations, which in itself raises the question of whether teachers are even allowed to take a political position. “There has always been a certain uncertainty among teachers about how they can express themselves,” says Martina Borgendale, secondary school teacher and chairwoman of GEW Bayern.
“For years, the extreme right has been using the demand for ‘compliance with political neutrality obligations’ in schools to ensure that teachers prefer not to comment on certain topics for fear of consequences,” says Miriam Heigl, head of the Munich Department for Democracy. With their demand, the extreme right wants to ensure that anti-democratic or racist statements are presented as just as legitimate as other positions. It doesn’t have much to do with the current legal situation, she says. On the contrary.
“Although there are obligations to party-political neutrality and objectivity, at the same time teachers are also obliged to actively work to respect human dignity and the basic values of the constitution,” says Heigl. The Department for Democracy developed the above examples for Munich teachers – including suggestions on how they should react in such situations.
Not everyone needs this help – Philip Fickel, for example, a biology and chemistry teacher at the Anita Augspurg vocational high school, says he took a course on the topic during his traineeship. He says very clearly: “We are not politically neutral, we stand for democracy. This is not about party politics, but about giving students the chance to develop into responsible citizens.”
With a colleague, he leads the “School without Racism” group at school. Many students volunteer there during their lunch break, he says. They discuss and plan projects. At the moment one for International Women’s Day. He is in his third year at the school and he has the impression: “Our student body is very political.”
The debate about remigration triggered fears among students
Tobias Verbeck also has a similar impression; he heads the history department at the Adolf-Weber-Gymnasium. Sometimes the discussions get heated when it comes to freedom of expression, for example the ban on pro-Palestinian demos in Munich – or a possible ban on the AfD party. “The mood at our school is not particularly tense, not even during discussions about the Potsdam meeting or demonstrations against the right.” In the junior election last year, the AfD reached five percent at the school – significantly less than the Bavaria-wide average of 12.2 percent.
However, the debate about so-called remigration has triggered fears among students with a migration background, says Tobias Verbeck. And solidarity with the others who are friends with them. In the political election course, questions arose: “You can’t revoke your citizenship, right?”
He then classified this idea and explained that it would clearly be against the law and contradict our values. And he talked to the students about the big demonstrations against the right-wing, about the importance of filling a democracy with life. “This is an example of how you have to be political in a democracy.”
He says that the duty of neutrality isn’t that difficult after all: “Fundamental rights are the foundation on which we stand. And they are in no way debatable.” If you broadcast that, says Verbeck, it conveys security to the students. “I have no problem saying clearly when something is unconstitutional. Our democracy is strong, I make that clear in class.” It would be wrong to simply leave everything that is said there – “then it becomes dangerous,” says Verbeck.
The Sachesbach Consensus applies to political education, says GEW chairwoman Martina Borgendale. This means, among other things, that topics must be presented in their controversial nature. “Bringing in lots of perspectives and perspectives in class shouldn’t be a problem. Because that’s exactly what makes teaching fun,” she says. The fact that she is a member of the SPD, that she is on the board, that she is involved in the union – she didn’t bring that up in class – but she talked about it when she was asked about it.
The Department for Democracy recommends the following regarding the two example situations: In the first case, the teacher should point out that current laws do not allow the use of firearms against children. She could describe the party representative’s demand as illegal and incompatible with the provisions of the Basic Law. In case two, the teacher should reject the MP’s statement as incorrect and point out the consequences of National Socialism. It does not violate the duty of neutrality to oppose the claim that 50 million deaths, the Holocaust and the war of annihilation are a “side note” of German history.