Education from a Protestant Perspective

Transcription

Education from a
Protestant Perspective
A Collection of Documents
from the Evangelical Church
in Germany
1
2
Education from
a Protestant Perspective
A Collection of Documents
from the Evangelical Church
in Germany
Gütersloher Verlagshaus
3
Herausgegeben vom Kirchenamt der Evangelischen Kirche
in Deutschland (EKD)
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der
Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im
Internet über https://portal.dnb.de abrufbar.
1. Auflage
Copyright © 2013 by Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh,
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Content
Introduction ..........................................................................
7
Identity and Dialogue
Place and Perspectives of Religious Education
in a Plural Society ..................................................................... 16
Growing up in Difficult Times
Children in Society and the Church Community ........................... 33
Orientation amid Increasing Disorientation
Church-Organised Protestant Adult Education .............................. 47
Discovering Faith
Preparing for Confirmation and Confirmation in process ................. 57
The Conference of German Bishops and
the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD):
On the Cooperation of Protestant and Catholic Religious Education ... 71
Religious Education for Muslim Pupils ................................. 75
Accompanying and Convincing Young People
12 Theses of the EKD Council about Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier
(Secular Youth Initiation) and its relation to Confirmation ............... 84
Religion in Primary School .................................................... 99
On the Human Scale
Protestant Perspectives on Education
in a Knowledge- and Learning Society .......................................... 124
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Perspectives for Youths with
Poor Qualification Opportunities .......................................... 136
Whole-Day School – Done Right! ......................................... 153
Religious Education and the General
Qualification for University Admission
The role and function of religious education
in the gymnasiale Oberstufe (sixth form) ........................................ 170
Where Faith Grows and Life Unfolds
The Mission of Protestant Child Care Centres ............................... 197
Religious Education
10 Theses of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany ....... 204
Religion, Values and Religious Education
in Elementary Education
10 Theses of the EKD Council .................................................... 214
Protestant Schools
Self-Definition, Capabilities and Perspectives ................................. 226
The Origin of the World, the Theory
of Evolution, and Creation Faith in School ............................ 244
Church and Education
Challenges, Principles and Perspectives
of Protestant Stewardship of Education, Educational Responsibility
and Church Activities in Education .............................................. 265
Church and Youth
Situations – Encounters – Perspectives .......................................... 286
Public Statement: “No one should be lost!”
A Protestant Plea for more Educational Justice ............................... 308
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Introduction
The Church’s stewardship of education has to be developed in two different perspectives:
– As a stewardship for the human quality of education in the public
education system shared with other stakeholders of education in society
– And as an undivided responsibility for the explanation and transmission of Christian faith and tradition across the generations.1
The collection of various texts, memoranda, and documents in this
publication underscores the message of the resolution of the EKD
Synod in Travemünde in 1990. It emphasises the broad perspective
on education the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) takes,
undertaking its own educational activities as well as taking responsibility for the public education system and its development. In its
own areas it aims for a comprehensive approach to content and
structure. This includes Church-affiliated educational institutions
ranging from elementary education to schools of different types and
levels up to family education programs, adult education and educational activities for elderly persons. For the Evangelical Church in
Germany, its 22 territorial member Churches, and for Protestantism
as a whole, education is of great importance. Martin Luther and
Philipp Melanchthon, two of the prominent reformers, both gave
1 Kirchenamt der EKD (Hg.) (1991): Lübeck-Travemünde 1990. Bericht über die siebte
Tagung der siebten Synode der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland vom 4. Bis 9.
November 1990, S. 856.
(Die Bildungsverantwortung der Kirche ist nach zwei Seiten hin zu entfalten:
– Als mit anderen gesellschaftlichen Verantwortungsträgern geteilte pädagogische Verantwortung für die menschliche Qualität von Erziehung und Bildung im öffentlichen
Bildungssystem
– Und als ungeteilte Verantwortung der Erschließung und Weitergabe der christlichen
Glaubensüberlieferung im Generationenzusammenhang.)
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education high priority as a means to acquire life-encouraging
knowledge and developing competencies to communicate and act
in societal contexts. It is in this tradition that the EKD has become
one of the main stakeholders in education in Germany. Stewardship
in education includes its own educational activities, but also partnership with other stakeholders in education in society and with the
state. The statements provide a balanced insight into both perspectives.
About the EKD
22 Lutheran, Reformed and United regional Churches (Landeskirchen)
form the Evangelical Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in
Deutschland – EKD). Protestant Church structures in Germany are
based on federal principles at all levels. Each local congregation is
responsible for Christian life in its own area, while each regional
Church has its own special characteristics and retains its independence. Without in any way diminishing this autonomy, the EKD carries out the joint tasks with which its members have entrusted it. The
EKD has the following governing bodies, all organised and elected
along democratic lines: the Synod, the Council and the Church Conference. They are responsible for fulfilling the EKD’s tasks as laid
down in the constitution of the EKD and therefore also deal with
educational issues, as can be seen in this collection of texts.
The day-to-day business of the Council, the Synod and the Church
Conference is conducted by the EKD Church Office. For certain
areas which require constant guidance and support, such as environmental issues, sports, prison chaplaincy, television, films, unemployment etc., special commissioners are appointed by the Council.
In order to draw up statements, memoranda, etc., the Council has
set up advisory commissions and boards made up of experts from
Church and public life (such as the Advisory Commissions for Public Responsibility, Social Order, Theology and Issues of Faith, Young
People, and Education).
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A specific profile of education
The range of texts in this volume confirms that there is a specific
profile to the Church’s stewardship in education. This is grounded
in a basic understanding of education that takes into account the
whole human being and not isolated aspects of his/her personality.
Education from a Christian Protestant understanding encourages
perspectives of a ‘fulfilled life’, and of responsibility for oneself and
for the Other. It is oriented on criteria that serve the human being
in his/her biography. Two fundamental principles of the specific
profile of education are a “change of perspectives”, that takes fuller
and more serious account of the perspective of children and youths
in Church education and a biographical approach to education.
Education is seen as a basic human right and an important resource
for a sustainable future.
There is an inner connection between education and the Church.
Education is at the same time a motif and a consequence of faith.
For the reformers like Martin Luther or John Calvin, education held
a high priority in order to enable everyone to read the Bible. Faith,
in a Protestant understanding, also does not lead the believer out of
the world, but into the world and needs an active commitment
within the community as well as to people of other or no faiths or
non religious worldviews.
Many of the basic tenets of Christianity contain guiding principles
for education. The God-given dignity of the human being cannot
be satisfied with an education system where social background
determines success in education. Also, the Biblical appreciation
of children as a perspective for the future and a gift of God supports care for the younger generation as a central motif of education.
It is no surprise, in view of the philosophy of education that underlies its own activities, that the Evangelical Church in Germany also
plays a responsible role in the public education system. This is based
on a number of reasons including stewardship for the public education system, especially for religious education in public state schools,
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but also an active role in other fields as a stakeholder in the public
education system. Two of the main fields and concerns are:
(1) The cooperation between state and religious communities. Although Germany is a secular state whose political system is not
affiliated with any religious community, there are several levels
of cooperation between state and the religious communities. A
sophisticated legal system – known as ecclesiastical law – has
developed to govern the relations of Church, other religious
communities and the State. It is based primarily on the basic
right of freedom of religion and on the freedom of religious
associations to organise and administer their own affairs. This
is done within the boundaries of the general laws applicable to
all people and associations.
The basic right of religious freedom is an undisputed foundation for the relations between Church and State. It is seen
primarily as an individual right to have religion and to have no
religion. The guarantee of religious freedom includes also a
corporate dimension.
Thus the Church and State are in principle separate. The current relationship between Church and State in defined by the
principles of religious and ideological neutrality and equal treatment of all religious associations. This does not hinder elements
of partnership and co-operation in the specific German model
of Church-State relations. The status of the Churches and other
religious communities as corporate bodies under public law is
an important element in this relationship. In the German legal
system, the institutional and organisational components of
freedom of religion enjoy special legal protection in the guarantee of church autonomy. This right of autonomy provides
the necessary correlate to the basic right of religious freedom
and constitutes the key element of the relations between Church
and State in practice.
(2) A broad spectrum of privately maintained educational facilities
complementing the state education system. The Churches also
maintain a wide variety of educational institutions, including
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nursery schools, elementary schools, different types of secondary schools as well as church colleges and organisations of adult
education. Many church-based educational institutions are acknowledged in education law, especially its private general and
vocational schools. It must be pointed out that in Germany
educational policy is primarily the responsibility of the 16
Länder. In many cases the Churches have entered into agreements with the Länder on the basis of constitutional provisions
which make it possible for them to offer their multifaceted
educational program in close cooperation with state institutions. The federal political system is more or less comparable
to the federal system of the EKD, though the boundaries of
the territories differ.
Developments of the EKD and education
This collection of documents covers the period between 1994 and
2010. It aims to provide English readers with an overview of main
activities and discussions in the field of education in this period.
Some historical context is helpful to understand the background to
the current texts. An important resolution was adopted at the EKD
Synod in Berlin-Weißensee in 1958 in a statement on schools: “The
Church is prepared for a free service in a free school.” The criterion
of freedom in education was validated against any ideologically based
paternalism, political totalitarianism and indoctrination. This statement has shaped the mental attitude towards the joint task of state
and Church of providing religious education in public schools. This
is based on a commitment against any religious indoctrination in
school, and against any paternalism toward teachers or schools.
These two guiding principles also continue to be central for Church
policy concerning religious education.
Another aspect is the twofold educational responsibility of the
Church that increasingly rose to the forefront in the 1970s. Not
only its own educational institutions and activities were important
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for the perspective of the Church on educational policy, but also a
stewardship for public education in collaboration with other stakeholders.
The perspective of guidance for life through education (Synod 1990
in Lübeck-Travemünde) remains valid today and continues to be a
leading principle in policy and practice. One can say that the understanding of education that is manifested “on the Human scale”
(2003)2 began many years earlier (see quote above).
Another crucial text is the memorandum “Identity and Dialogue”
(1994) dealing with religious education in a context of plurality.
Religious education is a central area of cooperation between the
Churches and the state. This is based on articles of the Basic Law
concerning freedom of religion and conscience (article 4) and article
7 which guarantees religious education as an ordinary subject under
the joint responsibility of the state and the Churches and religious
communities. It is designed to put the principle of freedom of religion into practice in the classroom. The statement “Identity and
Dialogue” also underlines that the educational activities of the
Church are grounded in a theological-educational reasoning and
complemented by an analysis of the societal dynamics and interplay
of forces shaping education as a reference point for its own activities.
Another already mentioned important document provides Protestant perspectives on education in a knowledge and learning-based
society “On the Human Scale. Protestant perspectives towards education in a knowledge- and learning society” (2003). It takes into
account globalisation processes that also affect knowledge and learning and argues for a comprehensive understanding of lifelong learning that sets its priorities by placing the human being at the centre.
2 Kirchenamt der EKD (Hg.) (2003): Maße des Menschlichen. Evangelische Perspektiven
zur Bildung in der Wissens- und Lerngesellschaft, [On the Human Scale. Protestant
perspectives towards education in a knowledge- and learning society] Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, S. 90.
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The perspective on education presented in this memorandum includes a careful analysis of the changing conditions of education and
of new challenges that impact the situation of children, young people, and adults.
It also addresses the following questions and offers a response to
them founded on Protestant principles: What means are promoted
by society? What does a holistic understanding of education include?
Why do we need to discuss values when it comes to educational
practice? The document contains the following definition of education.
“Education (Bildung) is seen as interconnectedness of learning,
knowledge, skills, sensitivity on values, attitudes and acting competence on the basis of meaningful concerns about life.” Against this
background, a sustainable concept of education requires room for
the unexpected, a synthesis of skills for a labour market governed
by economic concerns and for personal development, intercultural
and interreligious learning to cope with the challenges of globalisation and a feeling for ultimate transcendental issues.
Providing a critical perspective in education
The memorandum “On the Human Scale” exemplifies another important attribute of the EKD commitment to education. Based on
these principles and understanding, the statement provides a critical
perspective concerning Church- and state-based concepts and practice in education. It unfolds a critical perception of the popular term
“lifelong learning” that plays a key role in national and European
policies of education. Confirming the need for a quality-oriented
education that faces the challenges of a global knowledge-based
economy, the document points on excessive expectations often
linked with this term. Education on a human scale should provide
enough time and safe spaces to enable people to cope with rapid
changes in their life and in society. The key issues are: a concept of
education that provides a sustainable perspective, and a broad un13
derstanding of religious education that is aware of pluralism as a
basic condition of education and life, focussing on the internal logic
of religion and religious education.
The collection
Growing and sustained interest in international cooperation and
dialogical exchange require that important statements also be made
available in other languages. This can help not to eliminate, but to
overcome language barriers. Language barriers are a central impediment to dialogue and understanding today. This collection of English texts is intended to serve as a productive tool for international
contacts and exchange.
It can serve many of the more than 140 German-speaking Protestant
congregations abroad associated with the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), especially those in English-speaking countries.
The Department for Ecumenical Relations and Ministries Abroad
maintains and fosters church-to-church relations with many churches
throughout the world building bridges between people and continents. As a part of the ecumenical movement the EKD is committed
to the goal of Christian unity in the spirit of Jesus Christ. At the
European level the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and
the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) have
increasingly become aware of a Europeanisation of education that
encourages more exchange and joint actions at the European level
but also influences national activities in becoming more European
or international.
This publication can also become valuable in European activities of
exchange and research in education. The Comenius-Institute as a
Protestant Centre for Research and Development in Education increasingly organises international comparative projects and actively
collaborates with European and international organisations in the
field of education and religious education. Special emphasis is given
to collaboration with the Intereuropean Commission on Church
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and School ICCS and the Coordinating Group for Religion and
Education in Europe CoGREE, a joint network of five European
organisations, and the Association for Teacher Education in Europe
ATEE.
Issues that are covered in the collection include: Protestant kindergartens and schools, religious education (in primary school, in general, in upper secondary school), Islamic religious education, religion
in primary school, a change of perspective toward the child and
young adult in education, Protestant perspectives on education in a
knowledge- and learning-based society, educational perspectives of
socially handicapped students, Protestant adult education, confirmation work, church and education, church and youth, all-day-schools
and educational justice.
The collection also includes the text “The Origin of the World, the
Theory of Evolution, and Creation Faith in School” that is a decisive
contribution to a discussion on science and religion that has been
garnering greater interest in recent years.
Most of the texts were adopted by the EKD Council and developed
by the Advisory Group for Education, with some resulting from
discussion in the EKD Synod.
As editors of this collection, we hope that the book can be useful as
a tool to more dialogue and greater understanding in European and
international contexts.
Matthias Otte
Peter Schreiner
EKD Church office, Hanover
Comenius-Institut, Muenster
15
Place and Perspectives of Religious Education
in a Plural Society
A Memorandum of the EKD Council
(1994)
Introduction
The EKD Council, whose term of office is six years, is made up of 15
lay people and clergy. 14 of the members are elected jointly by the Synod
and the Church Conference; the President of the Synod is the 15th
member ex officio. The Synod and the Church Conference select the
Chairperson of the Council and his/her deputy jointly from amongst the
council members.
The Council governs the EKD as regards all issues not expressly reserved
for other organs. It is particularly responsible for ensuring co-operation
between the church agencies and associations in all areas, for representing Protestant Christianity in the public sphere and commenting on
issues of religious and social life. This is generally done either by making
statements on current concerns at short notice or by having memoranda,
studies, contributions to public debates and position papers drawn up.
The following extracts are taken from a memorandum about religious
education, published in 1994, that takes account of current issues and
contexts that underlines the need of expressing the place and perspectives
of religious education. Among others the issues of the confessional character of religious education and the relation between religious education
and ethics have been debated at the time of the memorandum. The
chapter headlines are documented as well as the preface, the introduction
and the summary of the memorandum.
Keywords: Religious education, plurality, identity, ethics, concepts
of teaching and learning
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Content
(translated parts in italics)
Preface
Introduction
1. Challenges and Context of Religious Education
1.1 On the Young Generation’s Relationship to Church, Christianity, Religion, and Religious Education
1.2 On the School Environment: School Education, School Development, School Reform
2. Intent and Task of Religious Education
2.1 Intent and Task of Religious Education for Children, Youths,
and Young Adults
2.2 Intent and Task of Religious Education in a Changing School
Environment
3. Frame and References of Religious Education
3.1 Religious Education and the State
3.2 Religious Education and the Church
4.
Teaching and Learning in Religious Education
5. Shape and Place of Religious Education
5.1 Confessionality from a Protestant Perspective and the Cultural
Interdependence of Identity and Dialogue
5.2 Confessional Cooperation in the School
5.3 Religious Education and Ethics in an Independent Subject
Group
Summary
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Preface
It is still mainly at school that young people are given the opportunities for their later lives and careers. That is why it faces demands
to prepare its pupils for the economic realities of the future labour
market. Nonetheless, the school must not allow itself to be limited
to this economic function. As satisfying as the feeling of achievement
is, human reality transcends economic competition. There is more
to life than winning: pausing – thinking – questioning, loving –
laughing – crying, fighting – reconciling – hoping. Schools must
serve the development of the person as much as its marketable skills,
provide a space to live and grow.
Many children and young people find it hard to navigate the intricacies of our plural society. Yet the challenges of the future more
than ever need people who combine a firm rootedness in their own
convictions with the ability to open themselves to others and understand their perspectives. Only then will we be able to assume
responsibility – in our private environment as much as in global
contexts – for working towards peace and justice, the protection of
the ‘One World’ and of creation.
These tasks include an ethical dimension which militates for the
continued inclusion of religious education in school curricula. It is
in this subject that these issues and their relation to questions of life
and faith that young people face are addressed. Its basis as a regular
subject is solid on both educational and theological grounds.
The last public statements by the Evangelical Church in Germany
(EKD) and its Council on the question of religious education are now
about 20 years old. Their decisions at the time defined a clear position
and opened future perspectives that still apply. Yet today’s urgent
problems and circumstances have changed greatly, requiring us to
rethink the positioning and purpose of religious education. At the
heart of today’s public and often highly controversial debate are the
question of confessional versus inclusive religious education and the
relationship between it and the non-religious subject of ethics. The
position of the EKD in this discussion is being awaited eagerly.
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The Council has accepted the position paper the Advisory Group
for Education, Children and Youth Work and a dedicated Working
Group prepared on its behalf with approval and gratitude and decided to have it published. It is a fundamental statement that takes
account of both regional specificities and the rights and responsibilities of the regional member Churches and state governments in
matters of education. The consensus achieved outlines a framework
within which future religious education can be developed in the
context of regional realities. This framework and the underlying
pedagogical analysis also offers further perspectives for the entire
field of education.
Therefore, the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany is
especially anxious for this memorandum to find broad attention
among decision makers and stakeholders in state and Church,
schools and parishes. It extends its gratitude to all who work for
religious education in particular and education in general, and especially to teachers for their dedicated work.
To us Christians, the Bible is the most important of all books. One
verse in it reads: “By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18,30)
[18:29 in the New Revised Standard Version]. A brave word! I hope
that many young people can experience the power of this life perspective in religious education.
Bishop Dr. Klaus Engelhardt
Hanover, July 1994
Chairperson of the EKD Council
*
*
*
Introduction
A new memorandum on religious education is in one part called for
by the new agreement between Church and state on the reorganisation of the education system in the former GDR. In the course of
this, the introduction of religious education according to Article 7,
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Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law is a necessity. This opens a previously
closed field of public education responsibility to the Churches there,
giving rise to a fundamental reconsideration of the role of religious
education in schools and its relation to their own educational efforts
at parish level. By entering the public education system, they take
the entirety of a young generation into view in which forty years of
state opposition to, and limitation of Christian religious practice
have led to a deep break in religious tradition. This is illustrated in
the words of one youth: “I don’t know any prayer. I just know you
say Amen at the end.”
Alongside this development, other questions and problems have
surfaced in the only superficially stable setting of religious education
in West Germany. At closer inspection, these are of a universal nature: the fundamental problem is that the Churches have since the
age of Enlightenment changed their theology, preaching, and education to fit the context of modern society, yet that at the same time,
modernity has entered a fundamental crisis. Institutions have lost
their socially formative power and the individual is left to its own
devices in the face of bewildering choices. Everyone is required to
determine the meaning of life individually. At the same time, numerous religious and ideological explanations are proffered in a plural society, rendering the task yet more difficult.
This development poses a challenge to all religions, to Christianity as much as Judaism and Islam. It has given rise to two diametrically opposed, but mutually reinforcing reactions: on the one
hand the fundamentalist religious resistance against pluralism and
relativism, on the other, a modernist adaptation of religion to the
circumstances. Religious communities are torn between these
poles.
These controversies are aggravated by a growing concern for the
future. This has taken root in many fields: concern over job losses
which threaten to remove a fundamental element of validation and
responsibility from life; growing economic inequality that manifests
in the global north-south divide and puts the economic future of
all humans in question; and finally, in a still broader perspective,
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the dispiriting sight of the already widely irreversible ecological
damage done to our environment, threatening our biological survival.
These problem complexes – faced by the state and Church within
their own societies, by modernity in general, and by humanity on
a global scale – constitute a radical departure from the realities of
the late 1960s and early 1970s, the time of the EKD’s last statements
on religious education. At that time, the Church’s position on religious education faced criticism levelled against institutions and established authority on the one hand and the challenges of school
and curriculum reform on the other. Today, it faces a more fundamental crisis of orientation in a plural, contradictory world faced
with growing fear of the future just as it embraces its unity.
These developments affect the school as a whole as much as they do
religious education. Regarding the school, approaches towards an
ethical education have been developed and explored since the mid1970s. Soon afterwards, a debate on a ‘new fundamental education’
began that addresses two facets of the concept:
The social, ‘universal’ aspect embraces the things that concern us
all. Beyond subject-specific academic knowledge, the school must
strive to lead the young generation towards the tasks of the future
by focusing on actual concerns beyond the boundaries of individual
subjects. Thus, the children and young people are prepared for their
role as future adults and responsible citizens. This requires them to
broaden their horizons in social perception and develop their sense
of responsibility and ability to communicate. At issue is communication in an expanding society, human relationships, civic solidarity,
and tolerance and reconciliation between nations, cultures and religions.
Children and young people today face a plethora of difficulties and
problems while being at their most sensitive and vulnerable. This
requires a greater focus on the other, individual aspect of education,
the development of the person. Schooling is life experience, and thus
school education is increasingly understood as supporting young
people in developing their own identities. Whether this process can
21
be successful greatly depends on the success of the school at creating
an environment of trust.
Christian religious education addresses both these aspects. It is
uniquely dedicated to teaching pupils of the universal love of God
towards all creation. The twin commandments of love of God and
of our neighbour, expressed with greater strength in loving even our
enemies, are the foundations of Christian ethics. It thus has immeasurable potential for the willingness and ability for dialogue at
the heart of a universal human education. In terms of individual
education, other expectations are held for religious education. Pupils
above all hope for their religious education teachers to be people
who they can “turn to with personal problems.”
As early as 1971, the EKD clearly stated that the confessional religious education mandated in the Basic Law must be understood in
the light of the freedom of religion enshrined in Article 4 of the same
document. It must serve to “secure the individual’s exercise of this
basic right,” preparing the individual child and youth to freely and
independently make informed religious decisions. Religious education is not an instrument of ensuring continuity of confessional
affiliation or a generous gesture by the state towards the Churches
in recognition of long-standing tradition. Its legal foundations require it to justify itself in the same fashion as all other school subjects, on the basis of the educational mission of the school. This
mission must above all be defined in pedagogical terms.
Thus, the memorandum begins by addressing the pedagogical situation of the young generation and its schools. In its often challenging statements, it continues a tradition of earlier publications by the
EKD. At the same time, however, the circumstances outlined earlier
also make necessary a new theological positioning. The question
what a specifically Protestant religious education can contribute
must ultimately be answered in theological terms.
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Summary
People in our shrinking ‘one world’ need the fertile interplay of
established traditional identities and the ability to enter into dialogue. We are living in a plural and often contradictory world.
Worldwide, fears of both individual and collective national, ethnic,
cultural and religious identity are on the rise. If our extant plurality
is made subject to a simplistic standardisation that destroys individual national, cultural and religious traditions, this problem is only
set to increase. At the same time, an introspective closure is not the
answer and must be avoided at all levels. Rather, we must develop
the abilities and strategies to deal with complex structures and plural heterogeneity throughout society. Only those who do not feel
threatened in their own identity can open themselves to others and
embrace their responsibilities in their own immediate environment,
in the global context, the protection of our ‘one world’ and our
stewardship of creation.
Especially Western European countries are at risk of forgetting the
pivotal role Christianity has played in their formation and which it,
despite ongoing secularisation, continues to play. An emphasis on
the biblical Christian tradition which informs every aspect of our
historical existence in Germany is absolutely necessary. Ignorance
and indifference are serious obstacles to dialogue in an increasingly
multicultural and multireligious society.
Children, youths and young adults
Children, youths and young adults today grow up in a world where
the most varied and contradictory beliefs, world views, religions and
political convictions coexist. This fact is carried into the innermost
family circle from a tender age onwards through the omnipresent
media. Faced with this, the majority of young people today agree
that the meaning of life is something that each individual must find
23
his or her own answer to. They rarely understand that the challenge
of this answer can become an unbearable burden to them. Freedom
of choice is always ambivalent; deracinated individuals become vulnerable to new dependencies. A formal freedom of choice can conceal the wide sway of influences that truly control it in a marketdominated society. Many young people have illusions about the
degree of their independence. Their ability to distinguish what is
‘right’ or ‘wrong’ needs to be strengthened. Otherwise, doubts of
their own self-worth are at risk of growing out of control and may
seek release in destructive outlets.
School
Beyond the transmission of factual knowledge, the school is a place
of individual education and character formation. It serves the development of the whole person. This task requires each individual
school to foster a culture of trust in mutual relations, to become a
living space for its students and staff.
Alongside individual development, the school serves important tasks
of socialisation. It is tasked with familiarising young people with the
formative aspects of their own culture and history – a particularly
important task in the new Länder following unification. Also, it
must foster the peaceful coexistence of people from all countries,
religions and cultures. Already in elementary school, the first steps
can be taken to enable children to meet each other in an atmosphere
of openness and friendship and to learn to deal with what appears
strange from their perspective. Not least, the dangers faced by our
modern society and the individual responsibility for a continued
existence of humanity on earth in peace and justice challenge the
education system. The young generation needs to be enabled to
realistically analyse facts, ethically judge situations, to contribute to
consensus development and, where necessary, to alter its own habits
in the process.
24
Religious Education
The current academic discourse in Germany almost completely ignores the religious dimension of the school. The concept of ‘intercultural learning’ defines culture to the almost complete exclusion
of religion. This has obvious problems given that the educational
tasks of the school all include religious dimensions. That is why a
regular subject dedicated to Religious Education (RE) is indispensable. Its pedagogical justification derives from the fact that religion
both culturally and individually is a key question of life. A Christian
RE particularly can contribute to understanding, as this faith bears
witness to the universal love of God for all his creatures. The twin
commandments of love of God and of fellow man, indeed, of love
for one’s enemies, have shaped Christian ethics. Without a religious
education, many adolescents, bereft of any encounter with religion,
would remain ignorant and inarticulate in matters of faith. Religion
contains and answers the question of God and the central questions
that surround it: What is the secret of the beginning of all existence?
What comes in the end, after death? Why is life full of suffering
from its beginning to its end? What does faith in God mean? Is God
real or a fiction? And how does the church help, whose theology
proclaims its knowledge of God?
Students
Surveys show that, despite ongoing secularisation and frequent distance to the Church, many school students in both East and West
Germany continue to ask these questions. From early childhood on,
they develop their own, often very individual feelings, concepts and
images of God. These must be part of any religious education. Only
when the students and their own experiences and approaches, feelings and desires, their wishes and doubts are heard and addressed,
can they feel that religious education exists to help them. This subject like few others focuses on issues of the whole person. We see
ourselves in the religious experiences of others. Following the reli25
gious life and development of children, youths and young adults –
and all too often the question of its disappearance – gives RE an
opportunity to lead other subjects in sensitive, biographically integrated teaching and learning.
Teachers of Religious Education
Teachers can have great importance in the life of their students. They
can seek dialogue and confrontation with them and gain orientation
in fields of life far removed from the immediate subject taught. That
means that students have every right to ask RE teachers about their
own individual religious position and faith. Often, they are the first
individuals the students meet as representatives of Christianity.
Avoidance can quickly be interpreted as weakness of faith while a
position, once stated, is subject to criticism. Young adults often seek
confrontation with a consistent position they face. Their own convictions do not develop in a vacuum of indifference, but in encounters with specific beliefs and faiths in others. This requires the teachers to be comfortable in addressing their own religious convictions
and heritage and to express it in a way that does not limit their students, but encourages them to discover their own approaches to
faith. Teachers of religious education thus not only face high academic and professional challenges, but also great demands of their
personality. Teacher training and education must more strongly
stress this aspect of their role. Not least, they need encouragement
and support in their environment and especially from the Church.
The Church
The Church shares responsibility for the future of the young generation. It participates in the development of society and of the
education system, contributing contents, criteria and perspectives
in its role as a stakeholder in public education. However, it can only
credibly do so if it also reflects its own pedagogical responsibility
and creates designs and not least staffs and funds its own communi26
ties as a place of learning. Religious education in school would be
misunderstood and overtaxed as a tool of catechetics and confirmand
instruction, of socialisation as Church members or contribution to
Church community work. Nonetheless, it presents a great opportunity for the Church. In the context of the school, it challenges the
ability of the Christian faith to express itself, engage in dialogue, and
learn from its neighbours.
Despite all differences, school and church as places of learning are
interdependent. A complementary positioning of religious education
in school and religious instruction in church is particularly important in the former East German Länder. Religious education requires
places of living, practiced faith and visible Christian tradition. In
their work with children, youths, and young adults, the Church
communities in their turn need connections to the school, where
young people spend most of their days and face the fundamental
questions of individual and community life, including their religious
aspects. Where all-day schooling is being offered, Church congregations, like other organisations, are also called upon to offer youth
work in cooperation with the school.
Just as the school profits at the pedagogical and personal level from
the fact that teachers commit themselves to education and to the
deepening and reform of school instruction as confessing Christians,
the Church congregations should discover the pedagogical and communicative competencies of teachers to rejuvenate ossified forms of
community work.
The state
According to Article 4 of the German Basic Law, freedom of religion
and conscience is a fundamental pillar of the democratic state. This
law also requires the state to design its institutions in order to allow
this freedom to be practiced and developed.
From the perspective of Article 4 of the Basic Law, religious education, as mandated in its Article 7.3, secures the exercise of this fundamental right by each individual. Children, youths and young
27
adults are enabled to define their own religious orientation (EKD
1971). Religious education is neither an instrument of Church influence nor a generous gift on the part of the state. Rather, the state
itself has an interest in seeing the young generation engage with,
question, and reaffirm its fundamental values and their cultural,
ideological and religious heritage. Religious education has a particular role in this process. To fill it, it needs not only a firm legal
basis, but a broad social consensus supporting it. Surveys show that
this exists; in August 1992, 60% of voting-age respondents to a
Wickert poll supported the introduction of religious education. The
latest membership survey of the EKD shows that two thirds of
church members and a surprising one third of religiously unaffiliated
respondents class their experiences with religious education and its
role in their lives as positive.
According to Article 7.3 of the Basic Law, religious education is a
regular school subject to be provided in accordance with the tenets
of the religious communities concerned. This defines the definition
and provision of religious education as a state task, supervised by
the education authorities and taught in state schools; all educational
authorities must offer it as a regular subject. At the same time, the
churches and religious communities share in the responsibility for
religious education in their contribution to the contents and goals
of the subject according to their tenets. In this, the educational aims
of the state school take precedence and the structures of the school
in question must be taken into account. These legal provisions have
proven themselves successful.
An opening of religious education for the participation of students
of other confessions or an inter-confessional cooperation is possible
if the religious community in question declares this to be in accordance with its tenets. That does not place religious education under
the arbitrary control of the churches. Rather, it represents a shared
responsibility for the interpretative development of the constitution
in continuation of the intention of Article 7.3, applied to a changing
situation. The need for this has never been greater.
28
Confessionality
Where the fundamental conditions and questions of human existence are discussed honestly, personal beliefs and confessions of necessity enter the debate. They reflect the plurality of Christian
thought and belief. Yet wherever different beliefs meet, mutual respect needs to be fostered and the expression of one’s own beliefs
encouraged.
In view of this tension between identity and dialogue, the appropriate
form of a confessional religious education must be sought in ‘confessional cooperative religious education’. This format neither seeks to
meld what is separate nor does it create division where interdependence prevails. The Evangelical Church supports the current Protestant-Catholic cooperation and regards further developing its structure
and content as an urgent necessity. This approach is theologically
grounded in the Protestant understanding of confessionality.
The cooperative format of religious education includes accessibility
to students – all are accepted whose parents so desire or who, on
reaching the legal age of independent choice, themselves decide to
participate. Students need not be affiliated with the Protestant confession to be admitted. This openness, however, must be protected
from administrative abuse.
Clearer steps towards cooperativeness also concern the curricular
contents and teachers. An important task of RE must be to address
both differences and commonalities in the give and take of open
debate, in both differentiated and cooperative classes, in separate
and joint groups in an interdisciplinary and ecumenical fashion.
Particularly special-needs education and vocational schools no longer
offer any separate religious education. The same increasingly applies
in other schools as well. In order to ensure a clear legal framework
in this situation, agreements both between the Churches and between Church and state are direly needed to institute flexible solutions. Legal provisions, staffing, funding and institutional organisation must be adequate to the pedagogical and theological needs of
the situation.
29
Regional and local situations continue to be of great importance.
Confessional identity and ecumenical spirit take very different forms
regionally. Disregarding this fact would condemn any reform to pure
abstraction. Similarly, the respective positions of majority and minority play a role. It is especially important to protect the rights of
regional religious minorities – both parents and children. Under
conditions of inequality, cooperation can take very questionable
shapes, and the much-invoked education towards tolerance and acceptance takes on particular significance in religious education in
these cases. Failure here threatens the credibility of both Church and
school as partners in equal dialogue.
Ethics
In view of the educational mission of the school and especially the
growing uncertainty in ethical matters on the part of many young
people, it is indispensable that all students be given a competent
introduction to questions of ethics. That is why the choice not to
participate in religious education must not simply excuse the student
from instruction in its general aims and development goals. Educating ethical citizens must also be in the interest of the state, which
legally guarantees the right not to participate in religious education.
Divergent world views, convictions and lifestyles can only be made
to converge in a liberal democracy if the young generation actively
engages with them. Therefore, most Länder mandate a substitute
subject (usually designated ‘Ethics’) for students who do not take
part in religious education or for whose religion or confession RE
is not being offered. A separate, independent subject dedicated to
ethical education is pedagogically desirable as such, but its relation
vis-a-vis religious education must be clarified in order to avoid possible future tensions.
As the legal provisions link ethics and religious education, a poorly
funded or staffed ethical education subject would be detrimental to
the public image of religious education as well. In view of its academic foundations, a normative clarification of its position is re30
quired especially as it touches upon religious and ideological issues.
The training of its teachers needs to meet the same standards as that
for religious education or other regular school subjects. Only when
these preconditions are met can the two subjects meet eye to eye as
equal partners in dialogue. Neither one must be placed at an administrative, theoretical or financial disadvantage to the other. The state
is obliged to ensure an adequate provision of the subjects independently and in their own right in all of its schools through the appropriate administrative channels.
Religious education and ethics both have their own distinct profiles.
Their respective independence and separate identities must be particularly stressed in view of the broad overlap in many areas they
share. Ethics education is oriented along the lines (and within the
bounds) or philosophical reason while the inalienable foundations
of religious education lie in the historical tradition and current expression of the Christian faith. Such is the fundamental, abiding
and productive difference between the two.
School Subject Group
Schools in Germany offer Protestant and Catholic religious education along with ethic or philosophy and, more rarely, though within
the same legal framework, Orthodox, Jewish or Islamic RE. The
educational mission of the school requires these subjects not to
merely coexist unconnected. They all share the task of developing
and fostering the willingness and ability of the young generation to
enter into dialogue and can therefore justifiably and productively
regarded as a subject group. The state is responsible for their organisation and curricular content, in the case of religious education
in cooperation with the religious communities, in ethics and/or
philosophy solely. As legal provisions in the various Länder organised
the subjects as a required either-or choice, they could also be regarded as a mandatory elective. That they should be regarded as such
is supported by the following:
The importance of the subjects as a formally constituted group
31
would become clearer to all stakeholders in public education, from
parents and students to faculty members, school administrators, and
the broader public. Such a designation would unmistakeably clarify
the pedagogical and societal importance of the subject group. Further, being unified into one mandatory subject group would require
greater cooperation of the separate subjects at the level of the individual school. This lays stronger foundations for a future task of
developing interreligious learning, especially in the context of a
present or future Islamic religious education for students of that faith
(for which, however, some legal issues need to be clarified beforehand). Not least, the interconfessional and interreligious dialogical
developments envisioned will also need to take seriously and address
equally atheistic positions.
Nonetheless, the designations chosen must not be misunderstood.
By referring to the subjects as a subject group or mandatory elective,
we maintain their clearly separate identities. What must be stressed
is the indispensable nature of the aspects of general and individual
education they share at all levels of the education system. The individual subjects cannot be combined or placed in competition for
funding and attendance. To demote the constitutionally mandated
religious education or, as is frequently demanded, replace it entirely
with a nonreligious ethics or life issues education would irresponsibly diminish the educational mission of the public school. It would
rob adolescents of the opportunity to intensively engage with the
Christian faith in all its historical shapes and expressions and in its
potential significance for their own lives, limiting them in exercising
their right to religious freedom. Religious education offers a unique
and irreplaceable opportunity for students, a chance for the school’s
educational mission, and a productive challenge for the Church.
32
Growing up in Difficult Times
Children in Society and the Church Community
Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany EKD
(1994)
Introduction
The EKD Synod usually convenes once a year for a session lasting several
days, held in a different place each year. It is elected for a period of six
years and headed by a seven-person governing board, the Presidium. The
Synod’s task is to discuss issues concerning the EKD and pass resolutions
on them. These include church laws (such as the budget, labour legislation, data protection), submissions by the Council and the Church Conference, and in some cases motions and petitions. As a rule, each session
of the Synod has a keynote theme which has been prepared by a committee especially set up for this purpose. The main theme in November
1994 was the situation of children in society and in church.
The following text is a translation from the book: Synode der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (1995): Aufwachsen in schwieriger
Zeit – Kinder in Gemeinde und Gesellschaft, Gütersloh: Gütersloher
Verlagshaus. The book includes the written material prepared by the
responsible preparatory committee as well as the different contributions
and bible studies during the meeting. We document the Preface to the
book and the Statement of the Synod (Kundgebung) at the end of the
meeting.
Keywords: Children in Society and Church; shifting the perspective;
work with children
33
Preface
On 11 November 1994 the 8th Synod of the Evangelical Church
in Germany (EKD) ended its fifth session in Halle/Saale and unanimously passed a weighty resolution on its main theme – after 16
years the first to address education – »Growing up in Difficult
Times – Children in Society and the Christian Community«. Many
had expected other pressing issues such as military chaplaincies or
church sanctuary for undocumented immigrants to displace the title theme, yet education held its ground. About 40 addresses on the
subject even required an extension of the allotted debating time and
the main committee had to discuss a large number of suggestions.
This degree of attention was the outcome of intensive and careful
preparatory work by a committee formed for the purpose and its
different working groups. This, together with the administrative
Kirchenamt, kept the main theme in the foreground throughout the
meeting. The outcome of their preparatory work and the quality of
the working papers earned praise from all participants.
By its adopting the expression of ‘perspective shift’, the preparatory
committee calls on us to view our lives and world through eyes of
children. Each child is a unique and special human being that must
be seen and taken seriously as a person. This perspective on children
and childhood also informed the deliberations of the Synod on the
subject. Contributions and votes were strongly influenced by the
personal experiences of the participants as on few other subjects.
This is only natural – we cannot hope to get a full view of childhood
in general if we exclude the memories of our own. All shared in the
effort to best support and accompany children in growing up and
to clarify why the church especially needs children – and vice
versa.
Among the preparations were extensive written materials which were
presented to the Synod through the committee chair (Ulrich Becker)
and in a presentation (by Christa Berg) and two biblical research
works (by Fulbert Steffensky and Klaus-Peter Hertzsch). They offered pointed individual approaches, lending greater depth to the
34
main theme through their different perspectives. The bibliography
of Ms Berg’s presentation also is a valuable contribution to this.
The Synod especially expressed its gratitude to all who, as professionals or volunteers, accompanied children in the Church, work
with children, or supported their interests. Their commitment lies
at the heart of what the Church is about, and the debate on priorities in the face of dwindling financial resources must take account
of it.
Now is the time to realise the perspective shift so eloquently demanded. This cannot be mandated from the top, but only achieved
with much time effort and thought. It was the wish of the Synod to
initialize thinking at many levels how to better perceive and improve
the situation of children in society and the church community. May
this book aid in the effort.
Dr. Jürgen Schmude
Halle/Saale, 11 November 1994
President of the EKD Synod
*
*
*
Statement of the 8th Synod of the EKD at its 5th Session on:
Growing up in Difficult Times –
Children in Society and the Church Community
1. Under the heading “Growing up in Difficult Times – Children
in Society and the Church Community,” the fifth session of the 8th
Synod of the EKD in Halle/Saale deliberated the responsibility of
the Church towards the life of children. It was informed in its deliberations by the Biblical message and Jesus’ own approach to children:
»Let the little children come to me; do not stop them, for it is to
such as these that the kingdom of God belongs« (Mk. 10,14).
»Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven« (Mt. 18,3).
35
The Synod aimed to capture the power and meaning of these words
in its own efforts to newly assess and describe the current situation
of children in church and society.
2. The Synod’s deliberations took place close to where August Hermann Francke exactly 300 years ago began his life’s work of sociopolitical activism driven by personal piety, spurred on by the suffering and misery of street children he witnessed. Of course, the
situation of children in Halle has vastly improved over the past centuries, yet to this day, especially in former East Germany, we encounter many contradictions and great disparities. The Synod was
able to gain an impression of these in talks with local parish representatives presenting their youth work, focussing especially on children under 12 years of age.
Growing up in Germany
3. Regional, social, family and gender differences make it impossible
to describe a uniform experience of childhood in Germany. Especially for handicapped children or those with a migration background, circumstances can differ radically from the norm. Still we
can say with confidence that, in terms of material well-being and
opportunities, the situation of today’s children has vastly improved
from that of their ancestors. Today’s society allows children time and
freedom to play and learn. However, it is equally clear that new
ecological, social and psychological risks confront children today.
An often hostile environment, rising poverty, social pressures to
perform and consume, stressed families, the dominance of materialistic ideals and the loss of religious identity are aspects that, too,
must enter any description of our children’s lives. The threats to
childhood today have taken on a new quality.
4. Children today grow into an awareness of impending or present
disaster. They feel threatened by ecological devastation, distant (or
36
close) wars, and widespread poverty. This places a twin burden on
the adults around them. They must make every effort to leave their
children a world that is not irreversibly damaged and still capable
of supporting their children and grandchildren. Any political, social
and Church engagement must be considered in the light of its future
sustainability, all decisions motivated solely by short-term gains
avoided. At the same time, children look to adults for experiences
of stability. They must see the adults in their life neither resign in
the face of these threats nor deny them, but – however small and
symbolic the scale – constructively address them. Love, protection
and safety in the family circle are equally indispensable. Children
need adults who take an interest in their activities and experiences,
who give them freedom to explore and a safe haven to return to.
With this support behind them, they can confidently face the uncertainties of the future.
Shifting the perspective
5. A description of childhood solely focussed on its dangers and
deficits does justice neither to the realities of our children’s lives nor
their perspectives. However much adults may lament the ‘disappearance of childhood’, children largely understand it as a concrete reality, develop orientation and find meaning in modern society and
create opportunities for action in it. These constants are as fundamental a part of growing up as the considerable changes we are
observing today. Children still have deeply formative experiences,
they explore all new and strange things without fear, recreate their
environment in play, they lovingly attach themselves to pets and
people, and look up to their elders. In all of this, they develop a
perspective on life that is all their own, and that we ignore at our
peril. Too often, young girls and boys are only perceived in the context of specific spheres of adult interest – family, kindergarten,
school, local government, parish organisation etc., and all too often,
the problems of the adult observers are at the centre of this observa37
tion. This calls for a perspective shift. Children must have an independent place in the perception of adults, and their perspectives
inform their view, however difficult it may be to understand it at
times. This does not mean idealising or romanticising childhood.
Rather, we must address children in their specific dependence and
need, but also their desire to learn and emulate their elders, particularly the adults in their life. Children need men and women who
can actively support them in growing up, can shield them from
excessive demands and dangerous influences, and give them clear
limits from an understanding of the world children have not yet
achieved. Yet in all of these things, adults need an understanding of
children as unique and individual beings they must embrace in their
uniqueness and guide and encourage in their social and personal
development without trying to force them into conformity.
Perceiving children in politics and the public debate
6. The current public debate often only takes notice of children
when they break the rules (in dysfunctional families, by drug abuse,
violence etc.). Often, it basically views them as functional objects of
financial calculation, such as in the debate over falling birth rates
which are addressed almost exclusively as a problem of financing the
retirement and care of the elderly. The quality of life of the children
is hardly mentioned at all in this context. Here, too, the appeal of
the EKD Council on the occasion of the International Year of the
Family in 1994 takes on great significance: »To call for greater courage and optimism remains a hollow moralism as long as we lack the
will to structurally improve the conditions of our lives«.
7. The Synod therefore urgently appeals to the public at large, and
especially to the political institutions of the Federal Republic of
Germany:
– to fully take account of the extent of danger to children, not least
the threat to their physical, mental and social integrity,
38
– to seek and accept the advice of experts on the situation of chil–
–
–
–
dren and advocacy organisations taking their side in the public
arena,
to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Children at federal and state levels,
To convincingly and comprehensively create the child-friendly
environment the current situation requires,
to base their decisions not primarily on financial considerations
but, despite fiscal constraints, on social priorities and values,
and not least, never to lose sight of the often discouraging situation of children at the lower edge of a society increasingly characterised by growing wealth disparity.
What we want from society
8. Children are immediately affected by changes in the labour market. Work is a fundamental element of identity for both the individual and society. As long as its organisation introduces children
early to its perils rather than its opportunities, it should surprise
nobody that they seek fulfilment in consumption or leisure activities
instead.
Family life is subordinated to the requirements of employment at
all times. This is especially true in single-parent families or those
with two working parents. Measures are urgently needed to make
work and family life compatible and to allow both men and women
to have a career while meeting the needs of their children. These
include an increase in early parenthood subsidies and an extension
of maternity (and paternity) leave, optional part-time work, and
greater flexibility in working hours. Weekend work requirements
must be reduced to a level compatible with family life to allow working parents to deepen their bonds with their children. As a major
employer, the Church itself is called upon to set an example for
society at large in these respects.
39
9. Children play a major role as a source of happiness or reference
point of life orientation in many families. Many adults accord them
a central place in their life plans. Where this creates unrealistic expectations, however, children can be overburdened and destabilised
as a result. At the same time, greater pressures of work and leisure
activities are reducing the time parents can spend with their children.
Often, they are largely left to their own devices. Children always
mean not only happiness and purpose, but also material sacrifice
and difficulty, both privately and professionally. More and more
children, too, are suffering from excessive expectations of fun and
material wealth and a lesser ability to create lasting emotional bonds
on the part of adults.
That is why parents need support in the difficult task of giving their
children both the love, trust and security they need and to help
them grow into independent, responsible adults. Both the state and
employers and unions must make efforts to allow parents to stop
working during the first years of their children’s lives without risking serious loss of income, damaging their career prospects, or
jeopardising their jobs. Without a shift in financial priorities, the
best-intentioned family policies ring hollow. Despite some recent
improvement, parenthood still entails great financial sacrifice, especially for women. In the interests of intergenerational justice and
gender equality, a comprehensive rebalancing is required here. This
does not just mean meeting the constitutional – and as yet unrealised – minimum, but a genuine family-friendly policy at all levels
of political decisionmaking. One particularly urgent point is the
continuing lack of adequate, affordable accommodation for families
with children.
10. Every child should have access to a kindergarten place from age
3 to school age. This must become a legal right from 1 January 1996.
The required expansion in quantity cannot be purchased with a
reduction in quality. The Synod expressly supports the demands and
initiatives of the Diakonisches Werk der EKD (Church social services agency) in this direction. Children between three and school
40
age must find a ready offer of child care, and the opportunities for
older ones to be cared for and learn outside of school must be developed and expanded. Forms of cooperation between all-day
schools, child care centres, Church youth work, social organisations
and clubs in future must support children more comprehensively in
their individual, independent leisure time.
Alongside these conventional solutions, novel initiatives in cities and
rural communities need support in their efforts to create networks
of mutual help, neighbourhood child care and other ways for adults
and children to become integrated into each other’s lives and learn
with and from each other.
All such considerations must take the specificities of gender into
account. This requires both integrative and separate offers for boys
and girls.
11. Economising in education jeopardises the future of our children
and our society. Schools need adequate financial support.
Reliable schools (ending lessons in the afternoon) should be available to children everywhere to leave them enough time for independent learning and socialising as well as introducing a strong element
of regularity into their lives. Courses of increasing differentiation to
take account of differences between children are needed in all
schools, also in support of educating German and foreign children
together. Both of them need people who can introduce them to their
traditions and cultures in an intercultural teaching environment.
Teachers face high expectations today. Alongside academic teaching,
they are widely expected to make up for deficits in socialisation
elsewhere. To meet the demands of students for personal education,
help and support of their students, they themselves need adequate
time, training and help. That is why, for the sake of the children,
schools need to be given more staff. Any increase in the class size or
teaching load is to be rejected.
In this context, the Synod expressly points to the new resolution of
the EKD “Identity and Dialogue” on religious education which addresses the entire field of education, school, and Church.
41
12. The integration of children with physical and mental handicaps
into regular kindergartens and schools is making progress, but in
many places is still in its early stages. Alongside separate institutions
and offers – also in parish organisations – integrative approaches
must be continued and extended. The children affected need additional pedagogical and medical support. Ill or handicapped children must under no circumstances be excluded from schooling out
of financial considerations.
13. Children’s lives today are dominated by a world of media and
commercialism. Their wishes often follow predetermined patterns,
their independence is limited and their impressions and experiences,
through increasing TV consumption, are more often than not secondhand. That is why the untrammelled growth of the media market
must be limited and controlled. Especially impressionable, fearful,
aggressive or otherwise vulnerable and disadvantaged children often
show a strong dependence on the media with detrimental effects on
their development. However, the role and impact of the media in
individual cases strongly depend on social integration into the family
and peer group of friends. Particularly frequent media consumers are
often left to themselves and miss the communication and productive
conflicts with adults that are vital for childhood development.
The Church needs children – and children the Church
14. The Gospel message requires the church to take an active interest in the conditions children face in society. To ignore their wellbeing, regardless of the religious affiliation of their parents or their
own engagement in the community, would be a dereliction of its
duty. Yet before approaching others with its demands on behalf of
the children, a moment of introspection is called for. Jesus’ words
on children must be understood in conjunction with the expectation
of the Kingdom of God close at hand. They carry both present and
future implications. A call to repent and change our lives precedes
42
them – a call that above all addresses adult Christians, and particularly the Church. Does the Church in all its aspects accept and
welcome children in the way Jesus taught? Certainly, the Evangelical
Church in Germany has manifold forms of youth work. People place
great trust in its commitment to children. Yet the opportunities this
offers go by unused, even unrecognised. Children are not always
recognised as people in their own right even inside the Church.
15. What kind of Church do children need? The Church needs children to learn both with and from them; from them as children, a
unique and transient phase of being human, their independent exploration and questions that play out their path to the Christian faith.
The trust of children, their imagination, openness and carefree attitude, their sympathy, their approach to time, to emotions and new
experiences can inspire positive change in our communities. They can
help us overcome personal and institutional narrow-mindedness and
lead us to a holistic life and faith. Children can teach us to believe as
children. Where the Church avoids the encounter with them, it loses
more than just potential members, it becomes deprived of a vital element of its life and faith. What kind of Church do children need?
Children need a Church that allows them to try it, that takes their
side, gives them room to grow up in difficult times and offers the
Gospel message of the coming Kingdom of God for their lives. This
Church not only looks at the conditions of children’s lives, but also
to those of their faith. Here, the parishes and all adult Christians,
especially Christian parents, face the question of how convincingly
and clearly their lives bear witness to their faith. Adults of all generations can tell Biblical parables and stories, relate their experiences of
God they share their lives pray for and with children and thus introduce them into a Christian religious life without imposing it upon
them. However, the pace, superficiality and devotion to quick results,
the extensive use of modern media and technologies make it difficult
for children (and adults) to remain receptive to spiritual experience.
More than ever, the Biblical images and Christian symbols, the beauty
of its songs and power of prayer, must be explored carefully.
43
What we demand of the Church
16. Our Christian practice includes infant baptism. Yet increasingly,
this takes place later – often at the traditional age of confirmation.
The consequences of this development must be taken seriously – beyond the immediate need for catechetics and Church education. We
must take concrete steps to integrate all children – also the unbaptized
or not-yet-baptized – and to understand their specific situations, for
example through a representation of children in Church administrative bodies through specifically elected presbyters or representatives,
through soliciting their opinions or through reports on the situation
of children in a parish in the course of episcopal visitations.
The debate on offering the Eucharist to children has moved many
communities to include them in this sacrament. However, the fact
that many parishes traditionally limit the Eucharist to those who
have been confirmed shows that such exclusion is far from a matter
of the past, however.
Altogether, a new understanding of the significance of confirmation
is needed. It must no longer remain a single event signifying a symbolic transition into the ‘world of adulthood’, but become an integral
part of the continuing integrative support the Church congregation
offers not just to confirmands, but to all its children, youth and
adults throughout their lives. Thus, the actions of baptism and confirmation can fully complement and support each other.
17. The Church shares in the responsibility for the future of children. In order to meet this responsibility, it invites children into
established – although ever evolving – spaces in the context of its
parish organisations to join in religious instruction and prayer. At
the same time it provides spaces open to society as a whole, going
out to all children, such as its kindergartens, child care and other
social work facilities, and open youth work projects. This aspect
needs to be strengthened and expanded, including experimental
approaches to children’s lives, as it were ‘in the street’. The reader
assembled by the Synod introducing the youth work of numerous
44
institutions and organisations shows, though, that the boundaries
and transitions between these spaces of Church youth work are fluid.
Catechumenate und deaconate, social and instructional aspects are
often interwoven and the social situation of children increasingly
becomes the centre of attention and informs all aspects of the
Church’s approach to them.
18. The Synod expresses their thanks to all who work with children
in the Church, support them or speak on their behalf, both as professionals and volunteers. This resolution expressly acknowledges
and honours their commitment.
The Synod urgently asks all parishes to consider at all levels how
work with children can be developed, supported, and better integrated into a holistic concept of Church and community educational
work. To this end, the offers and institutions dedicated to children
must gain a higher profile in the eyes of all decisionmaking bodies.
All levels of the Church organisation and each individual parish are
challenged:
– to understand the situation of children in all aspects of their lives,
and especially in the context of the parish and – where those exist – local Church kindergartens or playgroups;
– not to disappoint the trust people place in the Church and its
institutions as an advocate and supporter of children;
– to perceive the opportunities of mission and community development offered in working with children;
– to intensify the support for children and to make them more offers that involve them in active and creative participation;
– to form a community of living and learning with children and to
introduce them to the Christian faith from an early age;
– to recognise where children are in danger or their interests are
being marginalised;
– to consider how they can become an advocate of children and
their interests.
In this context, the Synod recommends for consideration and inclusion into further planning the Prüfsteine auf dem Weg zu einer kind45
gerechten Kirche (Considerations along the Way to a Church Fit for
Children – see reader on the main theme).
19. On the one hand, those who professionally work with children
in the church at any level (kindergarten teachers, deacons and deaconesses, catechetic teachers, social and community workers etc.)
need a thorough, specifically Evangelical, generally recognised qualification and secure professional prospects. The Church cannot do
without their professionalism and must acknowledge it in staffing
and pay. The educational responsibility of the Church cannot neglect
either school religious education or parish educational work, much
less set one against the other.
In order to ensure a better integration of children’s interests and
projects into the greater Church community on the other hand, the
orientation towards children in Church and parish must become an
established issue in the training of all professional and volunteer
workers, especially its pastors.
Finally, the work of all who care for children as unpaid volunteers
should be acknowledged materially and symbolically through adequate training opportunities.
Altogether, the Church’s commitment to children must continue in
full despite dwindling financial resources. The current debate needs
to take into account that the disappearance of a Christian public
tradition and the loss of religious experiences in families and throughout society conspire to destroy the foundations of Christian faith
we once took for granted. Where the Church’s youth work faces
particular challenges and addresses specific needs, it must indeed be
intensified. In this endeavour, individual groups, parishes, funding
bodies, organisations and communities are called upon to harmonise
and synergize their efforts.
Halle/Saale, 11 November 1994
Dr. Jürgen Schmude
Resident of the EKD Synod
46
Orientation amid Increasing Disorientation
Church-Organised Protestant Adult Education
A Statement of the Advisory Group for Education of the EKD
(1997)
Introduction
council members.
The EKD Council governs the EKD as regards all issues not expressly
reserved for other organs. It is particularly responsible for ensuring cooperation between the church agencies and associations in all areas, for
representing Protestant Christianity in the public sphere and commenting on issues of religious and social life. This is generally done either by
making statements on current concerns at short notice or by having
memoranda, studies, contributions to public debates and position papers
drawn up.
For the work in specific areas of concern the Council can instate several
Advisory Groups. One of these committees is the Advisory Group for
Education, Children and Youth that publishes statements and papers to
foster the discussion of crucial issues in this field. The preface of the
document is documented as well as the final summing up chapter.
Keywords: Adult Education, lifelong learning, education and economy, Protestant Adult Education
47
Content
Preface
Introduction
1. Societal context of adult education
1.1 Adult Education in a Rapidly Changing Modern World
1.2 The Development of Adult Education and the Development
of Democracy
1.3 Trends in Adult Education
2.
Basic conditions and und principles of Church-Organised Protestant Adult Education
2.1 The Constitutional and Sociopolitical Context for Institutions
Offering Protestant Adult Education
2.2 From Educating Adults in the Church to Adult Education
under the Church’s Auspices
2.3 Adult Education as a Task of the Church – A Systematic and
Theological Argument
3.
Church-Organised Protestant Adult Education within the interplay of education, church and the market forces
3.1 Protestant Adult Education between Life Orientation and Fostering Loyalty to the Church
3.2 Impulses and Contributions of Adult Education for the
Church
3.3 Impulses and Contributions of Adult Education for Society
4.
48
Consolidated theses, tasks and future perspectives
Preface
The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) has
recently devoted particular attention to the field of education. The
main theme of the Synod of 1994 in Halle “Growing up in Difficult
Times – Children in Society and the Church Community” and the
memorandum on religious education by the Advisory Group for
Education of the EKD “Identity and Dialogue” have made important points in this regard.
Education has long ceased to be limited to childhood and youth.
‘Lifelong Learning’ is a demand that confronts ever more adults in
modern society. Adult education has become a multibillion-euro
market. This development confronts the Church with the question
how to relate to its members – the majority of which are adults –
beyond Church service and the customary rites of passage. The
institutionalised ‘Protestant Adult Education under Church auspices’ (Evangelische Erwachsenenbildung in kirchlicher Trägerschaft
[EEB]) plays an important role in the effort to meet this challenge.
However, the position of the Church as a stakeholder in public
education means that the issue touches interests of state as well as
those of the Church, especially when it comes to religious education
in schools.
As early as 1983, the EKD laid out the foundations of ‘adult education as a task of the Evangelical Church’ (Grundsätze einer Erwachsenenbildung als Aufgabe der evangelischen Kirche). Back then, the
tensions between the Church and modern society only played a
secondary role. The EEB currently has to devote much greater effort
to reconciling this divide without giving up its basic tenets and tasks.
In former East Germany, the Churches further face the challenge of
defining their position in the newly emerging education system at
state level.
The present position paper understands Protestant adult education
as part of a complex and emerging social interplay between the
Church, society, and market forces. The latter must be respected without according them unquestioned primacy in all aspects of life. The
49
text also speaks of the ‘development of subjectivity in and through
the process of education’ (p. 56). By this, it refers to individualising
processes in society, but rejects all individualistic simplifications and
isolating tendencies. It develops clear pedagogic and theological perspectives for a distinctive, modern concept of Protestant adult education in a modern Church. Some aspects of these can only be expressed
in paradoxes and contradictions, as the provocative title already suggests. The Gospel message means that people on this Earth no longer
are without comfort or orientation, though things may often appear
that way. As Christians, it is our responsibility not to leave our fellow
humans alone when they need this support.
The position of the Evangelical Church in Germany on adult education is eagerly anticipated both within the Church and by stakeholders in public education. The Council gratefully welcomes the position
paper by the Advisory Group for Education of the EKD and its working group on the subject and decided to have it published. It clarifies
basic positions and sketches the framework for future work by the
EEB while its analysis of the broader situation is of interest much
beyond the limits of the Church’s adult education community.
The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany hopes that this
position paper will find broad attention among decision makers and
stakeholders in the Church and its parishes, the organs of state, and
society as a whole. It takes this opportunity to express its particular
thanks to all who work in Evangelical adult education.
»Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.«
(John 6,68), was the disciples’ answer to the Jesus’ question how
they saw him. I wish that adult education will allow many more
people to discover how this perspective can give orientation to their
lives.
Hanover, March of 1997
*
50
*
*
4. Consolidated theses, tasks and future perspectives
Before approaching the question what kind of adult education is
desirable, the Church must answer the more fundamental one
whether it wants to accommodate a modern adult education in its
institutions at all. Taking up the previous chapters, these theses propose an affirmative answer:
– Progress is an open process and in many aspects ambivalent. In
some areas, its costs outweigh the benefits. Thus, the church faces
the challenge of a situation which is paradoxically characterised
by a breakneck pace in developing means going hand in hand
with an increasing uncertainty of ends. If it is to provide orientation, the church must be a place within modernity. Today’s topics and questions need a place within the church that is as modern as they – a place such as adult education.
– The church cannot do without adult education because it represents and reflects modernity today more than ever. A decision for
adult education means a decision in favour of rejoining its own
history, in view of the role the Church itself played at the cradle
of modernity. Engaging with the consequences of modernity in
EEB thus also posits the question how the Church can manage
to stay consistent in its own message in modern adult education.
– The church owes its existence to the advent of God in this world
in the person of Jesus Christ. Thus, the question of a modern
adult education is part of the wider question of the way in which
following Christ can be realised in the modern world. In terms
of content, Protestant theology can point modern adult education
to the redeeming and liberating Gospel message and God’s will
for humanity to live under His commandments and promise.
Institutionally, it refers to all aspects of life, including its role in
institutions of public education. Church kindergartens, religious
education in schools, Evangelical colleges and theological university faculties (together with the Church’s educational foundations)
are examples of involvement in public education in the primary,
51
secondary and tertiary sector. In those fields, it has long been
active, often for centuries, in the sight of God and men. A corresponding function in the quaternary sector of adult education
has only emerged in the course of this century, yet it is none the
less important for that.
– The responsibility of the Church in public education – today
shared with other social institutions – is no less relevant in our
functionally differentiated modern society. The modern, secular
state rejects responsibility for imbuing life with meaning and
providing personal orientation. It leaves this field to religious and
ideological communities. Within this legal framework, the Evangelical Church expressly chooses to embrace a role in adult education in its modern form. It is indispensable in the service of
both the individual and society in its entirety.
This clear decision in favour of Protestant adult education entails
tasks that delineate both the challenges and future perspectives for
the EEB:
1. The object and outcome of Evangelical adult education is first
and foremost the educated subject. It follows that it exists to serve
people and, according to the Biblical conception of humanity,
views them in the entirety of their mutual relations, not as individuated isolates. The aim is the development of subjectivity in
and through the process of education. This is done with a dual
intent: On the one hand, the relation of the educated subject to
itself, to others, and to society and the natural environment is intensified, differentiated and developed in order to improve the
subjective abilities and protect the individual from simpler functionalisation. On the other hand, EEB aims to help individual to
open themselves to social processes and forms of organisation in
order to enable them to pursue any social aim that does not exclude
others.
The normative orientation of a subjectivity thus defined in a world
where norms shift with increasing rapidity should not be understood to mean that humans are free to do with themselves whatever
52
they choose. In fact, they are often subject to alienation, their biographies shaped by processes over which they have little or no
control. However, it is possible and necessary to resist processes that
seek to disjoin the individual from its own choice and responsibility. Since the beginning of the industrial age, education has pursued
a specific pedagogical concept to protect the individual from this
threat. Education in this concept exists to assist the individual not
to become alienated from itself, to withstand the demands of many
shifting social roles, and not lose the very things that make it human.
Against the theological background of man’s creation in the image
of God, a developed subjectivity takes on additional dimensions.
Humans must become subjects in the course of their lives, but being
created in the image of God, they are always and without any action
on their part, persons (E. Jüngel). In contrast to tendencies in modern, secularised adult education to set the individual human as absolute, the biblical conception of humanity stresses a life in both
liberty and responsibility from the strength of God’s love to His
entire creation.
2. Pedagogic, educational and theological perspectives intersect, but
they differ. The staff of the EEB has to find their way in this complexity of convergence and divergence, often not without difficulty.
The work of Evangelical adult education is done in a situation defined by paradoxes and divergences, aiming eventually to:
– develop the ability to sustain emotional bonds in a world increasingly impoverished of them,
– impart measure to life in a world increasingly immeasurable,
– develop differentiated moral principles in a world increasingly
monopolised by the morality of the marketplace,
– help people gain independence in dependencies and self-determination in their extraneously controlled lives,
– open up orientation for life through meanings in an increasingly
disoriented age,
– maintain and defend “old” truths in a rapidly changing world,
53
– clearly name failure and guilt in an age when both are widely kept
silent and hidden,
– offer comfort in a fundamentally comfortless world.
3. Orienting Protestant adult education along both the human and
the faith experience dimension means in practice that:
– The shape of a course is not solely determined by its content, but
is always oriented towards its participants and their life experiences.
– Reflection is not merely a cognitive gain; it must feed into growing reflexivity as an open-ended process of critical perception and
reflection of the individual, societal and political reality.
– The focus goes beyond the acquisition of specific competencies
and qualifications to the participants and teachers as entire persons – for all their transience and fractures, in the image of
God.
– Christian contents are not forced into the curriculum but aid in
the understanding and interpretation of life if and where it is
indicated. Biblical and theological truths must prove themselves
in open, practical discussion.
– Approaches to the Gospel message and the spiritual traditions of
Christianity are offered in a manner to address especially people
from milieus far from the Church.
– The range and pricing of courses takes into account especially
low-income participants and specifically invites them.
4. Protestant adult education has multiple functions, in that it is to
achieve multiple goals (cf. 3.2 and 3.3):
– It aims to impart knowledge and entertain at the same time.
– It aims to offer explanations and elicit interest.
– It invites to introspection and meditation and inspires to commitment and action.
– It addresses the individual while at the same time encouraging
communication.
– It offers the opportunity to gain greater independence and free54
dom in a deepened or renewed bond with the Church and the
Christian community.
In view of these functions, Protestant adult education will need to
be ‘multilingual’. It fosters the ability and willingness to:
– express one self,
– debate reasonably and intelligently with others,
– reach agreement and consensus,
– show understanding and tolerance of dissent;
– speak the language of art and symbolism,
– become familiar with the language of liturgy, or prayer, praise and
gratitude.
5. This position paper pleads for a Protestant adult education understood not as separate from the basic tasks of the Church. The
reality of diminishing financial options poses serious difficulties and
in the final conclusion might mean that:
– A broad-based concept of EEB, to date realised only very partially,
may no longer be feasible at all.
– Local foci will be placed for example in urban areas.
– EEB-institutions will develop educational concepts targeting specific groups in concert with other Church organisations, associations and groups.
– Extant capacities of educational work in the Church will be networked more effectively. Services at parish and Church level must
no longer see each other as competitors but as mutually complementary, working in unison at the parish and local, state- and
nationwide levels.
6. Protestant adult education takes place from a specific perspective,
that of the Evangelical Church. It has its own position without
claiming to offer cut-and-dried answers to every open question. That
is why no previous external definition of what can only be offered
in the context of the work, as an aid to orientation in a specific
situation, is possible. That, however, does not leave Protestant adult
55
education without standards. It draws them from the experience of
faith, hope and love. These experiences are not theoretical, but practical truths that can be experienced as certainties by being lived.
Knowledge of faith, too, is incomplete in itself as the Kingdom of
God has come, but is not completed yet. It is subject to the greatest
of all paradoxes, the mystery of God concealed in the world yet still
revealed in Jesus Christ. The Gospel – the evangelion – is the universal perspective of Evangelical adult education.
56
Discovering Faith
Preparing for Confirmation and Confirmation in process
A Reference Document of the EKD Council
(1998)
Introduction
council members.
The following statement has been drafted by a working group mandated
by the Council to discuss among other issues the question: What kind of
church is needed for the younger generation, and to work out the profile
of confirmation classes as a space for theological and educational reflection. The chapter headlines are documented as well as the preface and
the final chapter on perspectives.
Keywords: Confirmation, church service, young generation, good
practice of confirmation classes
57
Content
Preface
Introduction
1.
Development of Confirmation and Confirmation classes in
different contexts
1.1 Development in the Former German Democratic Republic
1.2 Development in the pre-Reunification Federal Republic of Germany
1.3 Development and Situation in United Germany
2. Aspects of Confirmation
2.1 Shifting the Focus
2.2 Confirmation as a Significant Official Act [Rite of Passage] in
a Biography
2.3 Baptism, Eucharist, Blessing
2.4 Current Issues Regarding the Arrangement of Confirmation
3. Church and church service during confirmation time
3.1 The Church – Reality and Image
3.2 Tasks of Confirmation Work in Relation to Images of the
Church
3.3 Church Service as a Hidden Curriculum
3.4 The Church Service has no Analogies in Everyday Life
3.5 Sermon and the Theodicy in the Church Service
3.6 Elementarising Liturgical Education
3.7 Participation in Organising Church Services
4.
58
Perspectives of Working with Young People Preparing for Confirmation
Preface
The Advisory Group for Education of the Evangelical Church in
Germany (EKD) has presented two important texts in “Identity and
Understanding. On the Position and Perspectives of Religious Education in Plural Society” (1994) and its position paper “Orientation
amid Increasing Disorientation. Church-Organised Protestant Adult
Education” (1997). They outline its emphasis in the field of public
education, where it shares responsibility with other stakeholders.
The present text addresses its responsibility to enable the transmission of the Christian faith tradition between the generations. These
three positions need to be understood as interdependent and connected by nature. As a whole, they illustrate the importance placed
by the church on the act of educating and its relation to faith.
In its statement on “Growing up in Difficult Times – Children in
Society and the Christian Community,” the Synod of the EKD in
1994 demanded: “A complete re-evaluation of our understanding
of confirmation is needed. It must not be thought of as a single event
in which the child transits into the ‘community of adults’.” That
Synod asked (in both senses of the question): “What Church does
a child need?” The Advisory Group extends this question to confirmation education specifically: “What Church does the young generation need?”
To understand the Christian faith, young people preparing for confirmation need a community to accompany them on their way and
to open to them the “Benefactions of Christ” (P. Melanchthon). To
meet this purpose, confirmation classes must increasingly return to
its theological and pedagogical basics, combining experience and
reflection, meditation and action, work and play, discourse and celebration.
The Advisory group through its working group has sought dialogue
with the members of the EKD’s Youth Advisory Group, its religious
education institutes, catechetic offices, and the Comenius-Institut.
The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany has accepted
the submission of the Advisory Group for Education with gratitude
59
and approval and decided to publish it in aid to those working in
the field.
Final responsibility for all confirmation education rests with the
member Churches. That is why this publication does not seek to
offer practical models of class organisation or Church service agendas, but to provide an overarching perspective. The Council hopes
that as such, it will find the attention and acceptance with all confirmation teachers in the Church and its communities and wishes
to express its special thanks to them.
May this present text contribute to young people finding joy in their
community and on their way to confirmation discovering an abiding faith in God that shapes and supports their lives.
Hanover, October 1997
*
*
*
4. Perspectives of Working with Young People
Preparing for Confirmation – Concluding Theses
1. The Church owes its young members an accessible clarity in faith and
the convincing presence of the »Benefactions of Christ« (P. Melanchthon)
The Evangelical Church in Germany has expressed clear positions
on religious education in school (1994), on Protestant adult education (1997), and now on preparing young people for confirmation.
This unmistakably clarifies the importance that is placed on its educational role and the relationship between faith and education. We
are living in a society defined by education and lifelong learning,
and the Christian faith itself demands the accessible clarity to which
educational work can contribute. In this context, it is important to
relate the Church’s three statements to each other so as to understand
60
their inherent interrelation. The work with young people preparing
for confirmation must be understood not in isolation, but in its
connection with the Church’s other educational efforts. It aims to
give the confirmands experience with faith, open up its contents to
them, and offer them a spiritual home in their Christian community
in the context of a broader theory and practice of its educational
responsibility.
As outlined in the statements on school and adult religious education, confirmation preparation in future will aim to gain stronger
profiles in two aspects and simultaneously in two different directions. On the one hand, the children, youths and adults must be
taken even more seriously and even more competently addressed as
subjects, not objects, of education. The aim must be to educate
towards religious independence and a mature Christian faith. Religious education in a plural and open society cannot exist without
embracing this right. On the other hand, the Church must stress
more strongly and more immediately the experience of the Christian
faith and the »Benefactions of Christ« (P. Melanchthon) both in its
responsibility as an actor in public education and in its immediate
role inside the Church itself (such as in educating confirmands).
2. The Church must accept and take seriously both the positive expectations and experiences of children and young people and their disappointments and rejections.
The previous chapter has shown that viewing the Church from the
perspective of children and youths is an overdue undertaking. This
ecclesiological perspective has gained important impulses through the
Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany of 1994 in Halle (see
introduction). The Church’s fulfilment of its role centrally depends
on the fact that, and the manner in which, it accompanies the young
generation as part of the whole People of God. Care for the young
and rejuvenation of the Church are now inseparable interrelated.
If we view the future of the Church in connection with the youth
question, it gains a deeper contour than that provided by a mere
61
review of prognosticated dwindling membership numbers, significant and serious though these may be. Structural considerations on
the concentration, regionalisation and refinancing or Church work
in response to these quantitative shifts alone are inadequate to address this. Now, the interior perspective takes centre stage: How do
young people encounter and experience the Church? And which
aspects play a central role in this encounter?
If young people are disappointed here – for example with the Church
services – (cf. 3.3), this can lead to a demotivating of their ties to
the Church as a dimension of Christian community life and faith,
even though they may selective continue to take recourse to the
Church for orientation in their future life paths, especially in liminal
situations such as weddings, Baptisms and funerals (vgl. 2.2).
3. Young people face considerable life challenges at the age of confirmation.
Young people must go through the process of defining themselves
separate from their parents, accept themselves as a girl and woman
or as a boy and man, develop their own values and make difficult
career choices in the face of uncertain and often gloomy future
prospects. In the past, it was assumed that young people would automatically grow into a reliable and lasting system of customs and
values that influenced or even determined the views and habits of
everyone. Today, people live in a multitude of different environments
and cultures at work and home, in their private and professional
lives, religion and daily life, family and school. These spheres no
longer form a cohesive whole. Instead, each individual must shape
one for him- or herself by choosing from an immeasurably broad
range of offers. Freedom of choice has become obligation to
choose.
This also applies to the meaning that God and religion holds in an
individual’s life. Even youths who are supported by a family tradition of Church life or a Christian environment ultimately have to
answer this question themselves.
62
Attending confirmation classes is no longer a matter of course. They
choose to attend. This heightens the profile of their expectations,
making both a challenge and opportunity. Classes must be worthwhile and profitable for attendees; if they fail to address their interests, questions and expectations, it risks turning their distanced expectancy into rejection or apathy. That is why confirmation classes
must include not just issues of family, but increasingly embrace
questions of extra-familiar ties in peer groups and trends in youth
culture.
4. Young people come with little concrete knowledge, but they can contribute their elementary religious ideas and concepts.
The parents of young people today tend to take a positive but distanced or outright negative position towards the Church in family
contexts. Equally, the Church, faith and religion rarely feature in
other areas of their life. Thus, most young people who come to
confirmation classes enter a world they are unfamiliar with and
which differs from the normal reality of their lives. In many cases,
it is their first conscious encounter with the Christian faith and a
Christian community. Only where Christian religious instruction
(Christenlehre) in East Germany, Sunday school, or the work of its
communities and charities in both East and West reach them is this
usually not the case. That is why the Church must continue to address children, both in an early religious education in school and
outside of it.
Research in religious education shows that despite a decline in religious knowledge, young people usually have individual religious
concepts and beliefs and often privately practice religion. They do
ask meaning and faith questions. However, these “elementary experiences and access routes” (cf. 3.6) are encountered less in the context
of Church activities or an environment, life and language shaped by
Christian practices, let alone familiar forms of theological thought,
but in individual life, ‘encoded’ into their environment and personal
biographies.
63
This demands that teachers be interested in what the students can
contribute, that they listen and pay attention to them. They must
find out where religion and faith have personal significance and
connect to these aspects.
5. Confirmation classes are pedagogically very demanding. They can
only succeed if the young attendees are accepted as partners and full
participants in them.
Confirmation classes are an extremely challenging field of Church
community relations. Not only does it unite young people of very
different educational backgrounds, sharing the pedagogical and behavioural difficulties frequently affecting school education in general,
but its own significance has changed fundamentally. Therefore, past
efforts towards a reconstitution of confirmation education in both
East and West Germany have mostly concentrated on pedagogic issues (cf. 1.3). This continues to be a vital concern. Though confirmation classes in theory are to mutually relate theological questions and
the concrete realities and interests of attendees, but reality often falls
short of this ideal. Classes are structured as traditional material-oriented one-way instruction, frequently more so than the (much reformed) school RE is. Confirmation education must not ignore developments in modern schools, where the learning competence of
students, their ability to independently design and control learning
processes, is fostered and developed. Confirmands must be able to
participate actively in classes with their questions, interests, desires,
and also their discomfort with and resistance to some issues. This way
alone can a self-determined learning and understanding be fostered
which we regard as crucial to an independent journey of discovery
into the Christian faith. Young confirmands not only want to have a
say in the subjects discussed, they also want to be part of planning
shared experiences, develop into a community, and celebrate together,
and they are willing to go to considerable lengths in their efforts (cf.
3.7). Instructional elements must therefore be placed in a broader
context. The approach of mutual discovery takes the principles and
64
tenets of faith seriously (cf. 6.) and embeds confirmation education
into broader community life (cf. 7.) in a process of discovery initiated
and guided by the confirmands themselves. Liturgical and meditative
offers such as the experience of silence, the discovery of the liturgical
symbolic language and the ecclesiastical space, and similar activities
can be used in support of this (cf. 2.3 and 3.6).
An improved and continuous professional training for pastors and
church staff has increased the preparedness to participate in these
pedagogical responsibilities. Nonetheless, all who undertake this difficult and demanding task need constant encouragement and support. According to a survey of pastors in Westphalia, almost half of
the respondents like to give confirmation lessons ‘much’ or ‘very
much’ while only 11 % stated they did not like to teach them. The
same survey showed, however that confirmation education features
less prominently in the hierarchy of the manifold demands that
community work made on the time of pastors that most respondents
themselves thought desirable. This fact limits any reform effort that
aims to improve classes by optimising pedagogical qualifications and
material circumstances. Confirmation education must first of all not
be a task limited to pastors alone (cf. 7.). Nonetheless, being ultimately responsible for it, they must receive the appropriate training
for their role in the future church and its generational exchange in
the course of their academic and theological training.
6. Viewing confirmation education and confirmation itself solely from
a pedagogical or didactic perspective is not enough. The Church’s work
with confirmands requires an elementary theological profile.
The theological and educational profile of confirmation education
must combine two elementary demands – its theological direction,
and the interests of the young attendees. This twin perspective is not
easy to reconcile; world and faith are often viewed as polar opposites.
In this context, the perspective of elementarisation, the reduction
to basic principles, offers a new outlook. Addressing the elementary
experiences and access routes of the young people (cf. 4.) means
65
– an elementary understanding of the connection of faith to life.
–
–
–
–
–
Addressing life and faith must combine in such a way that the
confirmands see Christian faith as concrete, accessible and understandable and they are able to find their own access to it.
Enough time must be allowed for this.
an elementary structure of the Christian faith: The insights gained
in addressing individual aspects and projects must be placed in a
wider frame of reference. This could be provided – by way of an
example of elementary access to faith – through Luther’s Small
Catechism or the Heidelberg Catechism. Faith thus is to be addressed with regard to
its relation to Creation,
its relation to Salvation and
its relation to the congregation.
an elementary access to the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist:
This aspect illustrates particularly well that an individual discovery of faith is not limited to intellectual comprehension and critical reasoning – however important these faculties are especially
at the age of confirmation – but also encompasses a celebration
of faith, its actualisation in life and an invitation to share in it.
7. The confirmands should come to know life in their parish and encounter people there who live their Christian faith and bear witness to it.
Faith must not only confront the confirmands as a taught doctrine,
but must be encountered and experienced in concrete life. New
conceptions of ‘open confirmation classes’ (offene Konfirmandenarbeit) therefore take place outside the classroom. Many parishes offer
internships (e.g. in Church social services), elective subjects, projects,
and meetings of confirmands. This allows them to explore and experience parish life and to discover, how this (beyond the individual
parish) extends into the many aspects of life where faith becomes
manifest and relevant.
Alongside this discovery of the parish, the question must be asked
how the parish itself can contribute to working with confirmands.
66
An important aspect here is the open encounter with people who
represent faith and are willing to engage in dialogue on the matter.
First and foremost, this would be the pastors teaching the class. Their
example should make visible to the attendees what faith signifies in
their life and profession, that the pastors have time for them, and
take an interest in them and support them. However, alongside
them, other parish members should be available for teaching confirmands. This includes Church staff (educators, catechets, deacons
and deaconesses), but also young people and adults who have already
been confirmed. Successfully integrating the confirmands’ parents
offers a twin opportunity to show how faith and life can combine.
More possible identification figures and a broader range of experiences open up to the students.
The East German pre-unification idea of a “confirming action by
the congregation” meant to accompany confirmands in conflict
situations inasmuch as that was possible (cf. 1.1). The same can apply – though under very different preconditions – to young people
in West Germany. This pastoral dimension of confirmation education is likely to increase in importance in future.
In short, the age of confirmation can be understood as an “exploration of the realm of the Church” and a “symbolic possession of a
new life phase’s territory” (H. Schröer). If such explorations are to
come to a good end, confirmation education needs support from
the community that allows “living, believing and learning in a dialogue of generations” (H. B. Kaufmann).
8. The parish must approach confirmands and offer them spaces of their
own.
Confirmation education has developed a more stable and tried foundation over the past cycles of reform. Parishes recognise its value and
role. Conversely, young people, too, acknowledge that it is a valuable tool for, in approaching, engaging with, and embracing faith,
they must engage with the parish.
However, they also need space in the parish that is theirs – where
67
they are welcome, but also free to be themselves. For all the recognition, due to the efforts made by communities, a perspective shift (cf.
introduction and 2.4) remains necessary to achieve this goal. We
encounter confirmands as young people who for a while share life
in our communities, and who eventually become part of them (cf.
9.). In place of the expectations that a parish has of ‘its’ confirmands,
particularly for the time after their confirmation, we must ask of
them their expectations from the parish. How are they perceived?
Do they have a voice in it – for example in the governing boards?
Are they but ‘apprentices’ or ‘guests’, or fully part and welcome?
9. The confirmands themselves are part of the parish.
This is the decisive issue: confirmands are not just in the parish to
come to know it – they are an integral part of it. They are important
for what they are. Any serious appreciation of Baptism makes this
view inescapable. Traditional confirmation education, though, has
often embraced it only in part. It was designed to introduce confirmands to the parish, to familiarise them with the Eucharist and
direct them towards the goal of confirmation, after which they would
feel and act as ‘full members’ of their parish. Against this view we
must state that the position of a parish vis-a-vis its confirmands –
whether they themselves can be and feel members in it or not – is
proved not least by the degree to which they can explore and design
their place in it. “The orientation of confirmation education towards
the time after confirmation rather than as a period in its own right
goes a long way to explaining the crisis it is in” (from a Swedish
study).
Confirmation education has already reacted to these challenges.
Alongside the traditional lessons which still predominate as a format,
weekend retreats have an established presence nowadays. Some parishes have had positive experiences with holiday retreats while others are experimenting with offering confirmands subject-specific
seminars.
68
10. Confirmation education must network with youth work.
Local parishes with any kind of youth work already have a wealth of
experiences on how to approach young people and integrate them
into the broader parish. Tapping into this resource and opening confirmation education to the broader universe of youth work can defuse
difficulties often inherent in the situation of confirmands. This requires new conceptual ideas and systematic teamwork and exchange
from the pastors responsible for confirmation education (cf. 7).
However, a greater future cooperation between youth work and
confirmation education should not mean that the latter can now
replace the former. Rather, the aim is to tie temporary confirmation
education into a broader youth work that exists before, during and
after this period in the youths’ lives. Offers for 11- to 13-year-olds
can become preparatory to confirmation classes while the classes
themselves should look to the possibilities for the 14-18 age group
as a meaningful continuation. Volunteers in confirmation classes
could, for example, increasingly take part in these to continue accompanying their confirmands in other projects.
11. New forms of intergenerational encounters within the parish at large
and confirmation education in particular should challenge and broaden
the horizons of young people.
This thesis again addresses youth work, but also the broader context
of living and learning intergenerationally in a parish. Parents and
their adolescent children should be invited together after confirmation to experience and explore together in the course of a project,
weekend or holiday retreat the forms in which faith can be lived in
the family, neighbourhood, school or parish. We are studying the
organisational forms and practices of the free evangelical Churches
and Christian movements to better understand the spiritual potential of their closer and socially tight-knit, more human-scale forms
of encounter for an established Church. The Church is undergoing
a grassroots renewal at the hands of committed, imaginative, inven69
tive Christians driven by the joyful experience of their faith who
seek new forms of intergenerational encounters and coexistence beyond the traditional, institutional form of the parish Church.
12. In conclusion: confirmation education must integrate several different aspects of parish life.
– Confirmation education must bring together the questions,
doubts, and discoveries of its young charges with the necessarily
alienating, provocative and liberating experiences and insights of
Christians in their faith that are transmitted through tradition,
present in the living Church, and combined in its scripture and
creed.
– Confirmation itself must combine its function as a signal event
in the life of young people and confirming action in the remembrance of Baptism and expectation of eucharistic parish – of human companionship and divine blessing.
– Not least it must combine the social spheres of the adolescents
– their families, peer groups, school and leisure activities – with
the world of their local Christian parish, and with encounters
with Christian parishes everywhere.
The didactic reform of taking confirmation education to its basics
not only needs to continue, it is even more urgent to rediscover and
embrace a very traditional task: the combination of Church, parish,
and divine service. In comparison with school religious education
or Church-organised adult religious education, confirmation education has the greatest and most immediate potential for experience
with and in the Church. If communities fail to grasp their responsibilities in this context, they will leave their debt to the young
generation unfulfilled. Today, the Church is facing uncertainty about
its future shape and role at every level. Our very understanding of
the Church and its pedagogical role are called into question. Confirmation education has a central place in answering where we are
going – all of us, together with the young generation.
70
The Conference of German Bishops and
the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD):
On the Cooperation of Protestant
and Catholic Religious Education
(1998)
Introduction
issues of religious and social life. This is generally done either by making statements on current concerns at short notice or by having memoranda, studies, contributions to public debates and position papers
drawn up. Where issues of mutual interest (such as the protection of
life or the permissibility of organ transplants) are concerned, joint
statements are published with the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference. The joint statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference and the
EKD discusses proposals for more confessional cooperation in religious
education on the background of regional contexts and school development.
Key words: Protestant religious education, Catholic religious education, ecumenical collaboration
I. Foundations
1. The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany in 1994 in
its resolution “Identity and Dialogue. The Place and Perspectives of
Religious Education in a Plural Society” and the German Bishops
71
in 1996 in their declaration “The Formative Force of Religious Education. On the Confessionality of Catholic Religious Education”
have laid out their respective positions on the meaning, function
and shape of religious education in the context of the Churches’
educational co-responsibility in the public school system.
2. Both texts advance different, but comparable reasons for the continued confessionality of religious education. They agree that confessional religious education always takes place in an ecumenical spirit.
The cooperation between Protestant and Catholic religious education needs to take account of both the opportunities and the limitations laid out in both these documents.
II. Forms of Confessional Cooperation
In the interest of sharing foundations, the following forms of confessional cooperations may be used:
1. At the school level:
– shared parent-teacher meetings on religious education,
– the use of joint teaching materials and textbooks on certain
subjects,
– cooperation in school curriculum design,
– cooperation of the respective faculties,
– invitation of the teacher of the respective other confession into
religious education lessons to speak on certain subjects and
questions,
– temporary team-teaching of specific subjects or lessons,
– joint curricular and extracurricular projects and activities,
– invitation of a pastor or other representative of the respective
other confession into religious education classes,
– cooperation in school counselling,
– joint organisation of school and church holidays, school prayer
services, celebrations et al.,
72
– voluntary confessional-cooperative project groups as an extracurricular offering.
2. At the administrative level:
– agreement and cooperation in designing mandatory subject
curricula,
– development of teaching materials by experts from both confessions.
3. In teacher training:
3.1 In probationary practical training (Referendariat):
– joint sessions of the supervisors of both confessions’ religious
education,
– occasional joint seminar sessions and lectures,
– development and reflection of cooperative models,
– planning and realisation of confessional cooperative lesson
plans.
3.2 In in-service training:
– participation in training seminars of the respective other confession,
– planning and realisation of training seminars with the cooperation of instructors from the respective other confession,
– planning and realisation of joint training seminars on the subject of confessional cooperation.
The introduction of such forms of cooperation presupposes that
cooperation partners of the respective other confession are present.
The agreement both of all participants and of both churches responsible is required.
III. Further Opportunities for Confessional
Cooperative Religious Education
1. Specific conditions of regional structures, school organisations or
the challenges of school reform may suggest forms of cooperation
73
beyond those listed above, e.g. in former East German Länder, in
areas where confessional diasporas exist, or in special-needs and vocational schools.
2. For religious education in an ecumenical spirit, the question of
participation of students of the respective other confession must be
relevant. Protestant religious education does not require participants
to be members of the Evangelical Church. This assumes, however,
that religious education for both Protestant and Catholic children,
youths and young adults is offered in accordance with the law and
that attendance normally follows confessional lines. Catholic religious education requires not only its curricula to conform to the
tenets of the Catholic Church and its teachers be members, but also
extends the membership requirement to students. However, students
of different confessions may exceptionally be allowed to attend Catholic religious education, especially if religious education in their own
confession is not being offered.
Both churches permit students of no confessional affiliation to participate in their respective religious education.
3. Regulations regarding these matters at state level require an agreement between the affected dioceses, Evangelical churches, and state
governments. They must not be motivated by administrative considerations. This also applies if students of one confession are in a
minority at a school. The applicable procedures must be specified
exactly. An adequate participation of parents, students, teachers and
school administrators must be ensured. The confessional profile of
the religious education in question must remain unaffected. Temporary trials – where necessary under the supervision of experts –
may be appropriate. Their results are to be communicated to the
Churches’ educational authorities.
Würzburg, January 1998
74
Hanover, February 1998
Religious Education for Muslim Pupils
Statement of the EKD Church Office
(1999)
Introduction
The day-to-day business of the Council, the Synod and the Church
Conference is conducted by the EKD Church Office. For certain areas
which require constant guidance and support, such as education, environmental issues, sport, prison chaplaincy, television, films, unemployment etc., special commissioners are appointed by the Council. In order
to draw up statements, memoranda etc. the Council has set up advisory
commissions and boards made up of experts from church and public life
(such as the Advisory Group for Public Responsibility, Social Order,
Theology and Issues of Faith, Young People, and Education). In this
statement the EKD office deals with a contested issue of religious education in schools.
Keywords: Islamic religious education, state-religion relationship,
Muslim communities, Basic Law, religious freedom
1. Today’s student body is more diverse than ever in terms of the
cultural and religious experiences they bring to their schools. More
and more schools in turn recognise their tasks as facilitators of integration: German schools must on the one hand familiarise their
students with the decisive currents and traditions of their own culture and history while at the same time foster the peaceful cooperation of people from diverse countries, cultures and religions. Beyond
the academic transmission of knowledge, schools must do their best
to guide the young generation practically and realistically into the
future tasks they will have to master in their coming role as adults
75
and responsible citizens. To do this, they need to expand the horizon
of social perception and responsibility and foster public spirit and
the capacity for dialogue. At this juncture, the stakeholders and
decision makers in public education are more and more coming to
realise the importance of the ethical and religious dimension in the
educational mission of the school and the consequences this realisation has for religious education.
The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) has addressed these
tasks and further aspects of religious education and the relationship
between church, state and school in its memorandum “Identity and
Dialogue – The Place and Perspectives of Religious Education in a
Plural Society” (1994) and in the resolution of the Synod of the
EKD on religious education in schools (1997). This position paper
is based on the fundamental statements of the above-mentioned
documents and the vote of the EKD Council “On the Education
of Muslim Children and Youths” of 1983.
2. The structure of religious education in Germany is governed by
Article 7 of the Basic Law which constitutes it as a regular school
subject. According to Article 7, Paragraph 3, it must be taught “in
accordance with the tenets of the religious communities,” where the
term ‘religious community’ does not exclusively refer to the established Catholic and Evangelical Churches. Organising and teaching
religious education are the responsibility of the state. It is subject to
the regular supervisory organs and must be provided as a mandatory
subject by all educational authorities. Yet at the same time, the
Churches and religious communities share in the responsibility for
religious education. They co-determine the aims and contents of
religious education in accordance with their tenets, taking account
the overarching educational aims of the public school system and
the structure and organisation of the school in question.
From the perspective of Article 4 of the German Basic Law, the
purpose of religious education as per Article 7 is to secure the use
of the right to religious freedom by the individual. Individual chil76
dren, youths and young adults are to be enabled to make informed,
independent religious choices. It is in the interest of the state itself
that the young generation actively engages with its fundamental
values and their cultural, religious and ideological backgrounds,
critically questions and positively reinterprets them. In this process,
religious education has a central role for which, above all, Christian
RE offers itself as a natural partner, given that the values and norms
of our society, our understanding of law and democracy and our
conceptions of freedom, justice and solidarity are strongly rooted
in Christianity. Yet the constitutional freedom of religion is not
limited to the Western Christian traditions. The Federal Republic
of Germany guarantees this right to all citizens, no matter their
faith and culture. It is a telling illustration of the Christian humanist ideal of tolerance that this right also applies to citizens from
countries where a reciprocal toleration for example of Christian
Churches is not a given. Understanding and dialogue are indispensable for the peaceful coexistence of people of different religions in
a democracy.
Freedom of religion also extends to the right of the religious community to participate in providing religious education where this
community, though the number of its adherents and the certainty
of a lasting presence, can justify the financial and administrative
efforts this entails. It is not always possible to apply practices and
provisions historically developed in cooperation with established
churches to foreign religious communities, but this does not diminish their rights according to Articles 4 and 7 of the Basic Law. Religious education in school does not, for example, require the status
of a publicly incorporated quasi-governmental body (Körperschaft
öffentlichen Rechts) enjoyed by the Churches.
3. Although there has been a general receptivity towards introducing
Islamic RE as a regular subject for years, so far it has not come to
pass. The Muslim community in Germany has found it difficult to
designate the authority required by law to act as a partner in cooperation with the state. This is partly rooted in the tradition of Islam
77
which does not know a structure analogous to that of the Church.
However, several Islamic umbrella organisations are currently emerging to represent large numbers of German Muslims. They could act
as the partner the state requires for religious education once their
status as religious communities is confirmed in law.
That Islamic RE remained under consideration as an increasingly
urgent desideratum in spite of these abiding difficulties has other
reasons as well:
– According to recent structural data on public education and the
findings of the Conference of Education Ministers, the percentage of foreign-born students in West German schools approaches
11.5 % (1.16 million). This survey does not record religious affiliation. Other data suggest that in West Germany, about 39 %
of students are Evangelical, 41 % Catholic and 6 % Muslim.
Among the latter, young Turks are in the majority with about
80 %.
It is important to bear in mind that the distribution of religious
groups is not uniform. In urban areas, some classes – especially
in primary and lower secondary schools – count a proportion of
more than 50 % Muslims.
In the former East German Länder, only about 30% of students
report any religious affiliation – mostly Protestant. The small
proportion of foreign-born students (less than 0.5%, except in
Berlin) means a very small number of children, youths and young
adults of Muslim faith.
– It is important for Muslim students to become familiar with their
ancestral tradition in this country in such a way as to open a religious perspective to them while at the same time fostering understanding for other religious views. In the long run, they cannot
be abandoned to a religious no-man’s-land.
– Muslim parents in Germany find themselves in the position of a
religious minority or diaspora. Under these circumstances, they
often develop an acute awareness of their Islamic identity and
look for ways to transmit it to their children. Many regard a
78
public, regular, continual religious education in the public school
as an integrating religious and traditional counterweight (or at
least countering influence) to a secularised environment seen as
antagonistic to tradition and a danger to their children.
– Fears are often voiced that Muslim parents might leave the religious education of their children to privately organised religious
communities and organisations (‘Qur’an schools’), leading to a
strengthening of radical influences opposed to the democratic
order of the Federal Republic of Germany. Thus, the state hopes
to further the integration of Muslim students by providing an
open, academically well-founded, discursive Islamic RE in its
schools following the Christian model. Some Islamic communities consequently do not show any interest in this ‘secularised’
school religious education.
– Many of the pedagogical and theological reasons (forwarded in
the EKD-memorandum on religious education) for a broadly
cooperative, but clearly confessional religious education format
also can be advanced in support of Islamic RE as per Article 7,
Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law.
4. For the reasons named above, most federal Länder have introduced the option of religious instruction for Islamic students in
remedial Turkish-language classes for non-native German speakers
in the early 1980s. Responsibility for this instruction is partly borne
by the state education ministries, partly by the consular or diplomatic representations of Turkey. On behalf of the federal states it is
taught by Turkish teachers, usually nominated and detailed for the
duration of five years by the Turkish authorities. Some, but not all
of these take the opportunity to provide religious instruction in their
classes.
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has taken a unique approach
to developing curricula for Islamic instruction or religious education
in accordance with the tenets of that faith. A commission was created consisting of Turkish teachers, Islamic scholars and two Protestant religious educators under the oversight of a school supervisory
79
official. The first drafts prepared by this commission were then discussed with representatives of Islamic communities and organisations. Later versions were also discussed with Islamic faculties of
universities in Turkey and Cairo as well as the Turkish Office of
Religious Affairs and the German representation of the World Muslim Congress. The current curricula meet broad acceptance especially in the Islamic academic community.
With all due recognition of these efforts to ensure religious education for Islamic students on the part of the state, some critical
questions must be raised. Religious instruction integrated into
Turkish-language remedial classes in no way can be regarded as
religious education according to Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the basic
law:
– The assistance of individual representatives of the religion in ques-
–
–
–
–
80
tion and academic institutions abroad cannot substitute for having a legally constituted religious community in Germany as a
partner.
The secular state goes beyond its competencies in trying to ensure compatibility with the tenets of a religious community itself.
The understanding of what constitutes a religion or belief is determined above all by the religious community in question itself.
Most federal states have no binding rules for attendance or, in
the event of non-attendance, for participation in a nonreligious
ethics education class.
Non-Turkish Muslims are excluded from the classes which, after
all, are not taught in German. Further, it only reaches an average
of 20 % of the Turkish Muslims at a given school and thus an
even lower percentage of the total of Muslim students.
The strong dependence of the Islamic instruction upon Turkey
and its religious authorities and diplomatic representations appears at the very least problematic. It must especially be taken
into consideration that the Turkish Office for Religious Affairs
controls Islam in Turkey and the state does not permit independ-
ent Islamic organisations. The Turkish state certainly does not
represent the entire Islamic faith community.
5. With a view to introducing an Islamic religious education for Muslim
students, we can state the following results:
– As an official partner to the state authorities in providing Islamic
religious education, only a formally incorporated, lasting religious
community can be considered to have the legitimacy required to
fill its the constitutional role.
– It is incumbent on the Muslims in Germany to agree on a manner of meeting the requirements for religious education as per
Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law and to meet the state as
representatives of a religious community. It is then incumbent on
the state to establish Islamic religious education as a regular school
subject meeting the formal and qualitative standards thereof.
– The provisions of Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law are
designed in service to freedom of religion as per Article 4 and to
the integration of students of foreign extraction into German
society. The framers of the constitution did not intend a fracturing of religious education into a myriad of splinter groups. Just
as Evangelical religious education encompasses different Protestant confessions (Lutheran, Unitarian, Reformed and some Protestant free churches) in co-responsibility, the different Islamic
groups, too, will face the task of organising themselves in bodies
of relevant size and agree on the contents and the appointment
of teachers for religious education for Muslim students in the
various federal states. As a flip side to claiming the right to religious education in a separate school subject, this effort provides
the test case for the corresponding duty to reach consensus with
people of different beliefs and views in a plural, democratic society.
– In this sense the Evangelical Church supports religious education
for Muslim students as a regular school subject as per Article 7,
Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law. The introduction of a separate,
81
–
–
–
–
–
82
solely state-run religious instruction for Muslim students is to be
rejected. Any solely state-run class on religious matters is contrary
to the liberal democratic principles of the Federal Republic of
Germany and irresponsibly curtails the educational mission of
the public school.
A religious community must be allowed to define its tenets for
the purposes of religious education on its own, without interference by the secular state which is bound to strict neutrality. The
curricula and suggestions designed from these must then be subject to the usual approbation procedures of the state education
authorities.
All religious education must be given in German and, the coresponsibility of the religious communities notwithstanding, be
subject to the German educational authorities’ supervision.
Teaching in German is a necessary precondition for open communication between the students (e.g. for Muslims who are not
part of the religious community organisation sharing responsibility for the classes).
A regular Islamic religious education also needs sufficiently qualified, state-certified and -supervised Muslim teachers or clerics.
It further requires Islamic theology courses at German universities
and a regular teacher training qualification in the subject.
In introducing religious education for Muslim students, the high
academic and pedagogical standards of established Christian confessional religious education must be regarded as the goal to be
aspired to, even though it may not be possible to realise them
from the beginning.
Finally – and we must proceed from this basic assumption – the
Islamic associations or organisations in Germany, the Central
Council of Muslims, Islamic Council, or other institutions to be
established, like the Christian Churches, must agree to support
a constitutional religious education that is anchored in the pedagogical environment and mission of the state school, dedicated
to dialogue, and aims to foster the students’ capability to make
independent and informed religious decisions.
– The Evangelical Church is ready to take part in the public debate
on the establishment of religious education for Muslim students
as it touches on the fundamental preconditions for any religious
education as per Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law.
We must further state:
– Muslim students are welcome to take part in Protestant religious
education if they or their guardians so desire and the legal and
administrative preconditions are in place.
– Where Muslim students take part in ethics or philosophy classes
because Islamic religious education as per Article 7, Paragraph 3
of the Basic Law does not yet exist, particular care must be taken
to ensure that the religious studies element of these classes adequately and truthfully address Islam.
– The Evangelical Church in Germany has been supporting the
establishment of a formal subject group or religious and ethical
education in public schools since 1994 (see EKD-memorandum
“Identity and Dialogue,” p. 73 ff.). In the interest of the educational mission of the public school, this subject group would
formally comprise and synergistically combine the regular subjects on whom the task of fostering the ability and willingness of
the young generation to enter into dialogue is particularly incumbent. This necessarily includes interreligious learning and interreligious dialogue.
Hanover, 16 February 1999
83
Accompanying and Convincing Young People
12 Theses of the EKD Council about
Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier (Secular Youth Initiation)
and its relation to Confirmation
(1999)
Introduction
council members.
The following paper deals with a phenomenon that is rooted in an alternative celebration to confirmation based on a secular world view.
Jugendweihe became popular in the German Democratic Republic and
remained so after 1989, when the GDR ended its existence. The paper
identifies challenges and perspectives in relation between confirmation
and Jugendweihe and proposed several actions.
Key words: Jugendweihe/Jugendfeiern, confirmation
84
The Church accompanies young people through their lives in different ways. These include confirmation education and confirmation
itself. The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)
treated this subject in its reader “Discovering Faith” (1998). The
document also addresses the relationship between confirmation and
the secular Jugendweihe ceremony.
The Jugendweihe or Jugendfeier still finds widespread acceptance in
former East Germany while relatively few young people are confirmed in Church. Some would opt for both, but a greater number
goes without either. As a reaction to this development, the introduction of Church-based Jugendfeier ceremonies has been suggested.
1. The Jugendweihe is indeed not a product of the German Democratic
Republic, but its current position and significance is closely related to
the history of the GDR.
The Jugendweihe ceremony was created in the mid-19th century by
free secular humanist groups as an equivalent to the established
Churches’ confirmation. Later, freethinker circles adopted the practice and propagated it as an atheist, anticlerical alternative. After
initial hesitation, the SED (Socialist Unity Party of the GDR)
adopted their tradition and began advocating Jugendweihe participation in 1954: “The Jugendweihe is to be a source of strength for the
further development of young people. It is to encourage them to
develop all their faculties for the well-being of their country.” The
SED intended to undermine widespread acceptance of Church confirmation by countering it with its own secular rite, binding youths
to the state ideology in a solemn oath. This led to conflicts with
many Christian families and congregations in which the state often
resorted to rigid measures to enforce its stance. These achieved growing participation in the Jugendweihe, which developed into a Socialist rite of passage. Along with the political destruction of the social
milieus in which Protestantism had traditionally flourished, this
contributed to the breach with religious culture and tradition that
led to large numbers of people eventually leaving the Church.
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Participation and non-participation in Jugendweihe ceremonies were
carefully recorded by the organs of state. In the 1980s, figures approached 90 to 95 % of an age cohort. However, these numbers went
hand in hand with a growing detachment from the ideological content of the ceremony as contradictions between the universal claims
of the Socialist state and the realities of the individual lives of its
citizens increased. Jugendweihe took the shape of two distinct celebrations – an official one supervised by the state and a more important private one in the family circle. This was in keeping with the
role of refuge and sanctuary space that the family often had in the
GDR. Family Jugendweihe celebrations often deliberately distanced
themselves from the ‘Socialist state’, creating their own tradition and
identity of East Germany.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Jugendweihe figures dropped from
75 % in 1990 to under 30 % in 1993. In the years following, they
rose again to around 45 % (these figures are based on data provided
by the organisers of the ceremony and not independently verifiable).
In the GDR, the ceremonies had been planned by the »Central Jugendweihe Committee« (Zentraler Ausschuß für Jugendweihe) and its
subordinate branches. Its work is today continued by the »Association for Humanist Youth Work and Jugendweihe« (Interessenvereinigung für humanistische Jugendarbeit und Jugendweihe e.V.) which is
divided into five state-level organisations. Numerous functionaries
of the GDR body continued work in the new organisation. Until
1990, ceremonies had been mostly funded by state subsidies, with
state work-creation schemes providing labour for the successor organisation until 1993. Today, most of the money is raised through
fees and membership contributions, with sponsorships by local companies and retailers playing an increasing role. Several major companies are using Jugendweihe contributions as part of their youth
marketing strategies. In addition, a large pool of volunteers supports
the Jugendweihe locally.
The changed situation in East Germany was regarded as a promising
recruitment field above all by secular humanist associations, foremost the “German Humanist Association” (Humanistischer Verband
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Deutschlands e.V). They were hoping for significant membership
potential in the deconfessionalised population and intensively marketed their own Jugendfeier ceremonies as an equivalent to the old
Jugendweihe. The share of secular humanist Jugendfeier ceremonies
is today estimated at around 10–15 % of the total, though membership numbers in humanist organisations have only changed
slightly.
Alongside the major organisers of Jugendweihe or Jugendfeier ceremonies, several small providers such as the Arbeiterwohlfahrt mutual
aid association are active.
In West Germany, the number of Jugendweihe ceremonies has risen
slightly, but the overall figure is still marginal at best. Demand has
not risen even in communities where large numbers of former GDR
citizens have moved since 1989.
The ceremonies themselves usually follow the pattern traditional in
the GDR. They take place in a solemn setting and at a significant
location, the participants are presented to the audience (normally
on a stage), a ‘cultural programme’ (music or literary recitations), a
speech by a guest (usually a politician or otherwise prominent person) and the presentation of a certificate and symbolic gifts (such as
flowers and books) are common while an oath is hardly ever administered any more.
Most Jugendweihe ceremonies no longer have any discernible ideological profile. Secular humanist Jugendfeier ceremonies on the other
hand often clearly show anticlerical and anti-Christian elements.
Some Jugendweihe ceremonies still (or again) express similar atheist
sentiments (cf. 9.). The majority of them, though, are designed
mainly as a rite of passage, a celebration of ‘growing up’.
2. Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies still garner much public attention in East Germany. They are often celebrated both by families and
young people. The tradition is hardly ever reflected critically.
The Jugendweihe tradition has successfully adapted to the realities
of reunified Germany and differentiated into several niches since
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1990. From the GDR’s state celebration, it has changed into a popular and marketable ritual service product. “Jugendweihe” has essentially become a brand. However, the apparent pluralisation conceals what continues to be a de-facto monopoly position. In the
mind of the broader public, the tradition largely continues to be one
of ‘the’ Jugendweihe in which the children of a community participate as a matter of course. Most people welcomed the shedding of
ideological baggage after 1989, but few consider the available alternatives in terms of quality options. It continues to be organised by
an outside agent without any great degree of personal involvement
by the participants. Even the secular humanist Jugendfeier ceremonies often follow this de-ideologised, bland pattern and are consequently criticised by some West German humanist associations as
“devoid of any clear position.”
Obviously, the Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremony meets an important need among large parts of the population in former East Germany. Both parents and young people regard it as ‘their’ celebration
and enjoy the attention lavished on participants by their social environment. Growing inequality and uncertainty created by the experience of rapid political change further contribute to the need for
certainties. The public rite of Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier can offer the
individual recognition and attention; create positive memories and
emotive ‘belonging’. “The Jugendweihe is one place where a positive
East German group identity comes alive.” (A. Meier)
Organisers of Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies try to meet these
demands as fully and seamlessly as possible. This constellation of
mutual dependency ensures that no critical rethinking of or distancing from the tradition of Jugendweihe ceremonies in the GDR as a
means of imposing totalitarian uniformity and discipline takes place.
It is in the interest of no party: Many members of the “Interessenvereinigung für Jugendweihe” (Interest grouping for Jugendweihe) already organised ceremonies in the GDR and would therefore have
to face up to their personal complicity. Humanist associations would
need to face the fragility of their beliefs. Parents do not want inconvenient questions – perhaps by their own children – to mar the
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festive atmosphere. Dispensing with the oath and emphasising the
tradition of the – frequently critical – family circle celebrations is
widely regarded as sufficient distance from the dictatorial past.
3. While confirmation and Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier show parallels in
their social function as rites of passage, they are clearly and fundamentally different.
The developments described above meant that confirmation was
never able to regain the importance as a rite of passage it still held
in the GDR as late as the 1950s. In the early 1950s, over 80% of
young people were confirmed while by the late 1960s, the number
had dropped to under 10%. Since the end of the GDR, the figure
has consistently remained around 14%. For confirmation to acquire
a status similar to the one it holds in West Germany would have
required a mass movement back into the Churches, something that,
despite the high esteem they were held in especially during the years
after 1989, did not happen.
To formulate an adequate reaction to this situation, the common
features as well as the differences of both confirmation and Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier must be studied more closely. Both ceremonies:
– have great significance for young people and their social environment,
– address the desire of family members for a celebration especially
for children growing into adulthood,
– radiate into the broader social environment (milieu, urban neighbourhood or village community, school student body, colleagues
of parents) and
– are embedded into traditional contexts with specific contents.
This analysis needs to take into account that the perceived significance of confirmation in the family and social environment in the
Eastern Länder is often much less than it is in the West.
Confirmation, and the confirmation education it is embedded in,
refer human aspirations, expectations and desires beyond themselves
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to the divine and integrate several different fields of human experience:
– It brings together the questions, doubts and discoveries of its
young charges with the necessarily alienating, provocative and
liberating experiences and insights of Christians in their faith,
– combines its function as a signal event in the life of young people
and confirming action in the remembrance of baptism and expectation of eucharistic community – of human companionship
and divine blessing and
– combines the social spheres of the adolescents – their families,
peer groups, school and leisure activities – with the world of their
local Christian community, and with encounters with Christian
communities everywhere.
In practice, the Jugendweihe tends to remain a punctual event (secular humanist Jugendfeier ceremonies differ in this respect) while confirmation exists in a continuous process that embraces numerous
forms of learning and living in classes, excursions, projects, leisure
activities, divine services and celebrations – long before the day of
confirmation itself, and in the shape of Church youth offerings also
long after it.
4. Both the similarities and differences between confirmation and Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier are a challenge to the Church and its communities.
The anthropological and social and the ecclesiastical and theological
functions of confirmation education are not alternatives, but while
they complement each other, they can be clearly distinguished and
variously emphasised. This raises questions about practices in the
Church in both East and West:
The acceptance and perceived plausibility of Christian traditions is
visibly declining in the Western Länder as well as in the East. This
situation demands that we ask whether confirmation still plays the
role of activating fundamental insights of the Christian faith, or
whether it has atrophied into a mere socially expected rite of passage.
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In former East Germany, on the other hand, it must be asked how
the past confrontation of confirmation and Jugendweihe shape the
respective actual uses and values of the competing rituals. Has the
confrontational stance of the GDR days limited the content of confirmation to the aspects of Baptism and creed? Do we take enough
account of the fact that Christian biographies are not invariably
consistent and unidirectional (cf. 10.)?
5. No state involvement in Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies, either
direct or indirect, is acceptable.
Many people in former East Germany believe that Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies should be provided as a public service. However,
no involvement of any state organs in these ceremonies, directly or
indirectly, can be acceptable to us. The state is constitutionally obligated to maintain strict religious and ideological neutrality in all its
functions and would severely compromise its stance if it were to
– allow or instruct teachers at public schools to advertise the ceremonies or pass out applications, thus creating the impression
that they are in any way connected to the school or state authorities. (Lists of participants often use classification by district,
school or class to create the impression of unity and exert subtle
pressure to join one’s peers in »the« ceremony.)
– permit associations or organisations providing Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier events to gain tax privileges through non-profit status.
– declare the single preparatory classes for the Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier as nonprofit youth work, thus allowing to receiving state
subsidies.
– permit recognised non-profit associations that also offer the Jugendweihe (such as the Arbeiterwohlfahrt mutual aid society) to
mix this type of work with its other activities, using staff provided
by state-funded work creation schemes in their organisation.
– provide government-owned venues such as town halls, schools,
concert halls etc. for Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies free of
charge.
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In this context we must point to the recent judgement by the Berlin
administrative court declaring subsidies worth several million Euros
previously provided to the Humanist Association of Berlin to be
illegal.
Prominent individuals should consider well which organisations and
positions their presence and speaking at a Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier
may lend support and legitimacy to.
6. The offer of confirmation and confirmation education by the Church
is more comprehensive than Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies and
should be more confidently presented as such.
Renewed acceptance for confirmation in plural and secularised East
Germany cannot be created by antagonising and demonising the
Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier tradition. The people who currently avail
themselves of or sympathise with it would not understand the basis
of such polemics. The Church does not need to fear competition by
Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies. It can recreate its relationship
with young people and their families from the possibilities it carries
within itself. The confirming act is an active, open, subject-oriented
process that involves young people and opens new dimensions to
them. The offer of the Gospel message addresses their individual
and societal questions, from the everyday to the abstract level of the
origin, purpose and goal of human existence. In confirmation education, young people encounter different forms and contents of faith
which they can individually explore and appropriate for themselves;
they can ‘discover faith’. The Church needs to expand and emphasise
this unique offer in both East and West. There is no reason to adopt
a reactive strategy or fall into paralysis in the face of competition by
other rituals.
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7. Church congregations must consider how offers of confirmation education can be made more attractive for young people.
Young people today have many options and choose carefully among
them. This also applies to confirmation education. Not all of them
are open for the openness we offer them. Confirmation education
must become interesting and important to them. It needs appropriate, situationally modifiable forms of combining experience with
reflection, meditation with action, work with play and discourse
with celebration. Young people must be given the opportunity to
identify with their parish and worship by being allowed to contribute their questions, answers and experiences. The decision for faith
and membership in the Christian parish is not only manifested in
the act of confirmation. Neither is confirmation a completion, but
a step along a greater path.
8. The rejection of the GDR Jugendweihe based on the commitment to
Christian faith has a historical significance that must not be forgotten.
Churches in the GDR rightly stressed that Jugendweihe, as an avowedly atheist rite massively propagated as a Socialist state function, is
incompatible with confirmation. Young people who embraced this
position and refused to take part in the Jugendweihe faced – depending on the time and place – personal and professional discrimination
and occasionally active repression. Witnessing their Christian faith
could leave both parents and children facing agonising decisions.
The experience of past injustice has shaped the biographies of many
Christians and their families to this day. Their decisions and the
consequences bear a specific weight that cannot be diminished by
the following considerations.
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9. The relationship between confirmation and Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier
will have to be reconsidered and weighted differently, region by region.
Past suffering must not close future perspectives. The Church must
earnestly accept both the positive experiences and expectations of
children and young people and their disappointments and rejections.
The generation that today enters confirmation education has no
formative experience of the GDR, however much its effects continue
to be felt. They must not be bound to the battlelines of past ideological conflicts.
Today, there are several positions on whether participation in Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier and confirmation are compatible. Some demand
a strict adherence to the fundamental position of incompatibility.
Individual exceptions made under the GDR regime have no more
justification in a liberal democracy. Nobody is forced to participate
in a Jugendweihe today, though peer-group pressure can still be high
if almost all students in a school class opt for it (cf. 5.). Others point
out that the character of Jugendweihe ceremonies has changed (cf.
1.) and that even Jugendfeier events (to the chagrin of their secular
humanist sponsors) often is little more than the joyous celebration
families have come to expect (cf. 2.). These expectations – which are
also important in the choice of confirmation (cf. 3) – should not be
disparaged. Do we thus accord too much honour to Jugendweihe
ceremonies and devalue our own beliefs by continuing to regard
them as fundamentally incompatible with confirmation? Have they
become essentially harmless social occasions festively marking (more
or less successfully) the passing into adulthood for the entire family?
Are they essentially East German customs, no more pagan than the
rites by which some West German rifle clubs or craft guilds admit
new members?
In considering these points, we must bear in mind that the uniformity of the product “Jugendweihe (Jugendfeier)” is deceptive. There are
considerable difference by region and organiser. To this day
– Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies glorify and mystify man and
his abilities.
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– Jugendweihe and especially Jugendfeier ceremonies are designed
with an atheist and anti-Christian bias (cf. 1.), and old SED
functionaries continue to politically functionalise them to combat
the Church and marginalise Christian families.
– Backward-looking teachers organise and utilise Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies to glorify the past without distinguishing
between the responsibilities of their public functions and the
propagation of their private beliefs (cf. 5.).
Thus no simple, uniform solution regarding the compatibility of
Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier and confirmation are possible. The Church
still has good reason to discourage baptized youths from taking part
in a Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier; confirmation supersedes and corrects
the exaggerated human aspirations and expectations expressed in
these ceremonies (cf. 3.).
Baptism and Eucharist are boons that have no substitute; God
grants grace through them (cf. EKD-reader “Glauben entdecken,”
Exploring faith, chapter. 2.). The unique and irreplaceable meaning
of confirmation lies in this, difficult though it is for humans to grasp
and render comprehensible. Thus, participation in a Jugendweihe/
Jugendfeier must not invariably be understood as a rejection of
Christianity. The decisive aspect must remain a loving and understanding perspective on the individual, the unique young person in
question.
10. The Church invites religiously unaffiliated young people to participate in confirmation education, just as it accompanies them in its educational and social work.
Where the absence of Church and religion has become the social
norm, Christianity and the Church must be encountered to combat
misunderstandings and overcome prejudice. How else should people
find approaches to the tenets of Christianity, to ‘discover faith’? That
is why the Church opened its confirmation education to religiously
unaffiliated youths during the GDR regime and invited them to get
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to know it and its faith. This tradition needs to be continued today
with even greater emphasis.
Confirmation education is opened to the religiously unaffiliated in
order to integrate them into all offers and consequences of the confirming action. This process must be understood as an open one
(cf. 6.) that cannot be limited artificially to the age group of 12–15.
It is possible that some young people find a home in the group of
their fellow confirmands and through them gain their first access to
the Christian faith and community, but still feel the Church to be
alien to them and shy away from full membership. Religion and
institution are not identical, and individual degrees of distance from
and closeness to either can be very different (cf the third EKD member survey, “Fremde Heimat Kirche”).
Such problems of membership and commitment are familiar to
many Church organisations and bodies, political parties, labour unions, civic associations and others. The willingness and ability to
commit to lasting bonds and the very nature of those bonds have
changed in modern society. Many people are willing to intensively
commit to a specific project or to work at a specific level without
wanting to bind themselves with an institutional membership.
All these aspects need to be considered when we see the religiously
unaffiliated among our confirmands shy away from baptism and
Church membership, yet ask for a formal close to their time in confirmation education. The decisionmakers must be able and willing
to react to such requests on a case-by-case basis. Their main aim
must be to close the young people’s time as confirmands in a manner that allows for a continuation, that does not burn bridges or
close doors irrevocably. This could be done by holding a specially
designed agape celebration with the confirmands (cf. “Glauben entdecken,” p. 36). It can emphasise the community aspect of the group
and in its celebration of standing in for each other, supporting each
other and sharing in common can point to the community of Christians and the sacrament of Eucharist. Another option is a ‘blessing
on the way’ (“Reisesegen”) for the group in the context of a divine
service. In all cases should they be given a certificate showing their
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attendance in confirmation education to be used in the event that
they later wish to formally join. A Church that meets young people
this way cannot be accused of compromising its tenets and principles.
Efforts in the Church’s educational and social organisations to create
practices to symbolically accompany religiously unaffiliated young
people there through a certain phase in their lives as Church must
as yet be regarded as inconclusive experiments. They can be useful
in some cases as long as any similarities to either confirmation or
Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier are avoided. Further, a preparatory process
in which the young people concerned engage with their situation
and their beliefs over the course of several months under the guidance of Church staff is indispensable. Without disregarding the
choice of the participants to remain unaffiliated, the open doors of
the Church must be pointed out and the invitation to share the
Gospel message emphasised through concrete offers beyond the symbolic event in question.
11. Opening confirmation education for religiously unaffiliated youths
obviates the need for a separate ‘Church Jugendfeier’.
It has variously been demanded that the Church institute a separate
form of rite of passage, its own Jugendfeier, for religiously unaffiliated young people who do not wish to be baptized/confirmed or
become members to extend its share of this market. However such
a ‘third way’ is unnecessary as long as the Church consistently opens
its confirmation education to the unaffiliated and welcomes them
among its confirmands. Their initial fears must be addressed and
their needs met in an active and qualified approach (cf. 6. and 7.).
This requires a continued development of the idea of confirming
action and the closer integration of confirmation education and
youth work.
A further reason for opposing an independent ‘Church Jugendfeier’
is the potential of this event to be understood as a substitute confirmation and become more dangerous competitor than secular alter97
natives. It would threaten to shorten the vital process of thought
and experience, exploration and conflict, appropriation and understanding that accompanies confirmation. As a merely punctual, single event, it would not do justice to the needs of young people in
our modern plural society (cf. 3.).
(5) In order for confirmation to find broader social acceptance, young
people and their parents must encounter a Church that is open and
willing to enter into dialogue.
The importance that confirmation may retain or gain in the face of
Jugendweihe/Jugendfeier ceremonies does not just depend on the
structure of confirmation education or the manner in which the
confirmation service is held. Young people must experience the
Church in its entirety as a body that is open to them and willing to
enter into dialogue. A Church that young people view as ineffectual
or implausible cannot hope to raise acceptance and membership
numbers by tweaking the design of its confirmation classes. If it
wants to reach people where they stand, it must enable new beginnings, offer elementary experiences of Christian faith and open up
approaches to its contents. The best support for confirmation is
provided by a Church that does not turn its back on young people
and their families but that shows and proves itself as a place that
offers significance for the entire life, and that can integrate life and
faith.
Hanover, September 1999
Präses Manfred Kock
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Religion in Primary School
A Statement of the EKD Council
(2000)
Introduction
council members.
The scope of this statement is not just religious education in primary
school. It takes a more comprehensive perspective of the role of religion
in school including the school life, school environment and other aspects
that are relevant for the primary school.
Key words: Primary school, religious education, religious learning,
religion as a dimension of life, cross-curricular activities, religious
education teachers
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Preface
Recent developments in the German school system are characterised
by the opening of traditionally separate subjects into integrative fields
or areas of learning and new reform approaches, including crosscurricular learning and the development of school-specific profiles,
are gaining influence. These reform efforts have progressed furthest
in primary education. In this situation, the Evangelical Church in
Germany (EKD) wishes to point to the constructive pedagogical
contribution that Evangelical religious education offers for school
development. Religion is an element of life and learning beyond the
limits of religious education classes, and the Church is aware of its
responsibility in all aspects of religious learning in school.
In any given classroom today, we meet both baptized and unbaptized, German and foreign children together, coming from very different family backgrounds and cultures; only very few of them come
from families with close ties to the Church. This presents the school
with a dual challenge. On the one hand, it needs to familiarise its
pupils with the formative historical forces and Christian traditions
of German and European culture. On the other hand, it must foster
the peaceful coexistence of people from other countries, cultures and
religions. Along with kindergarten and pre-school, primary school
lays the groundwork that allows children to approach each other
with openness and respect, discover their common humanity and
learn to deal with their differences.
For many children, confessional religious education in primary
school is their first encounter with Christianity and the religious
sphere. This form of religious education has gained widespread acceptance and is almost universal in the western part of Germany.
Almost all Protestant and Catholic pupils participate, as do a large
number of religiously unaffiliated children or children from other
confessions. However, religious ties in school life are not limited to
religious education classes.
This text was prepared by experts from the Religious-Pedagogical
Institutes of the Member Churches (ALPIKA), the Comenius-In100
stitute, a Centre for Research and Development in Education, the
Conference of Department Heads of Education of the Member
Churches (BESRK) and the Advisory Group of the EKD for Education, Children and Youth Work. The Council of the Evangelical
Church in Germany has accepted it with approval and due appreciation. I hope that our position will find the attention of all decision
makers and stakeholders in state and church, schools and parishes.
The Council wishes to express its gratitude to all who support religious education and religious learning in primary school, in particular the teachers of the subject. Children have a right to religion –
in primary school as much as anywhere.
Hanover, in December 2000
*
*
*
Recent years have seen great changes in primary schools in Germany.
New concepts of teaching and learning have been developed and
implemented on a broad basis. What is the position of religious
questions in this new setting? How can the recurring, ever new questions about God, about faith and the mysteries of life be answered
at school, both in and outside of religious education classes? What
qualifications, and what support, are required for religious education
teachers there?
The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) has laid out its position
on religion in the school and the situation of children in general in
four texts:
– Identity and Dialogue. Position and Perspectives of Religious
Education in a Plural Society (Identität und Verständigung. Standort und Perspektiven des Religionsunterrichts in der Pluralität. Eine
Denkschrift 1994),
101
– Growing Up in Difficult Times. Children in Society and the
Church Community (Aufwachsen in schwieriger Zeit. Kinder in
Gemeinde und Gesellschaft 1994),
– Dialogue about Faith and Life. Recommendations for the Reform
of Evangelical Religious Education Teacher Training (Im Dialog
über Glauben und Leben. Zur Reform des Lehramtsstudiums Evangelische Theologie / Religionspädagogik. Empfehlungen 1997),
– Religious Education in School (Religiöse Bildung in der Schule.
Kundgebung 1997).
In these texts, the EKD explicitly welcomes numerous aspects of the
new development in schools. They are consistent with the ‘change
of perspectives’ (called for by the Synod in 1994) towards perceiving
and addressing pupils as individuals. The new approaches to learning, working and living together now being introduced in primary
education may serve as models for the entire school system. That is
why the Evangelical Church now must clarify its position specifically
towards religious education in primary schools while at the same
time seeking to exemplify the positions outlined in the above texts
as they pertain to this specific school environment.
1. The Foundations of Religious Pedagogy
in Primary Education
1.1 Changing Primary Schools
The current reform efforts in primary education go back to the
‘Recommendations on Work in Primary Schools (Empfehlungen zur
Arbeit in der Grundschule) published by the Conference of Education Ministers in 1994. In them, the Conference takes account of
significant changes in the social environment: “Today’s children
bring other and often very different experiences into the school
environment. At the same time, the role of the school as providing
opportunities for the future has taken on greater significance in the
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minds of parents. Schools now face a large number of challenges: a
broad spectrum of different ways of life and conceptions of childrearing, stronger parent involvement, the encounter of people
from various cultural backgrounds, an increasing awareness of ecological concerns and a growing influence of the media. Not least,
the increasing desire to integrate children with special needs into
regular primary education as far as possible makes its own demands.”
The Conference defines its fundamental conception of education
as: “Education is an open, practically empowering, lifelong process.
It is designed to enable people to participate in social and cultural
life, to solve problems effectively, by appropriate means and in a
democratic fashion, to consider the consequences of their actions
and accept responsibility for them. This process begins in pre-school
and is systematically continued in primary education.
Beyond its educational mission, the task of the primary school is
also to provide basic value orientation by introducing the children
to knowledge of both themselves and their world, leading them step
by step towards the capacity for independent judgement and selfdetermined, responsible action. It is to help its pupils to grow into
their own positions and moral values to allow them to develop a
mature personality and participate fully in society.”
The various Länder (federal states) have sought to implement the
Conference’s recommendations in their own way. It is in this context
that primary schools developed approaches to integrate children of
different abilities and socialisations by rhythmically structured
phases of living and learning together, of work and play, effort and
relaxation. They seek to encourage curiosity through a differentiated
array of learning opportunities, provide both knowledge and experience, foster individual and social identity growth, allow normative
orientation and aid the acquisition of competencies. Many schools
integrate handicapped children. Recent political drives to develop
a ‘reliable primary school day’, the ‘full half-day school’, ‘all-day
school’ or ‘school day from 8 to 1’ as opposed to the traditionally
short German school day pose further challenges.
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A major aspect of the new approaches seen today is the move away
from traditionally separate subjects towards integration into learning
fields within which modern methods of teaching can be more usefully applied. Great emphasis is also placed on integrating children
from different social and ethnic backgrounds and a consequent differentiation of learning options.
Almost all Länder today allow schools to develop their own, individual programmes and curricula within certain limits. This allows
individual schools to adapt their offers to local and situational demands and independently develop their own profiles. Though this
is likely to lead to greater differences between them, it will also
render the options open to parents more transparent.
1.2 Religion as a dimension of life and learning
The Conference of Education Ministers outlines several learning
fields intended to structure primary education alongside or instead
of traditional subjects in its 1994 recommendations: Language education, mathematical education, media education, aesthetic education, technology competence, physical education, encounters with
foreign languages, health and the environment, and local and global
perspectives. Even though religious education is named as a subject,
it is not found in the learning fields – most likely in deference to
the role of the religious communities in determining the content of
this subject as codified in Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the German
Basic Law.
Religion is a motivating, integrative complementing aspect of school
education:
– Religious education provides an irreplaceable basic impulse to
more closely and thoroughly merge the two basic tasks of primary
schools (and all schools); to introduce children into their culture
and to foster the development of the individual personality. It
helps children to find orientation amid the manifold options of
the modern world and supports them in developing an individual
identity and the capacity for religious and ethical judgement.
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– Religious education helps to integrate school into the wider world
its pupils inhabit. It addresses social relationships inside and outside of school and in the adult world in the light of religious
traditions e.g. thorough religious celebrations, ceremonies and
rituals.
– It provides an indispensable additional perspective to complement that of other subjects or learning fields in exploring reality
in its past, present and future perspectives. A Christian confessional religious education develops both complementing and integrative functions in that the subjects of both Protestant and
Catholic curricula overlap to a large degree and because connections to other subjects are easily made inasmuch as religion and
life, Christian faith and everyday reality, Church and society already relate to each other.
This triple contribution of religious education to the ‘House of Living and Learning’ needs to be enshrined in the programme of every
school. A responsible organisation of school life is a necessary foundation stone of a democratic society. Some aspects of human coexistence essential to this find their legitimacy in the religious dimension which, in turn, can inform specific pedagogical concepts and
practices.
Christian beliefs underlie especially the concepts our culture holds
of freedom and social responsibility. That is why in our cultural
sphere, the Biblical Christian tradition must have a prominent place
in the primary school curriculum. This must be combined with
encountering the beliefs and traditions of other religions to both
teach the ability to understand similarities and distinctions and to
instil mutual respect.
In view of these fundamental tasks, Evangelical religious education
at the primary school level aims to do the following:
– Children are to gain basic Biblical and theological knowledge and
come to understand the tradition and language of the Christian
faith;
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– They are to learn how religious faith relates to their lives, tasks
and problems and to perceive and respect differences in religious
background;
– They are to be given room for reflection, the opportunity to ask
questions about the meaning and significance of life, express their
fears, pain and sorrow, but also their hopes and wishes, and to
explore the spiritual dimension of life;
– Religious education is to develop the children’s capacity for religious judgement and to provide them with practical and theoretical ethical orientation.
To meet these comprehensive and challenging tasks, religious education depends on a high degree of communication and cooperation
in the school environment. It is in the interest of its teachers to make
their presence felt in their schools, to participate actively in developing its communicative and pedagogical culture and to practically
integrate the religious dimension into its concept of general education (cf. 2.2 and 2.5).
The situation in East German schools poses particular challenges.
The idea that education and school have a religious dimension is
largely met with incredulity there. The large number of religiously
unaffiliated people is often separated from the Churches emotionally and culturally, and a working concept of religious learning
and teaching must take this factor into account. Religion in school
is addressed almost exclusively in religious education classes,
though sometimes also in the non-religious subject of Ethics. Religious education faces two divergent missions in this environment: On the one hand, it is intended to integrate its students
into their confession and on the other hand provide religious
knowledge and interreligious cultural competence. This calls for
concepts which
– allow for a clearly defined division of tasks between traditional
Church-based forms of working with children (such as ‘Christenlehre’: religious instruction in parishes) and the school’s educational mission,
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– reflect a situation of religious non-affiliation that has often lasted
for several generations already,
– invite pupils and parents through religious education to reconsider the prejudices about religion and the Christian faith that
the GDR’s Socialist ideology instilled in them.
1.3 Religious interests of the children
Religious education in school takes children seriously as subjects of
the learning process. They have a religious interest which they, unlike adults, are ready to communicate without reservations. This is
reflected in the empirically proven popularity of religious education
with pupils at primary schools throughout the country. During the
early school years, stories and symbols play an important role in
religious orientation and children are open for seeing or listening
to, following and playing out Biblical and religious stories. Mythological narratives are not yet an intellectual problem but function as
part of the fascination of the stories. They are usually understood in
a literal sense. In their religious thinking, children often develop a
world view which still connects everything to all other things.
Faced with the knowledge of suffering and injustice or even directly
affected, children – like adults – often helplessly confront the question why this is allowed to happen and whether God can help.
Children usually have an understanding of the concept of prayer.
But “How do we know we are talking to God when we pray?” (this
was the question of a girl in primary school). These doubts touch
the core of Christian faith and foreshadow the religious problems
of many adolescents.
Children must be allowed room for their own experiences and interpretations in their encounters with adults. Instruction and correction are not enough if they are to grow into a religious faith that
is their own. Children may take up what they hear of Christianity
(or other religions) in the process, but they never merely unquestioningly adopt what they are given. They are far too much explorers in
a – to them – endlessly fascinating and surprising world and active
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seekers after answers to the riddles it poses to them. To all intents
and purposes, children develop their own theology; at least where
God is still a present topic in society and religion is expressed publicly. Their interests and rights must be respected in this regard as
in all others, and religion be integrated into the dimensions of primary school education.
2. Situations, places and times for religious learning
in primary school
We must clearly distinguish and separately analyse and evaluate
the different places, times and situations in which religious learning takes place. Not least, the constitutional right to both positive
and negative religious freedom – both freedom of and from religion – requires this. Above all, confessional religious education
without doubt offers a special and unique opportunity to explore
religious issues in a school environment. Yet the religious dimension should also have its place outside of its narrow boundaries if
it is to become a genuine dimension of life and learning. This need
not be realised solely in a dispassionate, studiously neutral fashion.
Even a religious ritual (such as an ecumenical prayer in class or the
school community) may – by a decision of the Constitutional
Court – be part of a general religious education if it involves neither obligation nor indoctrination and allows pupils to retain personal distance – as should be a matter of course for all school
education.
The relationship between the realities of life and the contents of
religious education can be exemplified in an example: If a pupil
were to announce that she has lost her faith in God because of the
death of her grandmother, the scheduled curriculum must take a
back seat for a while. She should be given the opportunity to relate
her feelings in class and may feel support in the other pupils’ quiet
listening or spontaneous expressions of their own ideas of death
and what comes after it. At the end of such an improvised dialogue,
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the girl may well state that she “wants to know more about death
and after, maybe from the Bible. Will we learn about that in RE?”
Her quest for answers is not over at this point. She wants her question to be addressed in the subject’s dedicated lessons – an example how religious learning inside and outside religious education
class can support each other.
2.1 Religious education as a subject
Projects and learning groups do not obviate traditional subjects.
Rather, they are based on it as their systematic foundation. Evangelical religious education is scheduled for two 45-minute lessons
weekly at the primary level. Some schools have opted to integrate
this time budget into broader inter-subject activities.
A primary introduction into the Protestant form of Christianity
geared towards the understanding of pupils is possible and indeed
called for in religious education lessons. This in not only in deference to the co-responsibility of the religious communities for curriculum and material design as per Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the
Basic Law, but also to the expectations of the parents. There are
further good reasons, both pedagogical and theological, for religion
to have a place in its own dedicated subject. Pedagogically:
– Children learn to systematise and connect the events of intentional or spontaneous situations in rhythmically structured school
life (cf. 2.2).
– They can begin to understand the various partial aspects they
encounter in project and inter-subject work as parts of a cohesive
whole, religion.
– Religious questions thrown up in spontaneous learning situations
(see above) can usually only be addressed incompletely. The children know that religious education class is the place and time to
take a closer, more thorough and nuanced look at these issues.
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Religious education as its own subject is also required on theological
grounds, for reasons closely associated with pedagogy:
– Even to children, religion is a phenomenon in its own right (cf.
1.3). In our culture, they understand it as relating to God, a
sense of God’s presence and actions, all the way to a personal
relationship to God, though one inevitably accompanied by
questions.
– A dedicated subject makes it easier for children to understand the
nature of religion as a specific arena of human experience. It becomes concrete to them. Religious feelings, experiences and insights do not, as it were, dissolve in a greater ethically, socially or
aesthetically directed learning, though they continue to affect
these fields.
– Religious education in its Protestant form is appropriate because
a specific Protestant form of Christianity exists and because the
individuality of the different confessions and religions (Judaism,
Islam, Christianity) needs to be addressed as early as primary
school.
– As in a faith ‘dialogue’ among adults, interconfessional or interreligious learning can only create competencies for dialogue and
pluralism in children and adolescents if it is taught in a definite
and specific confessional identity. A Protestant identity includes
both the ability and willingness for ‘dialogue’ (see EKD-Denkschrift 1994).
– Education takes place in the fruitful opposition between the (possibly) self and the unknown other. Perceiving and identifying are
always processes of distinction between one thing and another:
in differences, the contours of both become clearer and their
similarities better understood.
The specific competencies to be acquired in religious education as
a dedicated subject include the following:
– Children encounter Biblical stories as elements of Christian traditions and anchoring points of Christian faith that, together
with other past and present stories informed by this tradition,
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can open avenues a meaningful interpretation of life and responsible decisionmaking.
– They develop a language which enables them to express their own
thoughts and feelings and structure their relationship with other
people and things they encounter and need to engage with.
– They talk about and creatively express their feelings, imagination,
wishes and fears. Their symbolic literacy can be fostered through
painting, singing, dancing, roleplaying and creative endeavours.
– Not least, they are introduced to the characteristic forms of religious life (such as singing and prayer, reading, and expressing
gratitude, mourning and wishes) which can provide an inner
experience of religion and religiosity.
Beyond these general aspects, the religious education needs to distinguish specific phases and create specific situations in each. These
are:
Introductory phase, grade 1
The introductory phase is mostly dedicated to integrating the children into a socially cohesive class and to develop and practice the
rules of living and learning together. The various approaches and
opportunities for learning used at this point must support this common aim. Rules agreed upon in the class need not only be reinforced
and remembered during lessons, they can be considered from a
specifically religious perspective in RE classes. Specifically Christian
and confessional aspects – though experienced as differences already – should take second place to a joint religious education during this early phase which can extend through the first six months
of grade 1. Early religious education needs a higher degree of Evangelical-Catholic cooperation.
Protestant religious education in cooperation
with Catholic religious education and Ethics
Cooperation between Catholic and Evangelical Religious education
and Ethics should continue beyond the introductory phase and rec111
ognised as a unique opportunity for religious and ethical development it is. This could be formalised in the shape of a ‘subject grouping’ (cf. “Identity and Dialogue”), oriented along specific issues or
projects or learning situations both in and outside of school. The
forms of cooperation developed by the Conference of German Bishops and the Evangelical Church in Germany in 1998 range from
thematic cooperation agreements to joint faculty conferences and
teaching projects to forms of joint lessons by both Protestant and
Catholic teachers.
Possible forms of cooperation can vary widely according to prevailing local conditions. They should be developed and explored in
acknowledgement of this difference, as several research projects are
currently doing.
Interreligious learning
Children encounter people from many different religious and ideological backgrounds both in and outside of school. The increasingly
multicultural and multireligious learning environment needs spaces
and times where it can be addressed, explored, and potential conflicts
understood and addressed. In the context of Evangelical religious
education, this calls for more time and, where possible, new cooperative structures to be tried experimentally. It needs to be recognised
that in many places, both Evangelical and Catholic religious education already have taken on an integrative and dialogical function as
they often include pupils of different confessions or religions or even
religiously unaffiliated ones.
Internal differentiation
The heterogeneity of classes and learning groups didactically requires
both an integrative, yet at the same time a differentiated approach
geared to the needs of individual pupils. We need to develop models how to integrate children with specific needs for remedial support
into the class while at the same time teaching cognitively more advanced children without boring them. Greater gender balance, too,
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will need to be realised in religious education as it does throughout
the school system.
2.2 Religion as part of the rhythmically structured school life
Whether spontaneously or intentionally, religious learning takes
place outside of religious education classes as well as in them. As we
pointed out earlier, these situations call for a balance of positive and
negative religious freedom; children must be allowed to express
themselves freely without being subject to religious or ideological
pressures. Handling such situations responsibly requires a great degree of professional competence and religious sensitivity – requirements that religious education teachers are particularly well suited
to meeting. Thus, at least partially involving them in the following
forms of learning both in terms of content and organisation should
prove a fruitful approach (cf. 2.5):
Open beginning/flextime schooling
Many primary schools are introducing a flexible approach to beginning the school day that allows children to arrive within a given time
window during which they can independently busy themselves with
games, individual and group work, or with their assigned chores
before the first lesson in the group begins. This gives teachers time
to informally communicate with their pupils and address their individual concerns, which may well include religious issues. (cf. 1.3
and the example early in Chapter 2.).
Shared Ritual
A public ritual in class or for the entire school community can be
used to emotionally, socially and mentally mark the beginning of
the school week, present plans and commemorate special occasions.
At the end of a week, a ritual can serve to recollect and evaluate the
past week and to exchange feedback. Some schools use it to publicise
and honour progress in learning. Such rituals can embrace religious
occasions and themes.
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A shared breakfast, birthday celebrations (Viel Glück und viel Segen
auf all’ deinen Wegen – luck and blessings – as a traditional German
song has it), or remembering children who are ill also offer opportunities for reflection or celebration, spirituality and silence, in
which the religious dimension finds room.
Free learning
‘Free learning’ is an individualised form of independent learning.
Classrooms are equipped with areas for maths and reading, arts,
experimenting corners and sometimes even PCs which pupils may
use independently. Numerous religious learning games and tools,
text- and storybooks, images, audiotapes, CDs and CD-ROMS on
religious topics are available for this purpose. They should be brought
into classrooms to meet the children’s demand for religious learning
that becomes evident once a welcoming, attractive learning environment for this is provided.
Flexible learning times and inter-subject lessons
Many primary schools today have abandoned the traditional 45minute lessons in favour of 60- or 90-minute intervals to use the
available learning times more flexibly for the respective tasks. This
allows teaching in thematic blocks (Epochen) integrating and combining the content of different subjects. Participation by religious
education teachers would often be desirable in designing an aspect
or phase, if not the Epoche itself.
Inter-subject thematic blocks must be prepared in cooperation. For
some questions, involving parents may be a fruitful approach and
to plan for several didactic options to keep engaging with Christian
religious aspects optional rather than mandatory.
Project learning
The boundaries between subject-oriented free learning, inter-subject
teaching and project learning are fluid to a degree, the three representing different degrees of autonomy in teaching and learning.
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Project learning offers the greatest scope for choice to pupils: they
choose a thematic focus, the goals and methods of their approach,
their partners and the form of presenting the results. Involving religious education teachers in the planning and design of project
learning phases is often necessary, socially desirable and pedagogically fruitful.
Work groups
Many schools regularly offer both mandatory and optional choices.
This allows children to develop and pursue their own interests, study
specific questions or try activities which would otherwise have no
room in the regular curriculum. Here, too, the religious dimension
should not be neglected and thematic offers (such as reading circles
for Bible stories, excursions to explore Church social work or music,
or encounters with people who relate their faith experiences) should
be available.
2.3 Religion in school life
Celebrations are an important aspect of living and learning together
and as such are an indispensible part of school culture. Among these
occasions for reflection and thought, celebration and joy, and formal
recognition are Christian services, morning prayers or commemorative days to which all pupils (and, where appropriate, their parents)
regardless of their religious affiliation may be invited and in which
all may actively participate.
Schools are increasingly opening up for encounters with people from
different fields of life. In several Länder, parishes are offering pedagogical programmes such as the Protestant ‘meet-the-church lesson’
(Evangelische Kontaktstunde), aiming to deepen the relations between
the school and its parish community. This allows the children to
explore religious life and meet people who can witness to their Christian faith.
Successfully organising school life depends fundamentally on integrating all stakeholders in cooperative efforts. The religious dimen115
sion of working with Christian parents takes on particular importance here. Beyond common support services and help with child
care, homework etc., this can mean involving them in the design
and organisation of school prayer services and celebrations. Such
cooperative tasks can help overcome inhibitions and insecurities
regarding the religious education of their children.
2.4 Religious learning outside the school
A special opportunity to encounter living religious faith is presented
by excursions or visits to
– Churches and Church events or services,
– Church social service institutions,
– Cemeteries,
– Synagogues, mosques and chapels
and encounters with the people who live, work and pray there.
A productive neighbourly cooperation between primary schools and
Church parishes requires the responsible parties from both sides to
approach each other and make an effort to open up spaces outside
the school for productive religious learning.
2.5 Staff cooperation to integrate aspects of religious learning
In order to successfully implement integrative forms of learning, all
teachers need to agree on their estimation of the needs of a class and
how to meet them. Only such an agreement can offer a firm basis
to develop differentiated learning opportunities and individually
targeted support. The class teacher is central to this effort, spending
many hours daily with the group. Where he or she at the same is
qualified to teach religious education, opportunities for both fruitful religious and general pedagogical approaches open up that would
otherwise be closed. However, in some Länder, class teachers are also
responsible for religious education without holding the normally
requested qualification or degree. These are encouraged to seek the
support of the Churches to acquire the competencies and qualifica116
tion necessary for this responsible task (cf. 4.1). Religious learning
even in primary school requires professional qualifications on the
part of the teacher.
Where Church staff offer religious education in primary schools,
special effort is necessary to integrate them into the school’s structure
and culture and combat the impression of them being ‘outsiders’.
Especially in former East Germany, Church staff play a vital role in
religious education at school. Their relative distance to school life
offers some opportunities (in that children may find them a refreshing change and they are not associated with the overall pedagogical
tasks of the school), but it is important not to allow this position as
a ‘guest’ to prevent their active cooperation with other teachers and
the integration of religious aspects into the overall educational concept and profile of the school. In cases of religious minorities or
diasporas receiving religious education in learning groups composed
from several classes, grades, or even schools, even greater difficulties
arise. In these cases, the opportunities of integrating religion into
school life beyond religious education class should be considered at
least at some points in time. Yet such groups encompassing pupils
from two or three years at the same time can also offer interesting
pedagogical impulses, as especially reform-oriented educators have
pointed out in the past.
3. Teaching religion in primary school
The manifold tasks of teaching religious education and guiding religious learning at the primary level require skills of the teacher
which their academic training often has only rudimentarily developed. Only now are teacher training curricula and exams beginning
to place greater emphasis on their acquisition (see also “Im Dialog
über Glauben und Leben,” EKD 1997):
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3.1 Developing forms and cultures of learning
The learning culture specific to religious education is usually highly
developed in both didactic and methodological terms. It can thus
contribute meaningfully to today’s reform efforts. Depending like
no other subject on the acceptance and approval of both pupils and
parents, it needs to be communicative and responsive. It offers children the opportunity to contribute with their experiences and impulses and encourages them to find their own approaches to the
fundamental questions of religion. All these are important aspects
of modern school programmes. Methodologically, religious education at the primary level encompasses numerous different forms of
learning: storytelling and reading, listening and understanding, playing and acting, painting and crafts, singing, music and dance, exploration and research, meditation and silent reflection, encountering others in a spirit of respect and acceptance, trying, considering
and critically reflecting ideas are all integral parts of its approach.
3.2 Reflecting the teacher’s role
Religious education teachers are tasked with observing and understanding their pupils to aid them in their own individual religious
development. They can only do this successfully and appropriately
if they reflect and realise their role in the school in the light of their
own personal and professional biography. This includes an unhampered approach to their own religious background and the ability
to live and exemplify their faith in a manner that does not constrain
their pupils, but encourages them to seek their own path.
A reflection of their own actions with the aim of continuous improvement is a basic professional qualification. Diaries, exchanges
among colleagues or professional supervision all offer opportunities
to improve this competence.
The ability to cooperate with colleagues, to initiate and coordinate
collaborative efforts, to work with parents and to integrate learning
experiences with living religion outside the school all require con118
siderable communicative and cooperative as well as management
skills.
3.3 Evaluating learning progress and individual performance
The evaluation of pupils’ progress is more than a necessity imposed
by the character of religious education as a regular subject. It offers
the opportunity to judge the teacher’s own effectiveness and respond
where necessary. Judging the individual performance of pupils is a
further important task, if not an unproblematic one.
The progress of children in religious education, their experiences
and learning, the way they engage with their religious identity and
world view and the degree to which they avail themselves of the opportunities offered in class is best documented in verbal rather than
numerical evaluations. These can be written over short periods
(learning development reports – Lernentwicklungsberichte) or for the
longer term (learning biographies – Lernbiographien). This approach
allows tracing the effectiveness of religious teaching approaches and
integrates pupil feedback, making it useful to develop improvements
in teaching and learning.
Alongside individual forms of evaluation, collective approaches must
be developed. One such possibility is a group or class diary which
is open to and/or co-written by the pupils and which documents
the questions and issues the group engaged with.
3.4 Working with parents
Religious education depends on the fact that parents want it to be
given and feel it supports them in their own educational role. Thus,
teachers must invite parents to discuss religious education, address
the religious dimension in parent-teacher meetings and or even encourage direct parent involvement in the subject. It is often especially
parents who themselves have little or no relationship with the Church
or do not define themselves as Christians who want their children to
have this kind of religious education. At the same time, fears of
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Church indoctrination are palpably present with this group. This
ambivalence needs to be addressed and overcome through confidencebuilding cooperation and openness. The skills of a qualified adult
educator are indispensable for this aspect of religious education.
Sometimes, parents themselves express a desire to learn more on the
basics of the Christian or specifically the Protestant faith. Providing
this alone would certainly overtax the abilities of religious education
teachers at this point, but a fruitful cooperation with Church adult
education institutions can make a valuable contribution to religious
education here.
4. Supporting and accompanying religious education
teachers in primary school
4.1 Teacher training and further qualification
The training and qualification of religious education teachers for
primary schools requires various forms to address all skills and abilities required of them.
A successful integration of the religious dimension into the overall
culture of primary schools depends above all on the ability to enter
into dialogues as a clearly positioned, credible, and convincing partner, to negotiate and to realise the intended goals in exemplary efforts. Church-funded institutions of teacher qualification
– contribute to the professional, methodological, didactic and diagnostic qualification of the teaching staff.
– counsel and support teachers and give them access to resources
outside of school.
– support the development of individual competencies through a
broad array of offers tailored to the individual’s needs.
– support the development of communicative, cooperative, and
reflective competences to strengthen faculty cooperation and the
integration of the religious dimension into the overall educational
mission of the school.
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– allow the development of inter-subject learning projects with a
religious pedagogical orientation.
– support concrete work in schools by developing and providing
teaching materials and media.
Beyond this, the presence of religious education in state-funded
teacher qualification efforts must be assured for the future. To this
end, the Church should cooperate in the establishment and operation of didactic workshops where the importance of religious education for the further development of primary school education overall can be demonstrated most convincingly.
4.2 Research and practice
The great differences between learning groups, classes, schools, regions and states prevailing at the moment require agreement on
binding universal standards and criteria for religious education in
primary schools nationwide. Directly needed subject-specific forms
of evaluation have, as yet, not been developed.
Teachers are in the best position to closely observe and experience
the religious development of children in school. They need to be
integrated into model programmes and pilot studies as reflecting
expert practitioners. A systematic participation of teachers in research and development efforts in religious education is an important precondition to link theoretical reflection and research with
practical, effective efforts to improve and develop the subject on the
ground. Empirical research must make transparent the role and importance of religious education in primary schools.
Such practical research into the effectiveness of religious education
may also serve to improve its position and acceptance as well as that
of its teachers in the public eye.
4.3 Protection from excessive demands
The above tasks, particularly integrating religious education into a
conception of learning fields, integrative teaching approaches and
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overall school culture, place great demands on the shoulders of religious education teachers. Often enough, they already face considerable pressure to justify their very existence with which the Church
must not leave them alone. It is especially the Church institutes of
religious education that can offer them relief and support (cf. 4.1).
Their role can be expanded and their effectiveness improved by more
decisively entering into dialogue with teachers of other subjects to
raise their awareness of the religious dimension in school culture,
religious holidays, history and culture and by enhanced cooperation
with schools.
The professional qualification of Protestant religious education
teachers in most Länder is tied to their Church authorisation, the
Vokation. This is the basis for a relationship of mutual trust and
obligation and a sign of the Church’s appreciation for the difficult
task they face, placed at the intersection of Church and society. It
must be understood and realised as such.
Conclusion: Thanks and encouragement
The great degree of acceptance religious education in primary schools
enjoys (cf. 1.3.) is founded not least on the commitment of its teachers and their strong identification with the subject. They succeed in
raising religious awareness and awakening interest to initiate learning processes. The Church gratefully acknowledges their great personal efforts. Religious education must be understood from the perspective of the school’s educational mission, not Church socialisation.
Nonetheless, the Church has an interest in its role of enabling pupils,
across religious, confessional and social divides, to open themselves
for the interpretation of life and message of hope that the Christian
faith offers.
Today, primary school religious education teachers are often the first
point of contact for children with their religious and philosophical
question and the first representative of Christianity they consciously
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identify as such. Thus, they face not only great professional and
didactic, but also considerable personal challenges. On the one hand,
they are expected to become examples to their pupils, to provide
them with orientation in life and belief. On the other hand, they
are faced with the effects of secularisation, pluralisation and modernisation, particularly the rise of a functionalised conception of
education that has no room for a religious dimension in school.
In the context of its co-responsibility for a qualified religious education in school, the Church offers them support, accompaniment
and recognition for their vital work. At the same time, their abilities
and experience are a welcome and valued contribution to the
Church’s efforts.
“Dear God, please protect my parents and my brothers and sisters,
and I also ask you for my brother to find a job during the holidays.
This I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.” Thus reads Anna’s request
on a ‘prayer wall’. Jesus sets an example to adults by placing children
first. It is religious education teachers in primary school that especially encounter this faith in children. They must bring this perspective into the Church. Encounters with children enrich the Church
and are vitally important for its future spiritual development. It is
therefore especially grateful to teachers of religious education for
their efforts in caring for and guarding this treasure.
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On the Human Scale
Protestant Perspectives on Education
in a Knowledge- and Learning Society
A Memorandum of the EKD Council
(2003)
Introduction
council members.
The following extracts are taken from a memorandum that introduces
Protestant perspectives to education in modern times. It takes account
of the fact that Protestant understanding to education includes a commitment and taking over co-responsibility for the field of public education.
Key words: Education, knowledge society, concepts of knowledge,
comprehensive approach to education
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Content
Preface
Introduction
1.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
New conditions and challenges
PISA – Multiple Challenges
Multi-Dimensional Education
School Reform and the Culture of Learning
Teaching Quality and Quality Control
The Complexity of Expecting and Supporting Scholastic
Achievement
Education and Social Background
Self-Responsibility and Self-Worth
Lifelong Learning
Education, the Meaning of Life and the “Whole” Human Being
Life situations and image of the human being
Life Situations of Children
Life Situations of Youths
Life Situations of Adults
What is a Human Being?
3. On a human scale and education– Protestant perspectives
3.1 Changes in Global Societies and the Biblical Conception of
Humanity
3.2 Principles of a Protestant Understanding of Education
4. Education for our times
4.1 Education Means Learning, Knowledge, Ability, Values, Action, and Meaning
4.2 Education for the Future Needs to Allow for the Unexpected
4.3 Education Integrates Economic Expectations with the Development of the Individual and the Culture
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4.4 Globalisation Requires Intercultural and Interreligious Education
4.5 Education as a Prerequisite for Responsible Handling of Old
and New Technologies
4.6 Education Processes Require Time and Common Effort
4.7 Education Requires Historical Awareness and Commemoration
4.8 Transcendence and Theodicy are Part of Education
5.
Education on the human scale – Theses
Preface
Our education system is in crisis. This is not a new experience – 30
years ago, an ‘education disaster’ was diagnosed. The solution then
was an idealistic drive for more education, to ensure access to all levels
of education for more people and create more equal opportunities. As
recent studies reveal, this goal has only been partly realised. Numerous
schemes now promise to remedy our problems, often extolling the
supposedly unlimited possibilities of teaching and learning. We should
not allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated. A realistic view of
humanity is called for. The Bible speaks of man being made little lower
than the angels (Psalm 8), a view of great potential – yet the repentant
prayer “Have mercy upon me, Lord, for I am weak” (Psalm 6) equally
illustrates the painful awareness of human limitations.
Knowledge needs human measure and scale. Scientific and technological knowledge is important for life, but it is not sufficient in itself.
Knowledge does not automatically translate into orientation. Especially in our time of exponentially increasing knowledge, truly important information risks being buried in junk facts. Not having
knowledge alone is the truly important point, but judging and using
it well. This not least requires ethical principles to base this judgement
on.
Learning must not become an end in itself. Calls for ‘lifelong learn126
ing’ are highly ambivalent: As humans, we are never ‘complete’ and
it is a great gift for aging people to retain mental acuity and curiosity into old age. Yet where ‘lifelong learning’ is narrowed into a
dictate of perpetual submission to the constantly changing demands
and aims of the market, it must be resisted. As humans, we are more
than the sum of what we have learned, or ever could learn.
The Churches are regularly called on to defend ‘values’ in modern
society. We will gladly do so, but it must be understood that no
values come free of charge. There are qualities in our existence that
cannot be calculated in labour and remuneration. The mathematics
of affection, love, gratitude, dignity and taste are different from those
of computer programming. True education is more than learning
and knowing. It reaches into the deepest understanding of ourselves
and our world, and it cannot exclude the religious dimension.
The Evangelical Church in Germany addressed fundamental issues
of the education system in two Synods in 1971 and 1978. Then as
now, developments in public policy, the perspective on the individual’s position in family and society, and the question of educating
towards a productive future in a changing labour market were core
questions.
The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany has gratefully
and approvingly accepted the following work by the Chamber for
Education, Children and Youth Work and authorised its publication.
In this, it expresses its appreciation of the significance of the education sector for both Church and society. This text seeks to contribute to a consistent, long-term approach to the problems facing us
in education today. The Council thanks everyone who supports an
education in service to human life and its development through all
its fractures and discontinuities.
Hanover, January 2003
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*
*
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5. Education on the Human Scale – Theses
1. The new education debate begun in the course of the 1990s has
reached its peak with the international comparative student performance survey PISA. This should give us reason for reflection beyond
the scope of its immediate findings. The shortcomings of the German education system it has revealed must be addressed decisively
and effectively. It is scandalous to what degree social background
still continues to determine educational opportunity. In view of the
central importance of the quality of classroom instruction and interaction, any reform effort must proceed from a holistic, multidimensional understanding of education: Education affects the individual as a person, must support its development as a whole and its
growth into social responsibility for the community.
2. Education mirrors the values and purposes of a society in its aims. It
therefore requires a constant public discourse on these matters to remain
relevant. In liberal democracies, no single body can make decisions
on education. We therefore welcome the emerging broad-based public debate on the issue and ask for its systematic continuation. It
requires the active involvement of both the schools as venues of selfreflexive education and the parents as main stakeholders. Further,
exhaustive, regular and public critical assessments of educational
developments and achievements are called for to mobilise support
for the necessary efforts and render the financial requirements transparent. This way, the education system can grow more efficient and
more adaptive while neglecting neither its function to teach facts
nor to provide orientation.
3. The educational challenges of the present time extend well beyond the
school itself into all aspects of our culture. This requires us to understand culture beyond its traditional limits of aesthetic refinement as
a human cultivation of all areas of life. It is especially in the family,
the relations between generations and with people of different ethnic backgrounds that our will and capacity for this cultivation is
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measured. A civic-spirited culture can only emerge from a balance
of formal and informal learning, of experience in school and daily
life. Both forms of learning must be recognised and allowed to benefit each other.
4. Education must ally the dimension of meaning and purpose to learning and knowledge. ‘Learning’ and ‘knowledge’ are purely factual. In
themselves, they do not show what is to be learned, what knowledge
is required for which purposes in which contexts and how these
decisions are reached. Neither an extension in volume through new
media nor one in time through ‘lifelong learning’ alone provide the
criteria required. Education, on the other hand, poses the question
of the nature and purpose of knowledge and learning. A necessary
educational debate at the national and European level – even though
this needs to bear in mind the primary educational responsibility of
the Länder – must advocate and spread a concept of education that
looks to quality, content and orientation.
5. Knowledge in the sense of mere technical capabilities does not
alone lead to responsible action. Only value education towards an
informed judgement of the means necessary to allow both survival
and a ‘good’ life can underpin decisions on a future use of technology and resources. More than ever, we have to understand the distinction between knowledge and wisdom. Education embraces learning, knowledge, and capability, an understanding of values and guiding
of action in the context of the meanings that inform human existence.
6. The “meaning of life” cannot be artificially created or designed.
It grows from positive and negative experience, is embodied in art
and religion, celebration and remembrance and pondered by philosophy. Education must encompass the historical, aesthetic, religious,
ethical and philosophical dimension. Marginalising the unquantifiable
aspects of human life would be an irresponsible abdication of a human ideal of education.
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7. The scale and the limitations of the human condition can be
explored from various directions in an interdisciplinary fashion.
Their awareness helps us to avoid all kinds of excess and allows us
to realistically gauge the scope and import of our tasks. The anthropological perspective on human evolution already provides us with
an understanding of human limitations. Evolutionary biologists
point to both the possibilities and limits of learning in both the
cognitive and the ultimately much more complex and demanding
ethical dimension. Real, effective solidarity beyond the immediate
environment towards strangers and true global responsibility are not
matters of course. The stated aims of education policy are both the
capacity for human dialogue and qualification for gainful employment. We can therefore believe that education towards peace and understanding within and beyond the community and cognitive abilities
must be ranked equally. A particular focus in this effort must be the
prevention of violence and aggression. This requires pedagogical
intervention to instil an understanding of rules and define limitations.
8. Educating for the open future cannot derive its design from this unknown future, but it must be informed by awareness of coming dangers.
Calls for a sustainable education are increasing in response to reality
of rapid change that renders any predictions increasingly moot. Yet
many mainly ecological threats emerge with ever increasing, frightening clarity. Averting them will require education to sensitise young
people for ecological perspectives and enable them to gauge and
implement appropriate responses.
9. Education includes the challenge of realising social ethics and must
involve the development of responsible social relationships in the context
of a caring society. About 15 % of all young people have no formal
educational qualifications and are at acute risk of exclusion and
marginalisation. This situation calls for consistent and effective
interventionist regional and local support measures (child care,
all-day schooling and/or activities, school counselling and social
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work) along with socio-pedagogical concepts at school level (especially with regard to all-day extracurricular activities in the traditional German half-day system); appeals and resolutions are not
enough.
10. The limitations of the human scale must particularly be called
to attention from the theological perspective based on the experience
of Biblical Christian faith. Education plans must never address humans in overarching abstract categories that lose sight of the individual. Their aim must be precisely to address the individual children, youths and adults in their concrete situations and to support
and empower them as subjects in their own right. We need a culture
of mutual respect in our education system that proves itself precisely in
the way it deals with the weakest among us, with the elderly, children,
and the handicapped. Kindergartens, schools and social institutions
need spaces where children and youths can learn and experience by
immediate example and personal commitment what defines humanity and human society.
11. The concept of God is indispensable for an education appropriate
for our times. It can protect us against absolutising thought and actions.
The central Protestant tenet of the “justification” of man “solely by
grace” and “solely through faith” alone draws a radical and salutary
distinction both between God and man and between man as a person and his works. This radical cut forbids us to speak or think in
absolutes of any kinds.
12. The above-mentioned theses address issues and tasks of overarching importance for the entire field of education. Yet through this
broad scope we can clearly perceive the specific challenges facing the
school system and other educational institutions. For the German
school system, they make it much clearer what we mean when we
speak of qualitative shortcomings emerging from the findings of the
PISA study. Better school education needs above all an improvement in
the quality of teaching, a truly formative learning process that allows
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time for joint effort, reflection, practice, and study. From this environment emerges sustained, independent, internalised learning. Only
with this conception of education in mind do we understand the
ultimate purpose of teaching and learning, performance goals and
standardised tests.
13. Understanding learning as a multidimensional, lifelong process can
contribute to an overarching inner unity among all educational institutions. This unifying element paradoxically lies in difference, specifically the recognition and respect for the individuality of all humans.
This recognition is inalienable. It applies to children as much as
youths and adults. The careful attention to the child as an individual
that is to inform kindergarten education does no less apply in
schools. Similarly, vocational qualifications should be seen as an
element in an adult education dedicated to the specific, individual
‘whole person’ that must be addressed respectfully. All these human
relationships owe their specific beneficial qualities to the principle
of reciprocal responsibility, the recognition of mutual rights and
duties.
14. The future development of all educational institutions must be
informed by this principle of unity in differentiation. Especially those
dedicated to children should be profiled more clearly in terms of their
own, specific educational mission. Specifically this means that the right
to child care access must entail the institution’s duty to provide early,
comprehensive learning and support. Training social and linguistic
abilities and the capacity for self-motivated enquiry and independent learning at an early stage is an important aspect of providing
equality of opportunity and integrating children with migration
backgrounds. The Church and its broad-based and established network of Evangelical day care centres is ready to face this twin task
of education and socialisation. In this effort, encouraging early learning in the family and offering teaching at the elementary level must
go hand in hand. While the role remains indispensable, we need –
not least for pedagogical reasons – a reliable provision of full day
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care that allows both men and women to combine a professional life
with various tasks in the home without undue hardship.
15. Within a framework of established structures and requirements,
schools must have greater freedom to design their own approaches.
This will allow them to better meet the needs of their individual
students. At the same time, modern research clearly shows that the
quality of education centrally depends on the quality of the individual
educational institution. A ‘good school’ is evident from its human
relations, its climate and its vital relationship to its neighbourhood.
All of these make up its ‘pedagogical culture’.
16. Today’s education system must prove itself in handling diversity. This
challenge is a relative historical novelty created by plurality in a
multitude of shapes, not least ethnic, cultural and religious pluralism. Schools on the other hand tend towards a generalising approach
to thinking and action by their nature. Yet the differences between
slow and fast learners, between handicapped and non-handicapped
youths, between the educationally advantaged and disadvantaged,
and not least between people of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds need to be respected. It is especially in the first two regards
that Evangelical schools – sometimes in conjunction with care facilities – have amassed a great store of valuable experience. In this
situation, calls for greater oversight and centralisation are misplaced.
To prepare for the future, we must allow greater freedom to individual schools and their initiatives.
17. A dedicated subject group of religious education/ethics/philosophy
can greatly contribute to a well-rounded education in this context. This
subject group would combine religious education of the various
confessions and religious communities (including Islam) and the
subject of ethics/philosophy. These subjects are dedicated to meanings and values, aiming to sensitise students to fundamental experiences in their lives and to outline the limitations of the human
condition.
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18. Germany’s world-famous dual system of vocational education
is at risk of losing its productive strength if the differences between
its elements are diminished. Here, too, the fertile interaction of difference and integration is in play. Yet vocational schools understandably are especially subject to pressures from the industry which is
generally dismissive of general education of no immediate professional relevance. Yet reducing these aspects would rob young people
of invaluable support in learning to integrate and balance corporate
and personal needs, broader societal considerations, and dimensions
of life and education beyond market utility. Especially during adolescence, a vital phase in the development of reflected ethical responsibility, these vital abilities can be trained well. Functional and orientational knowledge cannot be separated at any school, not regular, not
vocational.
19. Teachers at all types of school in Germany today face expectations
that teacher training does not yet adequately prepare them for. The
pedagogical aspect of their qualification still fails to meet the same
exacting standard of the theoretical, academic side. In the daily run
of lessons, addressing each individual student is all but impossible
for want of time, solving the social challenges of school life (such as
violence prevention) is hampered by missing qualifications and lack
of energy. The teaching profession has become more demanding
while respect for teachers is low. This situation poses a particular
challenge for educational policymakers.
20. The future of education depends on the efforts and sacrifices of everyone. In the eyes of the Evangelical Church in Germany the problems facing education today range far beyond the school itself. They
affect every aspect of the lives of today’s young generation. Their
situation gives reason for concern, but also guarded optimism. Young
people want to enter a future that needs them. They long to feel that
they are respected and recognised today. They want to feel that their
lives and efforts are worthwhile. If they can genuinely have these
affirmative experiences, they will identify with their country and
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society and become productive members of their community. To
ensure this, we need an educational process throughout society that
strengthens trust and mutual responsibility between the generations
across all its fractures and ambivalences.
135
Perspectives for Youths with
Poor Qualification Opportunities
A Statement of the Advisory Group of the EKD
for Education, Children and Youth
(2003)
Introduction
representing Protestant Christianity in the public sphere and commenting on issues of religious and social life. This is generally done either by
making statements on current concerns at short notice or by having
memoranda, studies, contributions to public debates and position papers
drawn up.
For the work in specific areas of concern the Council can install several
Advisory Groups. One of the committees is the Advisory Group for Education, Children and Youth that publishes statements and papers to
foster the discussion of crucial issues in this field. The following statement
offers specific proposals how to change perspectives for young people with
poor qualification for the better. It is another example where the Evangelical Church takes over responsibility for an area of public training
and education.
Key words: Qualification, training, job market, vocational training
136
Preface
Declining economic fortunes have made the difficulties that disadvantaged young people face particularly evident this year. For years,
politicians, labour unions and the corporate sector have been struggling to provide vocational training for all lower secondary graduates, and every autumn reaching this goal at least statistically proves
a major effort. The underlying structural problems, however, remain
largely unaddressed. It is not enough to simply shunt young people
into training slots.
Hastily improvised solutions place the risk of failure on the shoulders
of young men and women. An increasing number of young people
in Germany – by now exceeding one million – have no professional
qualifications whatsoever.
The Church’s youth and social work institutions are immediately
faced with the consequences of this development. They are addressing the acute dearth of qualification opportunities with initiatives
of their own.
The present position paper of the Advisory Group for Education,
Children and Youth of the Evangelical Church in Germany analyses
the obstacles young people face in the context of wider societal
problems.
It intends to outline long-term solutions to improve the situation
of young people in this country, thereby supporting the EKD memorandum “On the Human Scale” (Maße des Menschlichen) with concrete applications in an important aspect only a few months after
its publication. Its publication underlines the call to combine the
efforts of all societal stakeholders to effectively help young people
enter the professional world.
“For children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for
their children”, the Apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the
Corinthians (II Corinthians 12,14). The words quoted by Paul
point to the duty the parent generation has to the young in Christian communities as much as in any other part of society. Qualifications are not a charitable gift to the needy, but a valuable invest137
ment into the future of our children that we have no right to deny
them.
Präses i. R. Manfred Kock
Hanover, September 2003
*
*
*
Recognising the situation of disadvantaged young people
as an educational problem
In Germany, a formal qualification is the key to both entering and
staying in the labour market. The lower the qualification, the worse
the chances. That makes the fact that 8-10% of all school leavers
attain no qualification at all more than a little worrying. About 15%
of all young people have no opportunity to gain professional qualification – a number that has been rising steadily. Among those with
a migration background, the figure is currently close to 40%. By
now, the total number of people between 20 and 29 without any
formal professional qualification is well above the 1 million mark.
These facts pose a future threat for social stability and integration
that finally needs to be adequately addressed. We need to offer help
to young people who our current education and qualification system
excludes. This requires the concerted effort of all stakeholders.
The dearth of training positions offered by companies plays out in
the same ritual of blame shifting, appeals and short-term solutions
every summer. Exemplary individual initiatives help to reduce an
immediate shortfall, but do nothing to redress the systemic balance
that causes it. Yet how can the overall situation be improved beyond
such measures? Both politicians and the corporate sector are considering far-reaching changes, and the Church is supporting them
in this effort. However, two aspects must be kept in view at all times:
sustaining the quality of the education system and addressing young
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people as individuals and respecting their choices along their own
path.
The Evangelical Church has outlined its views on education at the
fundamental level in its publication “On the Human Scale” (Maße
des Menschlichen. Perspektiven zur Bildung in der Wissens- und Lerngesellschaft) of 2003. It champions a concept of education that engages
with the entire person and takes into account the individual situations and abilities of all children, youths and adults. Especially the
differences between slow and fast learners, between the educationally
advantaged and disadvantaged and not least between German-born
and immigrant youths must be recognised more than before.
Analyse the situation both honestly and thoroughly
Several factors are to blame for the rising number of young people
without qualifications. Economic growth plays a major role. As a
result of the slowdown, the number of training positions offered by
companies has decreased markedly. This year’s development continues this alarming trend – according to figures from the state labour
agency (Bundesanstalt für Arbeit), the number dropped by 47,000
for the year up to August 2003. The number of applicants exceeds
that of positions by 113,000 this year. Last year, the corresponding
shortfall was 77,800. By now as little as 25% of all companies offer
training positions at all (though around 50% meet the legal requirements to do so), with two thirds of all such positions provided by
small companies with less than 50 employees.
About 25% of all young people in training positions leave them
before attaining a formal qualification. Some of them change into
positions with other companies or for other qualifications, but others registered as unemployed with the labour agency which usually
refers them to private or local training schools. Prospective employers regard this qualification with some suspicion, though. They usually prefer employees who have trained in their own or a comparable
company to those whose courses have been mostly theoretical. At
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the same time, the corporate sector is increasingly abdicating its own
social responsibilities to train applicants beyond its immediate needs
and thus provide opportunities for the future.
Today’s disadvantaged are tomorrow’s unemployed
On average, about 54 % of all unemployed young people today have
no professional qualifications whatsoever (this figure has improved
slightly in the past year). About 30 % of them have no secondary
educational qualification, either, not even the lowest Hauptschule
graduation. These represent a small, but especially disadvantaged
and individually and socially problematic group among the unqualified.
Further, about 300,000 young people today are in labour market
programmes funded by the federal government where they are
mostly either prepared for vocational training or obtain such qualifications directly. Yet a growing number of them has been moving
into and out of the labour market for years now without finding
permanent employment. Their biographies are defined by alternating phases of unemployment and training measures. Empirical data
show that the chances of permanent employment decrease with increasing age. The overall unemployment rate among the young has
grown disproportionately in 2003, reaching 15.6 %.
The urgency of the situation is exacerbated by the fact that these young
people are often very hard to employ at all. Many training positions
have requirements that they can or will not meet. Also, an increasing
number of graduates from higher secondary schools have been opting
for vocational training over university since the 1990s, increasing competition for positions. Yet another negative influence is exerted by
structural problems in the vocational education system, e.g. the low
status of many government training measures (see below).
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See the greater context of the problem
The Evangelical Church believes that the problems of educationally
disadvantaged youths are part of a greater problem that has recently
been illuminated by the findings of PISA and other studies. Improving their opportunities on a broad basis requires the German education system as a whole to move away from its focus on selection
towards a focus on support. This requires several steps to be taken
simultaneously: improvements in early childhood education,
strengthening the educational competence of parents and reducing
their burdens, the cooperation of schools with other social stakeholders, a regard for every individual, improvements in the quality of
school teaching, greater flexibility and modularity of scholastic and
vocational education, and – within this context – greater help for
the educationally disadvantaged.
Improve the standard of education across the board
The findings of the PISA study showed that the number of people
in the 15-year age cohort who attain only elementary competence
levels or fail even at these is greater in Germany than in many other
OECD countries. This is especially pronounced in reading comprehension. They further demonstrated that social background and
educational achievement track much more closely in Germany than
elsewhere. Young people from families with a migration background –
especially those where a language other than German is spoken – on
average fall far behind the competence levels attained by those whose
parents are native-born. Yet the problem is not limited to those with
a different mother tongue – youth workers have been pointing to a
decrease in the attention span and willingness to commit to learning
efforts on the part of young people of all backgrounds.
These challenges cannot be met by increasingly rigorous selectivity.
What is called for is rather an improvement in the quality of educational processes across the board in the sense of an effective, sus141
tained, truly formative learning (Bildungsdenkschrift der EKD
2003).
Start support early
Early learning deficits are difficult to remedy at a later stage, especially when it comes to reading and language acquisition. That is
why targeted support measures must begin as early as possible, with
speaking and concentration practice in kindergarten. The necessary
funding represents a wise investment in view of the much higher
cost of later remedial measures. Also, young people who cannot find
employment must be supported by the social security systems even
though they have not had the chance to contribute to them.
All support measures must be provided consistently and in accordance with present need. On the one hand, it is necessary to allow
opportunities to acquire competencies and qualifications later in life.
Yet the tendency of young people to refuse to face up to challenges
especially during the years when it would be most necessary for them
to grow into responsible adults must be adequately addressed.
Strengthen parents
The family in its many forms is of primary importance in the socialisation of young people. In offering a sense of trust and belonging it provides children with a basic emotional support and source
of self-esteem. The family is the first place where they can learn to
approach life with confidence gained from the security of love and
respect, shared beliefs and orientations.
Despite public panic about the ‘decline’ and educational ineptitude
of the family, empirical data on the whole paint a positive picture.
Nonetheless, modern society has imposed new tensions and contradictions on the lives of children and young people. Adults often take
too little time for their children. The parent-child conversations
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vital to individual personal and linguistic development are becoming
rarer. Without family support, an effective school education faces
much greater challenges, though. Not only ethical values and religious beliefs, but the basic competencies required in any kind of
employment are first acquired in the home.
Despite the great responsibilities that schools and other educational
institutions face as primary providers of both general and vocational
education, they cannot be expected to shoulder the entire burden
or develop all potentials of their young charges. The motivation and
interpersonal skills of students, for example, mainly depend on
groundwork laid in the family. Inconvenient educational demands
cannot simply be passed on to state institutions. In order to allow
them to meet these challenges, all political and social institutions
must offer whatever support they can to parents. This includes enabling single parents and families with two working parents to devote
the necessary time to their children. Another problem that needs to
be addressed in this context is the growing demand for mobility that
often creates ‘weekend families’ of absent parents, with their attendant effects on family life and the learning biography of the children.
Working hours must be designed to be family-friendly.
In all these aspects it is of vital importance for schools and other
institutions to take a more active supportive and auxiliary role in
the family in cooperation with the parents.
Give orientation and support to young people
Many young people find it hard or impossible to keep pace with the
speed of global change. Many of them did not grow up in sheltered,
caring environments where they could develop a strong sense of
identity and self-worth. This interior perspective, too, is a vital aspect
of education, much as it is neglected in many educational policy
programmes (cf. the EKD memorandum on education, p. 21 f.).
“Taking responsibility for oneself ” is an illusion for young people
who never had the opportunity to develop a “self ” in the sense of a
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stable, affirmative identity. Empathy and a functioning conscience
are similarly elementary preconditions for all social competence. Yet
without a positive sense of self-worth, young people lack the freedom
to empathise with others, to adopt their perspective and gauge their
actions from this position. A weak identity and underdeveloped
conscience is prone to sudden collapse into depression or violence,
a shocking inversion aimed at gaining the attention of the outside
world and proving relevance, if not worth, as an individual. To many
people, gainful employment underpins their sense of self-worth to
a large degree. Where entry into professional life fails, this support
is threatened. Unemployment and criminal behaviour among young
people correlate strongly for this reason, with the eventual worst-case
scenario of addiction and habitual crime looming on the horizon.
That is why socialisation and integration must precede and accompany the transmission of functional knowledge in all educational
processes.
Improve the quality of teaching and lay the foundations for
individual school profiles and individual support for pupils
In the debate on the relative importance of the many facets of the
problem this paper addresses, the poor quality of school education
is criticised prominently. Insofar as this criticism is warranted, the
problem can and must be remedied. In the process, however, teachers cannot be abandoned but must be given the necessary support
and training.
Many pupils lack elementary learning skills. Their concentration
and ability to consistently work at a task in hand is at best limited.
Many teachers also note poor social interaction skills and social
competencies (acceptance of rules, willingness to cooperate, teamwork ability), which are at least as central to success in professional
life as cognitive abilities and functional knowledge. These problems
are inadequately addressed by introducing educational standards or
increasingly selective streaming. The comprehensive social education
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they require is a daunting challenge for teachers still mainly qualified
in a narrow band of subjects, though. Widespread calls for a ‘school
culture’, a ‘culture of learning’ or ‘pedagogical culture’ show that the
solution is being perceived, yet the realisation of such desiderata
remains a task for the future. Individual experimental schools have
shown the potential of individual school profiles and school cultures.
Implementing this throughout the education system would require
a broad consensus and cooperation from both society and political
decision makers, but the outcome – students and teachers joined in
a commitment to the quality of their school – is surely worth the
cost.
In schools of this type, the much-demanded improvement of the
teaching staff ’s diagnostic competence would become a more meaningful and effective tool. Cooperation in the creation of individual
‘portraits’ of students could be used to target individualised support.
Students who feel themselves seen and addressed as individuals are
known to experience improved motivation and performance. Thus,
their individual strengths and weaknesses can be catered to. Experimental schools in social hot spots have already shown that the
number of drop-outs can thus be reduced almost to zero.
Secure “basics” through engaging teaching practices
and practical relevance
We can hardly blame vocational schools or companies for vocally
deploring the lack of basic skills in their trainees. It is a challenge
for instruction in primary and secondary education to ensure these
basic skills are learned through improving quality in the classroom.
Educational research shows that supporting disadvantaged and cognitively less able youths – the main target group – requires a personspecific approach to be successful. This includes:
– Learning in groups that instil the habit of mutual support and
help while deemphasising the public testing of individual cogni145
–
–
–
–
–
tive progress that can be humiliating, frightening and demotivating especially for slow learners;
Partly waiving grades (e.g. in the case of dyslexics) to reduce individual pressure and performance anxiety; Grading and performance evaluation in groups (see above) is potentially much less
intimidating;
Increasing the frequency of counselling and support in the development of individual learning strategies throughout;
Emphasising practice in the classroom until weak learners, too,
consistently master the basic skills;
Partially modularising training curricula (see below);
Ensuring that material already learned will be addressed and expanded on at a later stage.
In lower secondary and special needs schools, a greater emphasis on
practical relevance is needed through e.g. practical internships with
companies in some subjects; greater support is needed for short-term
traineeships, visit-at-work days and similar programmes. Where students show themselves able in this context, their performance must
be reflected in their overall evaluation by the school.
This direly needed individual support and counselling tailored to
the individual aptitudes and limitations of each student may well
require reducing class sizes in lower secondary education, especially
in urban hot spots. A dedicated support infrastructure will also be
necessary in more rural environments, though.
Increase after-school offers
School-based after-school activities for children should be offered
as a balanced mix. Children and young people must be able to reliably and sustainably avail themselves of both homework and remedial help and leisure activities after school under competent professional supervision. This is an excellent opportunity to individually
support the disadvantaged. At the same time, an expansion of school
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time through such offers must take into account the difficulties this
causes to other established providers of after-school activities and
youth work. Thus, school-based offers should be made only where
they are needed. This is especially true in problem areas, where in
some cases even mandatory participation in the shape of a full-day
school combining lessons and after-school activities may be called
for. However, replacing the traditional German half-day school
model with a full-day school throughout the country cannot be
supported in all cases.
Emphasise German language skills
A lack of German language skills often explains why many foreign
youths or young Germans with a migration background find it hard
to secure vocational training. That is why remedial German language
programmes must be introduced at an early stage, ideally in elementary education or immediately after arrival in the country. Particular
attention to sustained attendance and reliable provision is required.
Past deficits in this field must be addressed immediately.
Make training curricula modular and flexible
The increasing importance of technology in all industries requires
higher qualifications for an ever increasing number of jobs. The
cognitive demands facing trainees even in traditionally manual vocations has caused problems that so far have largely remained taboo
subjects. For various reasons, many young people find it impossible
to keep pace with this development. There are several ways to approach this issue.
In the context of vocational training in companies, a two-year qualification rather than the regular three-year course (kleiner Gesellenbrief) has been suggested. Such training curricula would need to be
designed to be modular and expandable to a full qualification,
147
though. The impulses that were given to higher education through
the Bologna Process (the introduction of compatible BA/MA degrees) can also be realised in vocational education. Reforms in this
area must not become bogged down in conflicts between unions
and employers. What we need at this point is educational offers that
meet the needs of young people and are flexible, expandable and
compatible with each other.
Integrate preparation for vocational training,
support for the disadvantaged
and vocational training itself more effectively
Young people who, despite their best efforts, fail to attain any qualification in secondary education need to be offered such combined
opportunities in the context of vocational education and youth social work. Further, the secondary schools need external corporate
partners. The aims of such cooperation should be improving the
overall quality of school education, offering opportunities to gain
secondary school certificates later in life, e.g. in the course of vocational training, offering orientation and preparation for entering
professional life, providing vocational training and qualifications for
those already working, and approaching and motivating young people in a form of youth work that addresses their self-worth and
psychological balance (see above).
The manifold problems facing these youths require differentiated,
individualised offers of support. This, in turn, raises the pedagogical
standards and makes high demands of the qualification of personnel
and their cooperation to ensure continuity of support. Any plans
for future measures will need to consider this aspect – not only in
its financial dimensions.
Without formally completing a recognised vocational curriculum,
young people are counted as ‘unskilled’ even if they have successfully
completed preparatory educational programmes or parts of a vocational training. This problem can be solved by making the educa148
tional structures more flexible and integrating preparatory and remedial measures with vocational training itself, ideally locating them
at the workplace where training is given.
Especially less gifted also could benefit from a more flexible cooperation between vocational education at the workplace and institutions offering remedial education. Thus interweaving ‘regular’ vocational education, training, and remedial educational offers should
also include mutual recognition and respect between the institutions
providing them. Not least, this requires qualification measures provided by the state labour agencies (Bundesanstalt für Arbeit) to be
better integrated into regular forms of vocational education. Such
effective and flexible solutions have already been implemented in
neighbouring countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands.
A further necessity is to integrate the bewildering array of qualification measures and special programmes funded by a variety of institutions (labour agencies, federal states and municipalities, the EU
etc.) into a system that produces recognised qualifications realizable
into current vocational education. The aim must be a transition into
acquiring formally recognised, full vocational qualifications. Partial
qualifications that are accepted as part of the vocational curriculum
can be part of such preparatory programmes to secure a smooth
transition. This requires some elements of traditional vocational
education to be exported into preparatory measures where they can
be taught and their completion certified.
The change to the legal foundations of vocational education that
more strongly integrates preparatory education into the traditional
vocational education system is certainly welcome. Nonetheless, these
preparatory measures need more acceptance and coordination in the
mainstream system. Leaving young people in a holding pattern of
preparatory measures without giving them recognised qualifications
will only de-motivate them and undermine their hopes for the future.
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Develop the service sector
Despite our best efforts, we will not be able to support every young
person to the point of a full educational and/or vocational qualification and integration into an increasingly complex and demanding
labour market. The social inequalities in education recently highlighted by the PISA study will also be slow to disappear. Nonetheless,
even young adults with few or no qualifications need some form of
employment. Simply marginalising them into long-term unemployment is not only expensive, but ultimately inhumane. However, simple tasks are increasingly rare in industrial production where instead,
complex machinery needs qualified operators. They are more likely
found today in the service sector, including small businesses and private households. This development requires appropriate regulation.
In this context, the potential of combined-wage models (workfare)
is still underappreciated. Difficulties in integrating the current lowwage groups and preventing abuses should not discourage creative
solutions in this field.
A further source of both simple and eminently necessary work could
be tapped in environmental projects, Church and secular social
work, and in family support – provided funding can be secured in
a society-wide effort that recognises its value. Sadly, the current
development seems to run in the opposite direction.
Support and integrate non-state providers
Integration into the labour market cannot be achieved by the efforts
of the school system alone. The importance of external institutions
and providers, especially of youth social work, for a successful vocational education must not be underestimated. Alternative projects
should be tried alongside state schools, especially in cooperation
with non-state youth social work providers and charities. Youth centres, training camps etc. can help to motivate young people and
address learning deficits. Another field that could be further devel150
oped is partnerships between schools and local youth work initiatives. Young people threatened with failing lower secondary education could thus be referred to remedial or alternative educational
projects offered by registered local nonprofit organisations in small
groups and under professional pedagogical supervision. This would
above all require additional funding, though – a problem that might
be solved through local public-private partnerships.
Securing the integration of young people into vocational education
and the labour market needs to be seen in a broader perspective.
Important work especially in developing their personality and identity and affirmatively strengthening their sense of self-worth is done
far outside the scope of formal educational institutions. Especially
sports clubs, youth groups, organised travel, volunteer work and
intergenerational encounters in the context of civil society, but also
everyday life and peer groups outside of a pedagogically regulated
environment make valuable contributions. They can offer new experiences and allow young people to try their hand at adopting new
roles and acquiring new knowledge. In doing so, they provide a great
service adding orientation and meaning to a plural society, even to
those members who find themselves unable to fully meet the demands of the modern world.
Thus, school and non-school providers must be regarded not as
competing, but as cooperating in their support of their young
charges. This allows and calls for developing systematic forms of
cooperation between the two as partners in education.
Accompany young people in their quest for meaning and
sustainable goals in life
The absence of perspectives in many young people’s lives mirrors
society-wide ideas and the views of far too many adults. People in
simple jobs often receive little appreciation and increasingly face the
question whether their work – and by extension they themselves –
are needed at all.
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This goes hand in hand with an increasing distance between young
people and many adults, not least many of their closest relatives.
Identification is often difficult. Yet in order to develop a sustainable
orientation in their lives, young people need to know of their parents
and teachers what their values are, what they believe, and not least
how important they are to them. Adults often avoid such questions
or, where they give answers, contradict their statements through
their actions. This undermines their credibility as examples for orientation. The frequently voiced demands for flexibility and mobility in themselves are not enough to provide orientation. To do that,
it takes convincing help and guidance by people who are willing to
accompany young people in their quest for meaning, including their
individual religious beliefs.
Since the Reformation, the Evangelical Church has turned to disadvantaged youths in different ways. Its schools, Christian ‘youth
towns’, youth work, family counselling, handicapped help institutions, supervised residences etc. exemplify this concern today. However, the economic and existential problems facing young people
today have grown. Alongside the organs of the state and society as
a whole, the Church, too, needs to critically consider whether its
efforts are enough to open the liberating and healing aspects of the
Christian faith to them. Through this faith, a young person can gain
optimism and courage and thus not least the ability to complete
educational qualifications and structure his or her life. This experience of trust and credibility must be placed at the centre of our
social and ethical responsibilities; faith, love and hope are at the heart
of the relationship with God.
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Whole-Day School – Done Right!
(2004)
Introduction
council members.
The following statement deals with a central issue in the current educational debate. Developments towards Whole-day-schools are changing
not only the profile of the specific school but also the opportunities of
collaboration with the school environment. The statement serves also to
clarify the position of the Evangelical Church in this important question.
Key words: Whole-day schools, Schooling, school concepts, school
culture
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Preface
The German school system is undergoing deep reform. “Education
standards,” “shorter school times,” “school programmes” and “centralised exams” are only a few of the buzzwords dominating the current debate. Important changes have already been initiated, though
the need for reform goes much beyond what has been achieved. In
view of school systems in states whose results in comparative studies
of school performance (such as PISA), there is increasing support for
lengthening school days from the traditional half-day to full-day
schooling. The Evangelical Church, in recognition of its responsibility both as a partner in religious education and provider of confessional schools, feels the need to clarify its own position in this important question. Its effects would reverberate beyond the school
system into the Evangelical Church’s children and youth work (such
as kindergartens, family education, church music etc). All affected
groups in the Church together with other social stakeholders are
called upon to contribute to the development of the new full-day
school. Extending school time into the afternoon hours alone will
also have a considerable impact on the design of Church offers to
children and young people. The consequences of this development
will have to be considered thoroughly and precisely.
Developments on the ground in several Länder show the potential
that can be developed by the Evangelical Church offering constructive partnership in the implementation of whole-day school education. This is supported by the overall positive experience with past
cooperations in which Church staff increasingly are enjoying the
status of partners in formalised administrative structures. Through
this development, a new field of religious learning alongside formal
religious education lessons is now emerging in the school environment allowing above all the free and independent religious and
ethical orientation of children and youths there.
The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) accepted
the present document, compiled by the Advisory Group of the EKD
for Education, Youth Work and Children, with approval and grati154
tude and decided to have it published. I hope it will find widespread
attention and ready acceptance among all stakeholders in state and
Church, schools and parishes.
“If your child asks you tomorrow …” is the motto of the German
Protestant Kirchentag next year. These words point to our responsibility for the coming generation. They ask: Where can we look for
hope, for a future? We need a school whose pedagogical culture does
not abandon our children and young people with their existential
questions and doubts, but opens them viable perspectives for their
future. The Evangelical Church is ready and able to contribute to
this goal in whichever way it can.
Bishop Dr. Wolfgang Huber
Hanover, June 2004
*
*
*
It is especially the results of comparative school performance surveys
that have led to the German school system to be called into question. Demands for whole-day school education are increasing, and
planning and restructuring measures to increase the number of such
schools is already under way in many places. The federal government
is providing funding for states to support this development. From
the perspective of the Evangelical Church, it is of the greatest importance not to lose sight of central pedagogical concerns in the rush
to improve performance. These are above all:
– The real needs of children and young people growing up in the
midst of rapid change that affects their lives, opportunities and
individual requirements.
– The quality of school which, ultimately, must be measured by
the experiences of learning, but also of maturing and personal
development that it can offer.
– The impact of these reforms on parents and families, especially
in view of supporting them in their educational role and involv155
ing them in a partnership with the school as well as in view of
the compatibility of work and parenthood.
– The democratic development of the school, especially in view of
its integration into the supportive and participatory networks of
civil society and its opening to the community outside its walls.
– The constitutive role of extracurricular educational activities such
as offered by the Church’s children and youth work institutions.
Education must lend substantial content to knowledge and learning.
Its role in shaping future citizens require it to exemplify the values
and beliefs of a society and must therefore be open to a continuous
public discourse. The Evangelical Church in Germany presented its
conception of what education requires and entails in our times in
“Education on the Human Scale” (“Maße des Menschlichen. Evangelische Perspektiven zur Bildung in der Wissens- und Lerngesellschaft” 2003) on these issues. The specific issue addressed in this
paper further concerns the Church at several levels:
– in its capacity as provider of kindergartens, schools and extracurricular activities in children, youth and social work;
– in its capacity as a provider of vocational qualification and further
adult education;
– in its capacity as a partner for schools in the greater community
environment with its parish organisations, associations and other
institutions;
– in the context of its co-responsibility for religious education in
schools (as per Article 7, Paragraph 3 Basic Law), its commitment
to religious learning in the school environment and – arising from
these aspects – a dedication to ethical and normative education
in all aspects of the education system.
The need for further basic research
The comparatively poor results of German schools in international
comparative studies of student performance have put education
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policy in the spotlight. Not only the relatively low level of reading
comprehension and mathematical and scientific skills shown by
most German pupils in comparison to the leaders in the field should
be cause for concern here. What is even more alarming is the percentage of pupils whose level of attainment is so low that their ability to be gainfully employed is already more than doubtful (cf. Perspektiven für Jugendliche mit schlechteren Startchancen, EKD 2003).
A further reason for worry is the much stronger selectivity of the
German education system compared to those of other countries
surveyed. This disparity of opportunity calls the democratic nature
of our school system into question at a fundamental level and requires reform and improvement.
However, increasing public pressure and the active pursuit of obvious approaches to reform do not obviate the need to understand the
underlying reasons of the problem. Without reliable basic research,
effective reform is impossible. It is, after all, not merely imperative
that something be done, but that the right thing be done.
Yet it is precisely in this regard that school performance studies have
nothing to offer us. As long as we know only who can or cannot do
what, all we can do is speculating about the reasons for and, more
importantly, the best methods to remedy the stated deficit. The
frequently stated assumption that whole-day school education is a
principal reason for the success of leading nations cannot be supported either theoretically or empirically. A school system is not
adequately characterised by its external structures alone. The answer
to the far more important question of what actually takes place in
a given school can differ greatly even between schools of the same
type. Outstanding results can be – and have been – achieved without
whole-day schools in the past. Improving the school means more
than changing its structure. Targeted reform aimed at ensuring an
effective learning support for all pupils – both weak and strong – is
impossible without more and more detailed research into the causes
of our current malaise.
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What kind of school do our children
and young people need?
Studies such as PISA show deficiencies both in the broad-based
teaching of basic skills and the teaching of high performers. German
schools further appear to be unable to compensate for inequalities
due to social background.
What schools still lack is a concept of teaching that enables them to
address the individual needs and aptitudes of their pupils. The state
of pedagogical diagnostics today allows for a far more detailed and
targeted individual design of teaching than is the norm in most
schools.
Any initiatives that aim to improve the school as a place of learning,
particularly on where specific competencies are acquired, are thus
welcome. Pupils need to experience their school as a purposeful
environment both inside and outside the classroom. This is doubly
true if it were to take up even more of their time, as whole-day
schooling inevitably will.
Taking the school seriously as a learning and living environment
requires expanding its educational range in terms of social, cultural
and religious learning. The experience of reliable, trusting relationships between children, youths and adults is part of this, as is the
active acceptance of responsibility for and towards others (inasmuch
as the school environment allows this).
Any single unified school concept today is unlikely to do justice to
the multifarious situations in which children and young people grow
up. Their world is shaped by social and cultural pluralism, multiculturalism and multireligiosity, migration, internationalisation and
globalisation. They need schools that can react to and accommodate
this plurality and creatively, sensitively and imaginatively react to it
with tailored approaches, not cookie-cutter solutions.
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What do parents and families need?
Studies of student performance show deficits not only in schools,
but also in elementary education and not least in the family (though
these areas were not targeted in the surveys). That is why reform
efforts must begin as early as possible and must include the family
as well as the school at every stage. Families must be reminded of
their responsibilities as the first and foremost instance of education
and challenged to meet them. At the same time, however, we must
ask how they can be supported in those responsibilities. All educational offers must be understood primarily as supporting and augmenting the role of the family and be compatible with their needs,
not least in terms of everyday life. A professional career for both
fathers and mothers today is not only what most parents want, but
increasingly a necessity, and schools need to take this into account
when designing their hours, plans and extracurricular offerings.
Furthermore, the competence of the family as an instance of effective education may require support, especially in the case of children
of parents with a native language other than German. Such programmes should not address language as an isolated phenomenon,
but have as their target full cultural integration in a context of plurality and respect for differences – which often includes questions
of interreligious understanding.
Strengthening the family requires an educational outreach to parents
which the Church undertakes in its family and adult education institutions. Such efforts to support parents in their role as educators
will require expansion and increased public funding. A further approach are programmes that address families in their social contexts
and neighbourhoods. Whole-day schools can play a vital role in these
efforts if they are allowed to function as neighbourhood centres
where people from different backgrounds encounter each other on
an equal footing. Children and youths can encounter voluntarism
and civil society in action and will be invited to participate here.
Family education is called upon to explore new avenues to reach
those not responding to conventional approaches to date, not least
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through the decision of the Conference of Education Ministers
(KMK) of May 2003. Kindergartens and schools could serve a valuable purpose in this effort in the context of whole-day schooling.
A new educational mission for whole-day schools
From a Christian perspective, an education that does not fundamentally relate to ethical values and existential questions remains incomplete and inadequate. This view cannot refer to the school in isolation, but must consider the cooperation of all parties, institutions
and bodies involved, from the family to the socialisation through
environmental factors such as – not least – the media. Knowledge
and competence alone do not constitute education. “The Evangelical Church understands education as a complex of learning, knowledge, abilities, value consciousness, moral stances and the capacity
for action in the context of a meaning-creating interpretation of life”
(Die evangelische Kirche versteht Bildung als Zusammenhang von
Lernen, Wissen, Können, Wertbewusstsein, Haltungen (Einstellungen)
und Handlungsfähigkeit im Horizont sinnstiftender Deutungen des
Lebens” – Maße des Menschlichen, EKD memorandum 2003). The
more time the school takes up in the lives of pupils, the greater its
share of responsibility for the personal development of its charges
in their entirety, beyond single abilities and competencies. That is
why whole-day schooling must place the pupils as whole personalities at the centre of its efforts. We need a different school, a school
that is a place of education and growth both inside and outside the
classroom.
Whole-day schools need manifold partnerships
One fear associated with the extension of school time is that education stands to pass more and more into the hands of the state. In
view of the small number of whole-day schools to date and the very
160
limited financial means available, such a development is very unlikely. Most politicians today favour offering whole-day schooling
as an option, a development that Evangelical Church welcomes. The
model of ‘open’ or ‘semi-open’ whole-day schooling allows pupils or
their parents to select extracurricular activities after class time. Only
if they opt for one or more such activities is attendance mandatory.
Where whole-day schooling is made compulsory at any school, the
option of choosing another school in the same district without this
obligation is required to be open. This arrangement respects the
rights of parents while allowing schools to develop concepts of open
and flexible learning arrangements on the extended timeframe reliably at their disposal.
In the development and design of whole-day schooling, the role of
the school as part of a democratic community and stakeholder at
the local level must not be forgotten.
This makes requirements of whole-day schools at several levels which
will require considerable investment:
– The choice of school providers must no longer automatically
favour the state or local authorities. In view of the low number
of independent schools in Germany, such institutions e.g. in
Church hands should, on the contrary, be encouraged and supported. Many parents trust them over the state, they can
strengthen involvement in civil society and are rooted in a principle of pluralism that meets the requirements of both democracy
and subsidiarity. It cannot be the aim of the coming reform to
transfer education (including child care) from free agents into
state hands in the guise of making it ‘whole-day’.
– Developing extracurricular activities requires abilities and competences less associated with the teaching profession than with
youth and social work. At the same time, these abilities are increasingly in demand inside the classroom. Models of cooperation
between the two fields have already been tested successfully in
several states, often involving Church youth and social work institutions. This development is welcome in the course of the
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intended opening of the school towards its environment as a
community school, but will require regular funding and mutual
contractually fixed obligations to ensure professionalism and high
quality.
– Whole-day schools must address parents as partners in their educational mission. Without their cooperation, they cannot achieve
their goals. Therefore, the parents can rightfully expect their
school to be open to their concerns and respectful of their
rights.
– Whole-day schools offer the opportunity to integrate intercultural
and interreligious aspects more strongly into both curricular and
extracurricular activities. This, too, requires the necessary qualifications as well as cooperation with outside partners.
– Whole-day school concepts reshape the requirements faced by
teachers. Alongside changes to the structure of working hours,
this will require professional training and qualification to address
the new challenges to all education professionals (teachers, social
workers etc.).
The Evangelical Church as a partner for whole-day schools
Schools today are expected and required to be more open to their
environment, a demand especially made of whole-day schools. This
includes cooperation with numerous local associations and institutions, including Churches and religious communities. In view of the
constitutional freedom of religion and belief and the school’s educational mission, religious and ethical issues cannot be limited to
classes in religious education or its secular substitute subject ethics.
Religion is part of life and thus of school as a living environment.
It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that all positions, beliefs
and lifestyles are equally permitted free expression in an atmosphere
of tolerance and democratic freedom. That is why offers made in
cooperation with non-state institutions and groups must be optional
and open to all pupils.
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The Evangelical Church offers itself as a reliable and proven partner
for whole-day schooling. Especially its child care and children and
youth work organs have a history of successful, high-level cooperation in demanding projects. The aims and requirements of such
cooperation will here be explored in the context of youth work,
though other aspects of Church work (such as child care, peace
services, family education, music etc.) could be integrated into the
school environment along similar lines.
The cooperation that Protestant children and youth work offers aims
to make schools a living environment in the full sense of the word.
It helps children and young people to reflect their position in peer
groups and the school community and gain independence, initiates
integrative learning processes and offers foils to develop orientation
and values. They are encouraged to explore their own responsible,
Christian perspectives on life and Church through the Gospel message. Experiencing existential questions and religious perspectives
and meanings is as important in this context as encountering and
engaging with adults who are not part of the regular school staff. In
designing activities for whole-day schooling, school and youth work
can create productive synergies. The Evangelical Church on its part
has long been open for this cooperation and has broad-based experience in organising school cafes, Bible study groups, orientation
days, school counselling, project weeks, seminars and other formats.
It emphasises the following goals:
– to concretise and aid the adoption of fundamental values and
convictions,
– to further the development of participatory structures in school
and practice engagement with civil society,
– to create a space for studying and exploring Christian beliefs and
religious experiences,
– to contribute to the further development of school education in
both methodology and content,
– to develop and test new conceptions and methods of children
and youth work.
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Some schools tend to keep a distance to outside youth work initiatives (and vice versa), fearing competition or undue influence in
fields that in the end they bear responsibility for. Cooperations can
only be successful if certain specific and necessary preconditions are
met to allay such fears:
– Youth work and school operate on entirely different principles.
School is mandatory and subject to strong state oversight whereas
children and youth work is defined by law (Law on Support for
Children and Young People, SGB VIII) as subject to a minimum
of state intervention and control so as to allow providers a maximum of liberty. This difference should be viewed not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity for complementary cooperation,
though.
– Protestant youth work regards its primary purpose as educational
and aims to complement the school system’s offerings with its
own specific competencies and independent offers. This requires
spaces of its own in school, fit for work with children and young
people. Cooperation with schools can, in some cases, go as far as
the joint planning and implementation of day-long learning units
especially on religious topics. It is imperative that the separate,
distinctive Protestant profile remains discernible throughout.
– The aim is a linking of intra- and extracurricular fields and activities that is best pursued by full-time professionals rather than
volunteers. Nonetheless, young people themselves need to be
given the chance to take responsibility and assume decision making positions in the course of youth work. These opportunities
for personal growth are an important aspect of its educational
mission and must not be neglected.
– Cooperations further require a jointly developed concept and
regular evaluations involving all participants.
– The venues of cooperative offerings need not be limited to school
premises. Quite the contrary, the local and situational relevance
demanded of it calls for the integration of other places of learning
and living – including the opportunity to explore the manifold
options of extramural Protestant youth work.
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– All these offerings require a solid financial and organisational
base. This includes adequate funding, in many cases much beyond what the resources of both partners would permit unaided.
It is not enough to reallocate money from extramural to intramural youth work. The focus of youth work must remain outside
the school if it wants to avoid becoming its subsidiary rather than
its partner. It must also bear in mind the many children and
young people who do not benefit from whole-day schooling, but
may want to make use of its offers. Additional funding will be
needed.
Protestant Schools
There is to date only very little mandatory whole-day schooling in
Church-run Protestant schools. The same schools are, however, very
active in providing optional extracurricular activities. Alongside
boarding schools and after-school child care, homework assistance
and teacher supervision during all school hours (Kernzeitbetreuung),
individual support and remedial teaching measures are an important
aspect of these efforts. In doing so, the Evangelical schools are trying
to meet an acute need in recognition of their social mission. Both
optional and mandatory whole-day schooling are being expanded
in many Evangelical schools today.
The experiences of Evangelical schools have shown that voluntary
extracurricular activities separate from the classes have little effect
on their own. To make schools communities of living and learning –
with greater, more sustained success in skill acquisition and more
opportunities to develop social competencies as well as community
socialisation – further reforms will be needed. Elements of these
could be:
– a rhythmical structuring of the school day,
– an expansion of learning options (e.g. phases of sustained practice),
– a reorganisation of lesson plans (90-minute blocks, extended
165
–
–
–
–
–
–
phases of cross-curricular learning, an extension of classes into
the afternoon etc.),
individual support and help (including personal problems),
practical opportunities for social learning and active compassion,
changing methods and forms of instruction,
an expanded and differentiated staff base (subject teachers, general educators, psychologists, counsellors, hired-in specialists
etc.),
cooperation with extramural parties such as youth work institutions or other civic associations,
an expansion of available learning spaces (workshops, learning
labs, kitchens and dining rooms, retreat rooms, play areas, student
workplaces etc.).
These elements need to be integrated into an overarching concept
of the school we want to arrive at. This concept, in turn, needs to
allow for a greater role of extramural institutions and especially of
parents. Above all, financial questions will need to be answered: To
what extent will the Länder, counties and cities agree to subsidise
non-state schools and how are contributions by extramural partners
to be financed?
Time for confirmation education in Church
Whole-day schooling could easily lead to conflicts with confirmation
education which traditionally takes place on weekday afternoons.
Integrating this into the school as an extramural activity is unlikely
to be easy and as of now meets widespread disapproval. Confirmation education brings together young people from all types of schools
and is mostly organised along parish lines. This tradition can only
be maintained if it remains independent of school and solely the
responsibility of the Church. Solutions will need to be found within
the framework of the respective Länder’s agreements with the
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Churches to allow pupils to participate in confirmation classes without suffering any disadvantages in school. Nonetheless, conflicts and
the perception of competition will be unavoidable if a – possibly
mandatory – extracurricular activity for other pupils clashes. This
would also militate for an increased attention to new forms of confirmation education (such as block seminars, project days, weekend
retreats, higher-level interparish activities etc.).
Conclusion: Requirements for a good whole-day school
1. From a Protestant perspective, all initiatives to improve the quality of teaching, schools and education are to be welcomed. The
Church is ready and willing to participate in them both in its
own schools and other educational institutions and as a partner
for the state education system.
2. School reforms must above all be guided by the question what
children and young people need for their personal development.
Schools must be ready and able to constructively address the
multiplicity of realities facing their pupils in the face of increasing social and cultural plurality, multiculturalism and multireligiosity, migration, internationalisation and globalisation.
3. Improvements must be judged in terms of the quality of the
school. This must take into account both its function as a place
of learning and one of living together.
4. The findings of international student performance surveys have
shown up deficits both inside and outside the educational system. However, so far the data allows few conclusions as to how
to effectively improve the support for individual pupils inside
and beyond school. Further research whose approaches go beyond mere performance measurements is direly needed.
5. The design of future whole-day schools must take account of
the needs of parents and families. Their situation differs from
place to place, not least shaped by their regional traditions and
experiences. These schools will have to play an important role
167
6.
7.
8.
9.
168
in supporting families and must consider the demands modern
life makes on the time of working mothers and fathers. Ancillary
measures of parent and family education and locally based family counselling can be deployed to further help the family in its
educational role. This would also contribute significantly to
creating greater equality of opportunity in education.
In establishing whole-day schooling, great care must be taken
to allow for a broad pluralism of both state and non-state providers. Especially non-state actors must be allowed the opportunity to participate in the spirit of democratic pluralism and
the subsidiarity principle.
Educational tasks relating to personal development rather than
knowledge acquisition will have to take a more prominent position in whole-day schooling. Learning options must allow
more room for individual, self-determined progress than has
often been the case so far. The more the time dedicated to school
extends over the day, the greater that institution‘s responsibility
for the development of its students.
Whole-day schools need partners – parents, parishes, communities, civic associations and other public stakeholders. Methods
and capacities from other fields of youth work must augment
and support its own educational offers. The Evangelical Church
has a wealth of experience to contribute and is willing to provide
any assistance it can to whole-day schools in this respect. However, a sustained cooperation between schools and other stakeholders in the education system needs a suitable legal and financial basis.. Any semblance of competition, such as with
regard to confirmation education, should be avoided as far as
possible, though the new situation represents a challenge for
outside actors – in this case the Church – to adapt, too.
Whole-day schools also need adults who are not part of the
teaching faculty: from educators, counsellors and other pedagogical professionals through psychologists down to catering
staff. Employing untrained staff should remain the exception.
The new forms of cooperation and school work will require new
options for further qualification, counselling and, where required, evaluation.
10. Facilities on school premises will need to be changed and expanded. Alongside catering and dining facilities, workshops,
play areas, appropriate retreats for children and young people
and workplaces for additional school staff will be needed.
11. A whole-day school cannot be realised without additional funding. A single cash injection from the federal government is not
enough for the purpose. For Länder, communities and other
providers to be able to shoulder the additional financial burden
this pedagogical concept requires, they will have to be subsidised
or otherwise balanced out.
12. Whole-day schooling needs an overall pedagogical concept. Extracurricular activities must be embraced as an opportunity to
expand the learning and educational spectrum of the school and
to introduce new methods and concepts. They should not only
add to the classes, but find an integral place in the context of
the whole, rhythmically structured school day. Alongside remedial support for weak learners, targeted help for the gifted can
become part of this aspect of school life. In order to reach this
goal, all partners must develop and regularly evaluate and update
a pedagogical concept jointly. A good whole-day school is a
constantly growing and developing school.
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Religious Education and the General
Qualification for University Admission
The role and function of religious education
in the gymnasiale Oberstufe (sixth form)
(2004)
Introduction
council members.
The following statement takes account of the far-reaching reform of the
final phase of upper secondary education and consequences for the teaching of religious education. It contributes to the public debate on educational issues and seeks dialogue with responsible political bodies in this
area.
Key words: School system, centralised exams, religious education,
upper secondary education, sixth form.
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Preface
Thirty years ago, the final phase of upper secondary education underwent a far-reaching reform. Instruction in class groups and the
numerical 1–6 grades were replaced by a modular course system with
varying difficulty levels and point-based grading to judge performance. The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) then advocated
integrating religious education as a regular subject into this system.
Teaching it at both basic and advanced level and administering regular oral and written exams in it provide important impulses for the
academic and methodological development of Protestant religious
education as a whole. Thus, religious education in the final years of
upper secondary education and its integration as a possible test subject are of great importance to the Church. At stake are the definition
of education and knowledge in our self-proclaimed knowledge society and the status of theology as a scientific discipline.
The current reform of the entire school system today extends to the
upper secondary level as well, and the Evangelical Church is an active partner in these efforts. Religious education must retain its role
and importance in the upper grades after this reform in order to
ensure that young people are prepared for university with a wellrounded education. That can only be the case if the school thematises issues and questions that allow them to find orientation and
ethical responsibility in their world. It is time to acknowledge that
a school education worthy of the name must consider ethics as central as English, cultural memory as important as computer science
and religion as vital as mathematics.
Though religious education contributes centrally to values education, its role extends beyond this aspect. By transporting religious
knowledge and the ability to make informed distinction in the
sphere of religious phenomena, it enables young people to participate in dialogue between faiths and to make informed choices and
use of their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Especially in
an age where this right is mostly understood in the exclusionary
sense, this function must be guarded with care.
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Plurality, difference and the Other pose unfamilar challenges. If different but equal beliefs, values and orientations are to be brought
into a harmonious balance, we need a mutual recognition that goes
beyond mere toleration. Yet to understand one another, we must
clearly understand our own position, our roots, and the factors that
shape of our identity. Understanding the Other and developing the
own identity are inseparably linked in Evangelical religious education.
“But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory,” the Apostle Paul writes in his
First Epistle to the Corinthians (chapter 2, verse 7). These words
clearly illustrate how speaking of and thinking about God can open
insights in religious education and help human thought and action
to grow to a unique fullness of development.
The present text was prepared by experts from the various member
Churches’ Centres for Religious Education and Pedagogy (ALPIKA),
the Comenius Institute, the Conference of directors of education
and school of the EKD member Churches (BESRK) and the EKD’s
Advisory Group for Education, Children and youth Work. The
Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany has accepted it with
gratitude and approval and decided to publish it. I hope that these
words will find widespread attention among decision makers and
stakeholders in state and church, schools and parishes.
Hanover, October 2004
*
*
*
Introduction
The German school system is in transition. Concepts such as “education standards,” “fields of competence,” “shorter school times,”
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“school programmes,” “centralised exams” or “whole-day schooling”
are only a small part of the reforms already in train. Comparative
performance surveys at both national and international levels such
as TIMSS or PISA have shown that Germany’s record at both supporting those from low-opportunity backgrounds and fostering excellence is poor. The latter finding directs the focus to the final years
of upper secondary education, the gymnasiale Oberstufe. Both its
tasks and the best approaches to achieve them are frequently obscured by a plethora of different, often opposing views.
The Evangelical Church in Germany welcomes many aspects of the
current reform efforts inasmuch as they develop a holistic understanding of education and help schools move in this direction (cf.
e.g. Ganztagsschule – in guter Form!, EKD-publication 2004). “The
Evangelical Church holds that education embraces learning, knowledge, and capability, an understanding of values and guiding of
action in the context of the meanings that inform human existence.”
(EKD Memorandum Maße des Menschlichen. Evangelische Perspektiven zur Bildung in der Wissens- und Lerngesellschaft 2003). An
education directed towards values and meanings as much as content
needs ethical and religious education. Especially in upper secondary
education today needs to prepare students to deal with plurality in
many forms, not least the reality of ethnic, cultural and religious
pluralism. This requires awareness of one’s own historical roots.
The Evangelical church defined its position on the role and perspectives of religious education in a plural society in Identität und
Verständigung (Identity and Dialogue, 1994) . The fundamental
positions then laid out still apply. Within their scope the realisation
of Protestant religious education at different school types now
comes into focus. After Religion in der Grundschule (Religious Education in Primary School, EKD position paper 2000), the focus
of this document is upper secondary education. The last official
statements and decisions by the Church on the issue by now date
back thirty or more years, to the time of the last great reform effort.
The structures of upper secondary school have developed considerably since then. One important aspect of the current situation is
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the upcoming review and updating of the standardised requirements for upper secondary exams (EPA) for Protestant religious
education.
The Evangelical Church
– joins the public debate on educational issues with this position
paper,
– seeks dialogue with the Conference of Education Ministers, the
state school authorities, and decisionmakers at the school level,
– wants to encourage and motivate students to continue to opt for
religious education in upper secondary education,
– wants to encourage and support teachers of religious education
to foster a reflected engagement with religion and more strongly
accentuate the importance of the Christian faith.
1. Aims and design of the sixth form of Gymnasium
The Standing Conference of Education Ministers in the Federal
Republic of Germany (KMK) has addressed the question of reforming the final phase of upper secondary education several times over
the past years. In its opinion, the current form has “proven itself in
terms of its aims and core principles,” yet required a “continual development of its curricular and organisational structure.”
According to the agreements made between the federal states, on
the design of upper secondary education and its final exam (Abitur),
the fundamental principles informing its aims are threefold:
– A deepened general education describes the knowledge, abilities
and competencies required to act in a situationally appropriate,
reasoned, independent and responsible fashion. It refers to the
canonical core curriculum content of all school subjects. Upper
secondary education expands and deepens education not only by
expanding knowledge and abilities, but also by imparting techniques, attitudes and habits that will be vital for future intellectual
work in tertiary education and professional life.
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– An adequate preparation for a future academic education is understood on the one hand as the ability to engage with and utilise
knowledge which students are to acquire through independently
working with questions and techniques both within and across
established subjects. On the other hand, it means the formal
qualification to study any chosen subject at the tertiary level acquired through a formal examination (Abitur).
– The preparation for future academic study and work aims to
introduce students to the approaches and findings, structures of
thought, reflection and evaluation and their practical application,
but not to train them in specific forms of academic work.
The structural principles of organising the final stage of upper secondary education are:
– A course system, divided into basic and advanced subjects,
– A credit system that allows grades from both coursework and the
final exam into a final overall qualification for tertiary education,
– The grouping of related subjects into subject fields,
– The general assumption of equality of all subjects in terms of
their status in and eligibility for the final exam,
– The option for responsible choice granted the students in the
choice of subjects and courses and their organisation into classes
under the supervision of one teacher (Tutor),
– Forms of study and work such as individual or group project work
(Seminarfach, Facharbeit besondere Lernleistung) designed to especially foster independent, cross-curricular holistic learning.
Recent developments result in extensive change in the structure of
the final phase of upper secondary education (gymnasiale Oberstufe),
not least through the shortening of the overall schooling from 13 to
12 years, the development of mandatory educational standards and
the introduction of state-wide standardised exams to test their realisation (Zentralabitur). This also affects the weighting of different
subjects and the options of individual students in their selection.
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The question how a holistic, universal education can best be provided under these circumstances and what contribution Protestant
religious education can make to it must thus be reconsidered.
2. The role and function of religious education
in the gymnasiale Oberstufe (sixth form)
Religious education provided in accordance with the tenets of the
religious communities and in co-responsibility with them as well as
a secular alternative subject of Ethics/Philosophy is an integral and
mandatory part of upper secondary education in all states except
Berlin, Brandenburg and Bremen (cf. the report of the Conference
of Education Ministers Zur Situation des Evangelischen Religionsunterrichts in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland of December 2002,
pp. 12ff.). It is generally accepted that an explicit, competent engagement with issues of meaning and values in dialogue with the positions of living religious and philosophical traditions is indispensable
to a complete, deepened education. Religious education has a unique
contribution to make to this. Without it, many young adults would
remain unable to articulate themselves in religious matters. Religion
holds and answers the question of God and all its attendant questions about life and purpose (cf. 2.4). These are necessary to protect
contemporary education from the threat of setting any one of its
aspects as an absolute.
Religious education in upper secondary education thus first and
foremost exists to serve the students and their search for religious
orientation (2.1). This is in the interest of the state in view of an
education system increasingly challenged to deal with diversity (2.2),
contributes decisively and uniquely to the aims of upper secondary
education (2.3) and fosters the development of the competencies
demanded as the outcome of a modern education process (2.4).
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2.1 Religious education as the venue for religious questions
relevant to the lives of young people
Many young people today both see a broader spectrum of opportunities and life choices, but also face greater social pressure to navigate
their path amid this often bewildering array of possibilities and
continual changes. “Against this background, young people raise
questions of meaning and values – more so, perhaps, than in the
past – in religious categories. These questions to them do not arise
separate from their own realities as closed, self-referential moral absolutes, but take on a concrete reality in their need to make actual
choices in their lives. They need to be taken seriously not just as
seekers for religious meaning, but as participants in the process of
creating it. What they need is help in orientation to navigate their
own biographies and the inseparable social environment they are
embedded in” (Maße des Menschlichen, EKD 2003, p. 39).
Religion as an independent form of orientation and meaning creation distinct from knowledge or personal morality is gaining influence again. Religious education in school thus offers the opportunity
and challenge to identify and elucidate the roots of Christian faith
in the culture that surrounds and shapes us and to keep them alive
as a source of guidance. Despite many recent breaks with tradition,
Judeo-Christian elements are still deeply anchored in our civilisation
and continue to inform many aspects of it.
Many young people, even those whose outlook on life is largely a
pragmatic one, increasingly voice doubts whether an entirely rational
interpretation of life is enough to meet their needs. They feel or
experience that not everything in life can – or should – be done.
The fascination of science and technology, real though it is, only
takes up part of their imaginary. Existential themes and myths are
taking up greater space, be it through their treatment in movies,
youth literature or pop culture. Many young people feel a great affinity and need for this. Questions that reach beyond the self and
the immediate environment retain their fascination for youths and
young adults to this day. They are well aware of the return of reli177
gious dimensions to an ever greater number of spheres and try to
dialogically define their own position, understand the other, and to
shore up their argumentative defences against fundamentalism in
the beginning post-secular era.
Rapid technological development and its attendant ethical questions
create the need for moral guidance. The question of the relation
between the feasible and the permitted – in real-life situations of
contingence as much as in terms of moral absolutes – takes on an
ever greater immediacy in the face of growing possibilities. Religious
education takes account of this need for religious orientation and
guidance in life’s basic issues – even where this need is not yet expressed cogently by the individual – and meets the desire for answers
in existential questions of meaning and values. By providing knowledge on religious beliefs and contexts, it helps to understand the
religious perspective on and interpretation of life and can encourage
students to integrate this orientation into their life plans.
Ever more young people today deliberately engage with such questions by opting for Protestant religious education as part of their
upper secondary schooling, including many who are religiously unaffiliated. Religious education addresses them in a phase of their life
when their ability to reflect has grown and the immediacy of questions about the nature of their selves often enough has only just
emerged fully. It thus plays a vital role in the decision whether a
religious perspective on life can open up a valid outlook at this
critical juncture in life.
2.2 Religious education as a realisation of responsibility
towards state and society
Confessional religious education as per Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the
Basic Law intends to ensure that young people are enabled to make
informed and responsible use of their basic right to religious freedom
defined in Article 4 of the same Basic Law. Plurality has increasingly
posed a challenge for the education system in this regard. Yet where
the fundamental challenges and questions of existence are authenti178
cally addressed, religious beliefs and confessional shades inevitably
come into play. Today, these reflect a very wide variety of religious
thought and belief. Therefore, Protestant religious education in upper secondary education includes encounters with definite religious
positions, both its own that those of other faiths. The resultant religious dialogue is characterised by a reasoned discourse with the
different and divergent claims of truth and meaning proposed by
various religions. As a deliberately positioned educational offering
in a multi religious context, it refers to other positions both by virtue of its own location and through its dialogical nature. It aims to
bring about a differentiated and differentiating, but not discriminatory engagement with other confessional positions by injecting its
own confessional nature.
“The mutual dependence of confessional identity and ecumenical
dialogue illustrates the challenge in terms of cultural communication
and education faced by both school and society under conditions of
religious and ideological pluralism: to strengthen shared elements
among the different in a movement through rather than above differences ... People within our shrinking ‘one world’ need the fertile interplay of established, organic identity and future ability to enter into
dialogue.” (Identität und Verständigung, EKD memorandum 1994)
Protestant religious education does not require Church membership
for participation. It fosters a learning approach that improves understanding of the self and the own position by engagement with
the other, unknown while developing mutual respect. Especially in
upper secondary school both the extant differences and shared positions must be consciously addressed and reflected dialogically. The
value of this approach for society wide integration can hardly be
overestimated.
2.3 The contribution of religious education to a deepened
education and the ability to engage in academic study
At the core of Protestant religious education lies a mode of engaging
with the world (Modus der Weltbegegnung, J. Baumert), defined by an
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understanding of the world and human nature rooted in the Christian
faith. The basis of this is the fundamental experience of the relationship between God and man as an act of redemption ‘by grace alone’
and ‘through faith alone’. At its heart lies the radical distinction between the acts of man and those of God. The concretisation of this
distinction in the minds of its students is the unique and irreplaceable
contribution Protestant religious education makes (cf. also 2.3).
Through its close association with theology, religious education further offers an introduction to academic modes of reasoning and
thought as a specific approach to reality. This is not conceived of as
excluding the approaches and results of other academic disciplines.
On the contrary, their inclusion is a fundamental principle of the
free and open tradition of Protestant theology and therefore by extension Protestant religious education. Thus the subject on the one
hand prepares students for academic study by introducing them to
the need and fruitful applicability of an academic approach that
renders questions of faith, meaning and values communicable, opens
them to discussion and reasoned criticism. The goal in this is to
practice distance and reflection, leading to an enlightened form of
belief. Yet, on the other hand, religion and ethics are not learned
competencies but represent questions with an overarching validity
for all aspects of life. A clear distinction must be drawn between
what is subject to human control and what is not, between what is
permissible and what merely feasible. Critical self-reflection and a
reflected criticism of methodology and reasoning are both inseparable parts of theological thought, and religious education must at
all times remain aware of the limits of intellectual approaches.
Religious education is characterised by the hermeneutical analysis
of religious expression and the discursive engagement with different,
often divergent truth claims. In its approaches to central questions
it further combines different academic disciplines (e.g. theology and
natural sciences, theology and psychology, theology and sociology,
theology and philosophy).
Nowadays, even a basic understanding of Biblical stories, ecclesiastical history and theological core tenets is often lacking in young
180
people. This loss of traditional cultural meanings affects other subjects as well as religious education. In order to ensure that the goal
of a deepened education can be met when graduating from upper
secondary school, religious education must be offered continually
from elementary school and binding standards for lower secondary
curricula must be agreed upon. These are not easy goals to realise.
The situation of students participating in religious education for the
first time in upper secondary education poses a particular challenge
in this regard. In their case, even basic knowledge of Christian tenets and traditions is often nonexistent. Upper secondary religious
education must develop ways to address this problem.
By focusing mainly on meaningful content, religious education also
practices methodological competencies, especially in the engagement
with religious symbols and significances. Alongside factual and literary text readings, it includes decoding the symbolic language of
religion in art, architecture, music and other fields. This necessarily
extends to the productive and critical engagement with new media.
Thus, it contributes greatly to the acquisition of advanced competences from the perspective of cultural hermeneutics (such as the
analysis of and work with complex texts). These are necessary preconditions not only for further academic study in theology, but also
in many other disciplines (literature, history, art history, music, but
also natural and social sciences)
The factual and methodological competencies acquired can be
honed and combined in many different forms of learning. Especially
independent study and work are important in developing the qualification for future academic careers. That is why methodical approaches that have students engage with and reflect issues alone or
in small groups and produce and present their own written results
must be supported as particularly valuable first introductions to the
reality of academic – in this case theological – work.
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2.4 The contribution of religious education
to the acquisition of basic competencies
Basic competencies enable us to ‘engage with the world as learners’
(die Welt im Modus des Lernens anzueignen, H. E. Tenorth). Learners
gain the ability to acquire new knowledge in many different fields
and apply it usefully for their own orientation. The goal is for them
to increasingly become independent from the initial formalised
learning situation and to apply their competence in different new
‘modes of engagement’ (Modi der Weltbegegnung, J. Baumert). The
Evangelical Church in Germany addressed the question of what
constitutes basic competencies in a context of a holistic human education in Maße des Menschlichen (see esp. p. 70f.). If we adopt this
understanding of competence, the following considerations can help
us understand what religious education can contribute in this regard:
– It reconstructs core Biblical contents of cultural memory; in dialogue with non-Christian interpretations and on the basis of the
Christian faith, its scripture, traditions, theological reflection, its
specific language and institutional contexts it develops foundations for free and responsible action in private and social contexts.
It explains fundamental structures of the Christian conceptions
of the world and human nature and of religion as a phenomenon.
The core question of religion is God. That is why religious education offers students the opportunity to reflect and discuss God
more than any other subject can. Acquiring and practising the
basics of theological thought and discursive approaches allows
students to participate in societal discourse from a reasoned theological perspective.
– It trains the ability to understand the underlying meaning of
traditional statements and to apply them to individual life experience and teaches to reflect and analyse ethical questions, formulate a judgement and communicate it, both on its own and
in concert with other subjects.
– It fosters cooperative and dialogical processes by encouraging
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self-reflection and opens avenues to dialogue with other religions
and beliefs.
– It fosters an ethic of compassion and sympathy. Individual development in a context of compassion for the unfortunate lies at the
core of the Christian conception of life and a genuinely Christian
expression of personal freedom. In this context, distinctions and
separations from other conceptions of life must be addressed.
Religious education in upper secondary education develops a reflected religious competence at the juncture of identity and dialogue
that is in demand in all areas of social and individual life. This
emerges in the engagement with ‘problems of constitutive rationality’ (Probleme konstitutiver Rationalität, J. Baumert) that open individual horizons of understanding to the world.
Religious competence can be described as the ability to explore the
fundamental questions of life (according to Kant: What can we
know? What shall we do? What can we hope? What is a human being?), to formulate independent answers in engagement with the
Christian faith and non-Christian religions and beliefs, to communicate about them with others and to reflect the consequences together. Understood on these terms, it must include both a basic
knowledge of religious topics and the command of specific methods.
This subject-specific definition of competence can be meaningfully
entered into the current debate on developing educational standards.
This would imply the challenge of defining and refining the educational goals relevant for religious education and to transform them
into teachable and testable competencies specific to itself.
3. On the current state of religious education
in upper secondary education
Religious education has proven itself as the worthy equal of other
subjects in upper secondary school wherever it did not suffer extra183
neous discrimination. Some aspects of current development that
may give rise to concern on that count are the following:
Obligatory religious education and its status as an exam subject
The weight religious education is accorded in the overall curriculum
and the option to select it for either oral or written final exams at
both basic and advanced level increasingly differ between the federal
states. Almost all states allow final exams to be taken in it, with 8
states classing it among the social sciences (or permitting it to take
up the slot normally assigned a social science) (cf. the report of the
Conference of Education Ministers Zur Situation des Evangelischen
Religionsunterrichts in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland of December
2002, pp. 12ff.). In practice, the subject is mostly selected for oral
exams only. This is less explained by the desire of students than by
the increasing load of exams and equivalent contributions made in
the context of other subjects. This development threatens the loss
of the written dimension to religious education. The space accorded
the subject in school and specifically in final exams is narrowing
progressively. Almost nowhere in the Eastern Länder are provisions
made for advanced-level exam preparation courses in religious education. In Saxony this is possible, but only in Protestant schools.
Mutual cooperation with Protestant religious education
The current trend in religious education is towards emphasising its
embeddedness into plurality. This charges Protestant religious education with expanding its confessional cooperation with its Catholic counterpart, a self-critical remembrance of the history of Judaism
and Jewish-Christian history in class, the development of a didactics
of interreligious learning with particular regard to Islam, and the
development of cooperation with secular Ethics classes. The ultimate
goal is to contribute to education in a context of religious and ideological plurality by fostering the ability to enter into dialogue at
many levels.
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As early as 1974, the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany
favoured opening religious education in upper secondary school for
students from other faiths and to mutually recognise attendance
and grades. Increasing confessional cooperation must be welcomed
in the context of this development towards openness. However, it
must find its grounding in the issue at hand, not merely motivated
by the desire to maximise attendance. Declining funding and administrative concerns (such as teaching loads, class numbers and
lesson plans) contribute to a demonstrable tendency to increasingly
offer religious education without regard to confessional affiliation.
This creates the real danger of stripping religious education of its
confessional identity for the sake of administrative convenience,
turning it into a ‘class for everyone’ detached from the reality of
living faith. However, we must clearly distinguish this from situations where circumstances clearly dictate a merging of classes, such
as when the number of Catholic and Protestant students opting for
advanced religious education alone is insufficient to make up a class.
In such cases, joint groups can be created as long as care is taken to
ensure appropriate handling. Confessional cooperative religious
education must allow an authentic encounter of different confessions in all their similarities and differences. In order to aid this
coordinated Catholic and Protestant curricula would be a great
advantage.
Protestant religious education is further open for interreligious dialogue and any reasonable form of cooperation with Orthodox and
Jewish and, where circumstances allow, a future Islamic religious
education. It also aims for increasing cooperation with secular Ethics classes (see below). In doing so, it aims to foster – alongside the
traditional religious identity development in confessionally separate
religious education – the learning of religious and ideological dialogue in public schools. There are no school subjects other than these
that are qualified to teach this in any but a casual fashion, and modern society demands much attention be devoted to it in an interdisciplinary cooperation. Especially in upper secondary school, religious education can thus become a venue of dialogue between, and
185
reflection on civilisation and culture (cf. also Identität und Verständigung chapter 5.2).
Cross-curricular learning
With an increased emphasis on cross-curricular learning in upper
secondary school (in the shape of seminars, polyvalent grading,
project work and independent long-term projects contributing to
final exam grades), new opportunities for religious education emerge.
As yet, some teachers utilise these too little. Here, too, though, we
must ask how a confessionally separate religious education can be
integrated. Doing this successfully will require a sufficiently broad
spectrum of offers by teachers as well as the realisation on the part
of faculty and administration what contributions religious education
can bring to a cooperation.
Ethics and Philosophy classes
The court ruling of the federal administrative court of June 1998
that acknowledges the subjects of Ethics and Philosophy as ‘curricular equivalents’ to religious education and mandates their equal
treatment, their status in schools has been fully established. This is
a welcome development from a pedagogical perspective, especially
if it means that philosophical education will progress beyond the
frequent limitation to questions of individual life plans and elementary social ethics. It also challenges religious education to clarify its
elementary and substantial contents and to define its specific contribution to the educational mission at this stage of schooling (cf.
“Identität und Verständigung” chapter 5.3). Interdisciplinary subjects and questions are well suited to demonstrating the different
approaches of the three subjects to students.
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Targeted upper secondary schools, school profiles
and school-specific curricula
With the increased latitude in developing its own emphasis and
profile allowed each school and the attendant development of schoolspecific programmes and curricula, Protestant religious education
faces the demand to explain what its contribution to upper secondary education can be in one specific school and on the terms of its
profile. Like all other subjects, it thus faces the twin requirement of
securing the foundations of its curricular content while at the same
time developing to meet the profile and emphasis of its school environment.
Integration into a school programme and cooperation in the development of a curriculum require careful coordination between all
subjects dedicated to religious, ethical and philosophical education.
This must be realised at the individual school level, but should begin
with standardised curricula.
Current developments at state level show that the role of religious
education in profile development as yet is underdeveloped. No
school has so far seriously considered a profile or emphasis that places
religious education at the centre. In this situation, profiles for upper
secondary education at some model schools, especially those run by
the Evangelical Church, could provide valuable impulses.
Giving individual schools greater liberty and responsibility in designing its educational profile is politically the right choice. However,
this must not translate into making religious education dependent
for its very existence on decisions made at the school level. The legally guaranteed subject must be taught even where support on the
ground or in the school administration may be lacking.
Education standards for religious education
Within the limits of the minimal standard requirements described
in the Einheitliche Prüfungsanforderungen für die Abiturprüfung
(EPA), states have great latitude in designing upper secondary school
187
within their systems. The standards for religious education are due
for review soon. Faith itself can, of course, not be subject to grading.
However, Protestant religious education aims to teach measurable
and thus gradable skills and contents. Redefining clear and measurable goals and curricular contents for religious education – and the
equivalent subjects – must attain at the upper secondary level can
be a useful point of orientation and aid the profile of the subject as
long as developmental, dialogical and active learning approaches are
not neglected in the process.
The formulation of subject-specific testable standards automatically
entails the task of evaluating the outcomes, but also the initial state
and learning progress of a given class. This requires forms of external
evaluation (such as standardised tests and statewide final exams) that
reflect the acquisition of competencies and render the progress of
religious education comparable with that in other classes, schools
and states, but also in other subjects. Alongside those, methods of
internal evaluation are needed. Teachers must be supported in their
efforts to diagnose the progress of their students with the aid of
robust models and to evaluate the state and progress of their work
using simple but effective procedures (cf. chapter 4).
Another task that is becoming ever more urgent is the creation of
an equal basis at the beginning of upper secondary schooling for
students with often very different levels of attainment. Should the
upper secondary stage be globally shortened from three years to two,
this task will have to be addressed before grade 11.
Individual and group long-term projects
(special learning, skilled work, whole-text-reading,
and diaconical work experience)
During the upper secondary phase, students are given the option to
independently prepare work – often on interdisciplinary subjects –
over the course of a seminar or year that is graded and whose grade
is factored into the final exam results. In religious education, this is
particularly well supported through Church-sponsored competi188
tions, projects and internships. Teachers find themselves faced with
the demand for more individual counselling and the development
of new offers for their students. Many young people who choose to
undertake an individual project in Protestant religious education
and thus give their school career an individual note. To honour their
commitment, teachers should arrange for public presentations of
their projects within the school.
Several states provide for the reading of entire books (Ganzschrift)
rather than just excerpts in religious education. Students generally
react well to the challenge this poses. Working with whole texts
should be emphasised in religious education, not least because it can
lay the groundwork for a systematic and profound theological analysis in a way excerpts could not.
In this context, the importance of the Bible must be particularly
stressed. It is the fundamental text of Protestant religious education
on which its contents and the very nature of Christianity are based.
Given many young people today lack even elementary religious
knowledge, an introduction into the Biblical tradition needs more
emphasis.
In some states, Church and state cooperate to give students the option to intern in Church social work institutions in the early part of
the upper secondary education phase. This allows them to develop
and realise social responsibility. These diaconical work experience
‘diakonische Praktika’ complement school lessons and more intensively engage the individuals in their lives and experiences. They can
be the basis of later written work or other individual projects. Exemplary models of integrating this are found especially in Protestant
schools to date. The academically proven Catholic ‘Compassion
Projects’ also provide valuable impulses in this direction.
Teachers should be readier to utilise the potential of such projects.
This will require guidance and explanation for them, which can be
developed and passed on through the Churches. The use of entire
texts further will require additional training measures to develop
and impart the didactic and methodological qualifications needed
to address complex structures and argumentations in class. Despite
189
shortening the school time to upper secondary graduation to twelve
years, the opportunity for students to intern in Church institutions –
also with an eye to future career choices – must continue.
4. Challenges facing religious education teachers
The numerous challenges facing religious education at the upper
secondary level converge on the person of the teacher. Teachers daily
realise and concretise the educational mission of the subject inside
and outside the classroom, in counselling and support, cooperation
and curriculum and programme development work. In doing so
they face great demands and can retreat to the safety of academic
qualification in the face of criticism to a much lesser degree than
their colleagues, however necessary such qualifications may be for
their profession. They can only meet their challenges if they keep
pace with the times, keep abreast of developments, new issues and
emerging problems in academia, culture and society, participate in
the public discourse on ethical and religious questions and the addressing of social trends and conflicts. On the other hand, they will
need great sensitivity and empathy in their work with young people
along with the ability to understand the contexts of their lives. This
hermeneutic understanding of context allows them to join their
students in exploring the power of orientation and promise of truth
that religion in its specifically Protestant form can give. In doing so,
they contribute greatly to the educational mission of the school both
in the knowledge they impart and the competencies their work allows students to acquire.
Unlike in most other subjects, religious education teachers always
find themselves tested in their individuality when they enter into
dialogue with their students. They face critical questions on the role
religion plays in their lives and how credibly they represent the position on faith and the Church they are charged with upholding.
Students take note of their personal commitment, their willingness
to engage emotionally and the authenticity of their personal faith
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when they consider the value of religion as a foundation and perspective for their lives. This commitment is of great value to the
Church, and it is grateful to the teachers or religious education for
their contribution to enabling young people to take a reflected
Christian stance in their lives.
At the same time, religious education teachers are themselves part
of and affected by the processes of de-traditionalisation, privatisation
and pluralisation of religion. These are cast into particularly sharp
relief during upper secondary education. Increasing public and administrative pressure on religious education and the low esteem some
students accord the subject in comparison to others are strong influences on the self-image of many teachers and continually put them
on the defensive. In view of these pressures and demands, religious
education teachers particularly need the support of the Church.
They can especially profit from the broad range of Church-based
training and qualification measures that help them to develop their
professional competencies and improve their capacity for innovation, dialogue, and self-confidence.
5. The role of the Church
The Evangelical Church is fully cognizant of its (co-)responsibility
throughout the education system, including upper secondary
schools. It honours it by its development of pedagogical spheres
focusing, respectively, on the teachers, the students, the school and
its social significance. In legal terms, this responsibility is codified
in the Basic Law’s provision for participation in religious education.
The Church further participates actively in the public education
debate.
Religious education and school in general today are inconceivable
without outside support. The growing independence of schools requires faculties and individual teachers to formulate their own definitions of what constitutes good teaching or a good school. Through
conferring its official authorisation (Vokation) on religious education
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teachers, the Church undertakes to support them in their efforts
(though it does, of course, also offer support to teachers in states
where the role of the Church in the selection of teachers does not
extend to a formal authorisation). In order to master their demanding tasks at the nexus of Church and society, teachers need the accompaniment, support and encouragement of the Church. For this
reason, a regional and nationwide network of institutions dedicated
to counselling, training and spiritual support is provided to them.
Further, the Church faces the permanent demands of assuring the
quality of teaching, developing teacher competencies and concepts
of teaching and school as a whole. In the immediate future, the main
issues will be supporting the development of school programmes
and curricula and the design of extracurricular offers in the context
of whole-day schooling that meet the interests of young people.
Beyond these functions, parishes and Church districts as well as
other Church institutions must actively and systematically communicate and cooperate with schools and especially religious education
and create and develop forms of reliable, continuous support:
– The work of religious education teachers needs support at the
local level. The increasing decentralisation of decision making
processes in the education system (school programmes and profiles etc.) makes an active participation by the Church in discourse
at the local and regional level all the more vital. This includes
dialogue with representatives of the school administrations and
their funding bodies, consultants, the educational authorities and
their political decision makers.
– The theological competencies developed by religious education
teachers may become a valuable resource to develop the Church
and its parishes.
– Upper-secondary education students to this day dominate Church
youth volunteer work in some areas of parish charity activity.
– The pedagogical qualifications of parish pastors for school work
are developed in dialogue.
– Young people are made aware of Church careers and professions
which an upper secondary qualification opens for them. Along192
side specifically ecclesiastical functions such as pastor, deacon/-ess
or parish educational work, other pedagogical or medical/therapeutic professions are included in this group. Information on
these career options is recognised as a central task for the Church
as a whole, and the EKD provides relevant materials e.g. on the
academic qualification and career options for pastors and religious
education teachers. It is further necessary to open a better perspective on life within the church and its social work through
improved internship and project options.
The many forms of Protestant youth work offer further opportunities for the cooperation of Church and schools. A broad spectrum
of options has been developed here specifically to meet the needs of
upper secondary education. These range from external activities to
offers made within the context of the school to entire grades, classes
or groups including, among other things, counselling and spiritual
comfort, but also leisure time activities and lifelong learning. These
offers are made by the youth work Ministries of the Churches
(Landesjugendpfarrämter), Protestant academies, religious education
Centres, and other bodies with the aim of enabling young people
to make life-shaping decisions and to independently and decisively
shape their environment, including their school. The concrete shape
this takes is exemplified by ‘days of ethical orientation’, ‘religious
philosophy school project weeks’, ‘religious school weeks’ or symposia of the ‘youth academy (Junge Akademie) (cf. also Ganztagsschule – in guter Form! EKD 2004).
Among the approximately 1000 schools run by the Evangelical
Church, about 870 are upper secondary schools (Gymnasien) or
include an upper secondary branch (Gesamtschulen). Thus, Churches
and other Protestant bodies assume a central responsibility in upper
secondary education in this context. Their school profiles accentuate
support and integration and emphasise educational goals beyond
the scope of knowledge and abilities such as personal responsibility.
These are realised in school partnerships, fair trade or social work
projects and internships. In the course of providing upper secondary
193
education, Protestant schools are developing exemplary models of
broader curriculum designs and profiles. This is a concrete and practical contribution to the shape of the upper secondary phase of
school education.
6. Demands to the public education system
The Evangelical Church calls on the educational authorities and political decisionmakers to preserve and expand the spaces available to
religious education in upper secondary schools and not to abridge the
equal status of the subject in terms of grading, valuation, and examinations. Viewed within a liberal, holistic ideal of education, religious
education needs public support especially in the final phase of schooling and qualification. The Evangelical Church is ready to contribute
to the strengthening of the subject at all levels and actively embrace
its responsibility for the future of education. It demands participation
in the development and formulation of central agreements, the design
of educational structures and standards that affect religious education
and its position vis-a-vis other subjects. Specifically:
– Confessional religious education is a regular school subject; it
must be treated like any other subject. Each public school must
offer it continuously, in the appropriate manner and for the required times.
– Religious education must be part of the regular school day and
class schedule. Where comparable subjects are offered in semester
courses by grade as electives or with a choice of different levels,
religious education must offer the same options. Despite the specific historical situation there, religious education should by now
be available as an option for final exams in all Eastern Länder as
well as in the West.
– Religious education is mandatory. Relegating it to elective status
would violate its constitutional status. This must be taken into
account when assigning it to a subject group (which it should in
any case be fully able to represent in final exams).
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– Religious education is graded and should be factored into the
–
–
–
–
regular grading process in upper secondary education. A mere
certificate of participation is not sufficient. In order to receive a
countable grade for Protestant religious education, at least half
the required courses or lessons must have been attended. Attendance in religious education of other confessions or Ethics or Philosophy classes should count as equivalent for up to half of the
required lessons.
Religious education requires its own curriculum; its contents cannot be integrated into any form of overarching subject ‘alongside
others’. It welcomes and readily participates in integrative teaching approaches, but maintains that these require independent,
fully separate subjects or subject groups with a clear understanding of their contents and methodological range and limitations.
Anything less risks a loss of subject identity and of contact to the
academic parent disciplines. The educational mission of the
school would thus be called into question.
Integrated teaching forms must be developed on the basis of the
subject and with the cooperation of the Churches or other religious communities. Where religious education is concerned it is
therefore imperative that any subject groups or equivalence structures are established, the agreement of the Churches or religious
communities co-responsible for the religious education in question in terms of both content and curriculum design be secured.
Religious education is part of the educational mission of the
school. Each school programme must therefore address questions
of religious and ethical development. This should include teaching plans and approaches with an emphasis centred around religious education.
In view of the increasing decentralisation of decision making in
the school system, the adequate representation of the Churches
must be ensured in the local and regional discourse between
school administrators and funding bodies, education authorities,
political decision makers, social groups, associations and organisations.
195
– Concepts to integrate the Church and its social work as external
spaces of learning into upper secondary education are needed.
– The state must intensify its effort to ensure an adequate supply
of qualified teachers for religious education trained at both university and practical internship levels and to provide for the employment of a sufficient number of such trained teachers to guarantee the subject is adequately taught.
The education system today faces the challenge of a plural society.
This is particularly true in terms of cultures and religions. Religion
is an integral and discrete part of our culture and life. It is important
for young people to develop a clear cultural and religious and ideological identity. Religious education at the upper secondary level
makes a vital contribution to this process. It provides education
centred on values and meanings, integrates functional and orientational knowledge, addresses the possibilities and limitations of human existence, and opens perceptions for the experiences that surround us. Thus, it lays essential groundwork to prepare young
people both for academic education and professions and for future
responsibilities in their lives and in the creation of a just and democratic society.
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Where Faith Grows and Life Unfolds
The Mission of Protestant Child Care Centres
(2004)
Introduction
council members.
The following extracts are taken from a statement that takes account of
the fact that the Evangelical Church is one of the main stakeholders for
Child Care Centres in Germany. The statement focuses on the special
profile of Protestant Centres and their mission. The following text includes the introduction and chapter 15 (conclusions).
Key words: Child care centre, early education, profile of Protestant
child care
197
Content
Preface
Introduction
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Elementary Education from a Protestant Perspective
Protestant Day Care Facilities as Places of Education
The Religious Education Approach in Protestant Day Care
Religious-Pedagogical Qualification and Training for Child Care
Staff
The Need to Reform Qualification for Child Care Staff in Under-6 Day Care
Living in Plurality: Protestant Education in an Intercultural
Context
Integrating Handicapped Children in Protestant Day Care
Strengthening the Competencies of Parents
Family Support
Elementary Education in Public Education Planning
The Transition from Kindergarten to School
Assuring, Managing and Developing Quality
New Challenges to Protestant Day Care and its Providers
through Changes in Financing
Day Care Facilities as a Hallmark of Evangelical Parishes
Conclusions: Future Perspectives of Protestant Child Care within
the responsibility of the EKD
Preface
Education is a vital challenge at the beginning of the 21st century.
The PISA study has brought this to the attention of the broader
public. Yet even before the publication of its results in December
2002, Donata Elschenbroich published an insightful book on ‘the
198
knowledge of seven-year-olds’ to great public acclaim.3 In it, the
author points out the discrepancies in the training and social position of kindergarten teachers between Germany and Austria and the
rest of the European Union. At the same time, numerous practical
examples illuminate the possibilities for knowledge acquisition are
open in the years immediately before elementary school. In an inversion of traditional hierarchies, she consequently regards kindergarten
as the ideal environment for education.
Within the Evangelical Church, about 9,000 child care centres have
long been doing valuable and rarely recognised educational work.
540,000 children play, celebrate and learn in them under the competent supervision of 61,000 careers. Together, the contribution of
the Catholic and Protestant child care institutions for elementary
education in Germany is considerable – they make up about half of
the nationwide total. The educational processes begun and fostered
there lay foundations of great importance for the children themselves
and their families as well as for the Church and society as a whole.
Therefore the Evangelical Church as a major stakeholder has every
reason to enter the public debate about the value of early education
and clarify its position on the issue. Church-run child care is an
important example how the Churches can support children in their
growth, help the families shoulder their responsibilities, and instil
values and purpose in society through their service to the children.
In its commitment to the well-being of children, the Church is
guided by the conviction that education needs faith as much as it
does freedom. The ‘knowledge’ in question is at its heart a knowledge
of orientation – a knowledge that helps children find their way
through and their place in the world. The success of this process is
central to the development of their individual identity. That means
that both Church and society have a vital interest in the educational
process in Church institutions and their positive outcome.
3 Donata Elschenbroich (2001): Weltwissen der Siebenjährigen: Wie Kinder die Welt entdecken können (World Knowledge of seven-year-olds. How Children can explore the
World), München.
199
Long before the PISA study’s findings shocked the nation, the Church
saw the need to strengthen the education system at its foundations.
The Synod of the EKD dedicated itself to the question of “Growing
up in Difficult Times – Children in Society and the Christian Community” as early as 1994. Even then, child care centres were regarded
as places of active early education for children. Maße des Menschlichen
(Education on the Human Scale), published in 2003, also sees the
Council of the EKD stress that “... in Germany, the early education
of children is less successful than in other countries. It is in the early
years that the foundations for later learning are laid. The thirst of
young children for knowledge and their joy of discovery are greatly
underestimated” (Maße des Menschlichen, 2003, p.33f ). Elementary
education is also an issue from the perspective of the Church’s social
responsibility towards families: “Day care centres for children not only
make it possible for parents to combine family life with employment.
They have their own independent educational mission. We must acknowledge their contribution to the children’s opportunities for learning and experience, and especially their social integration. The continuation of their vital efforts in education and integration must be
assured.” (Was Familien brauchen, 2003, p.13).
These statements underline the central importance of its day care facilities for the EKD. The people in their parishes and neighbourhoods
have long known the value that these professionally run centres have
for their children. Their positive effect on children’s lives is felt far
beyond the circle of the pastors, educators and parish council members
immediately engaged with them. This is not just important in laying
groundwork for further education in primary and secondary school:
Pedagogical success in early childhood can be formative for the whole
personality and resonate throughout an individual’s entire later life.
The specific profile of Protestant child care must be preserved and
accentuated. In our kindergartens, Biblical stories are told, songs sung,
strength is gained from prayer and divine service is celebrated. Faith
in God is encouraged as much as respect for our neighbours. The
children – often coming from different cultural contexts – can experience Protestant Christianity as a source of strength in their life; in the
200
living faith of the Christian community they encounter a God who
loves great and small, who strengthens the weak and curbs the strong
and who desires peace and justice. In the Protestant kindergarten, the
Church of tomorrow already comes alive today. Its integrative processes exemplify the society of the future.
The Church’s work for children hold the Biblical promise that God
will be praised “out of the mouths of babes and infants” (Psalm 8,2/
Matthew 21,16). A Church that is aware of its responsibility towards
the present and future does well to support its child care facilities and
to specifically address their concerns. It was thus not surprising that
the EKD Church Conference of 2002 should provide the impetus for
the creation of this present volume exploring early childhood education as a central part of the responsibilities of the Church. The Council in response called up an ad-hoc committee on the educational
mission of Church child care. I wish to take this opportunity to thank
its members and especially its chair, Dr. Johann Daniel Noltenius.
The Council of the EKD hopes that this present volume will offer
guidance to all who work in Protestant child care, share responsibility
for it or are connected to it. Its particular focus are the kindergarten
teachers whose loving attention to the children is the fundamental
precondition for our child care centres to meet the expectations placed
in them.
The Evangelical Church in Germany regards its educational mission
as central for both the present and future. The preeminent position of
the elementary sphere of education in it is not only determined by the
extent of its commitment to it, but also by its formative role for later
life. With this volume, the Council of the EKD hopes to contribute
to the proper appreciation of elementary education in its importance
for the Church and its communities, the acknowledgement of its particular importance and support for its high quality.
Hanover, March 2004
*
*
*
201
15. Conclusions: Future Perspectives of Protestant Child
Care within the responsibility of the EKD
(1) A Christian understanding of education encompasses all aspects
of development of the whole person. The Christian faith understands the destiny of every human as created in the image of God.
All educational efforts must be directed towards this goal. Early
childhood education is a fundamentally important part of the lifelong process of personal development.
(2) While until a few years ago, aspects of care and socialisation took
centre stage in Protestant child care facilities; their important and
defining role as providers of education with their own specific mission is now increasingly coming into focus. This includes an early,
targeted learning support for all children in all aspects of age-appropriate education and development.
(3) Religious education is part of this educational mission as a matter of course. Protestant child care must also, indeed must above all,
be a place of religious learning.
It follows that religious aspects of learning are an important facet of
the Protestant profile of child care. It offers the children a specifically
Christian orientation to their lives regardless of their religious backgrounds and invites them to a constructive and independent approach to the Christian faith.
(4) The quality of religious education depends on the qualification
of kindergarten teachers in religious pedagogy and the willingness
of the organisational providers and parents to enter into processes
to improve their own educational competence.
(5) In the face of growing inequalities between advantaged and disadvantaged children, the educational responsibility of the Evangelical Church must also include furthering equality of opportunity
and justice throughout its institutions. Offers of support for parents
must extend beyond day care into other aspects of their responsibilities. A Protestant approach to early childhood education requires
the integration of handicapped children into regular child care as a
matter of course.
202
(6) A comprehensive and sustained reform of the training and qualification of child care personnel is an important and necessary goal.
Within the limits of financial possibilities, at least all staff in positions of leadership should hold graduate qualifications. Further professionalisation efforts should be considered and evaluated in terms
of efficiency.
(7) Child care facilities should be integrated into an overarching
educational concept at the parish level which incorporates and meaningfully connects child Church service, community children and
youth work, and primary school.
(8) Altogether, the Evangelical Church in its function as a provider
of child care should make greater efforts towards strengthening the
ability of its institutions to fulfil their educational mission.
(9) At the same time, the Church must remind the state of its own
educational responsibilities which partly coincide with those of the
Church without being identical. It strongly urges that all mandatorily provided child care capacities be funded entirely and, where the
financial situation allows it, are free at the point of use.
(10) A twin paradigm shift is needed; turning to education, and
turning to the children. Both must be combined in a comprehensive,
theologically founded theory of education and a specific conception
of what constitutes Christian elementary education.
(11) The future of Church and society are closely related to that of
Protestant child care: “The future is made in kindergartens.”4
4 Donata Elschenbroich, op. cit., p. 49.
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Religious Education
10 Theses of the Council of the Evangelical Church
in Germany
(2006)
Introduction
council members.
The following statement includes 10 theses about the situation of religious education in schools. This is a central field of collaboration between
state and religious communities. It outlines the basic understanding of
the EKD concerning religious education as a school subject and its profile.
Key words: Religious education, schooling, religion in education,
competence, legal status
204
Preface
Religion is one of the major issues dominating the 21st century. The
idea that religious questions are decreasing in importance and thus
the urgency of addressing them in school is in decline has been
proven wrong. The assumption that social modernisation automatically leads to secularisation and thus the disappearance of religious
questions, is misleading. On the contrary, religion remains an important dimension of human life and coexistence in society. Accordingly, religious education in schools is taking on increasing importance.
The public state school functions as a place of learning for children,
teenagers and young adults from different social, cultural, ideological and religious backgrounds. That does not mean that it must be
indifferent towards the spiritual issues of our time. Rather, it must
acknowledge and embrace the plurality of its society and introduce
its students to this in a pedagogically responsible manner. Even
more: in a democratic society, schools can only be said to be fulfilling their proper function if they enable their students to define their
own position, develop it in common dialogue and defend it in dispute. Religious education plays a central and irreplaceable role in
this endeavour by helping students develop the faculty to independently make use of their freedom of religion. Our country needs this
space in which young peoples’ roots in their own belief can be
strengthened and their capacity to engage in dialogue between different religious and ideological positions fostered. It is the responsibility of society as a whole to create and maintain it.
The Evangelical churches’ understanding of education is based on
a humanity open to God. To us, the inviolable dignity of man and
the reality of God are inseparable concepts. Strong roots in a clear
religious identity and a culture of open dialogue are of equal importance. These beliefs underlie our commitment to supporting both
religious education specifically and a positive learning environment
in general. Doubtlessly, religious education faces particularly daunt205
ing challenges right now. I know of no other school subject burdened
with such great expectations, be it regarding the identification expected of teachers with their subject and its contents or the continuing need to maintain the students’ motivation to choose the
subject and the willingness of parents to allow and encourage their
children to take it. Together with its member churches, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) is committed to supporting the
many movements to strengthen the established place of religious
education in schools and to continuously improve its quality. This
publication is dedicated to that goal.
The present theses were developed by the Advisory Group for Education, Children and Youth of the EKD. I would like to thank the
members and staff of that Advisory Group for their efforts at this
point. The Council of the EKD has adopted the theses and decided
to publish them. They are part of continuity from the EKD memorandum Identität und Verständigung. und Perspektiven des Religionsunterrichtes in der Pluralität (Identity and Dialogue. The Foundations and Perspectives of Religious Education in a Plural Society) of
1994 and the theses of the EKD Synod Religiöse Bildung in der Schule
(Religious education in Schools) of 1997. Since then, on the one
hand, organisational developments in the educational system have
accelerated considerably. On the other hand, the debate on the need
for schools to contribute to life values orientation and education has
been continuing with unflagging intensity. In this situation, the
Evangelical church intends to clearly and concisely outline its position. I hope that our theses will find a broad reception among all
who work on question and developments of religious educations in
state and church, school and parish.
Berlin/Hanover, August 2006
*
206
*
*
1. Religion is a central and irreplaceable dimension
of human education
The church regards religious education as a central element of its
educational responsibilities, and the abiding importance of the religious dimension of education is widely acknowledged by experts,
politicians, and the public. A comprehensive understanding of history and culture in Germany, in Europe and throughout the world
is impossible without familiarity with – especially – Christianity,
Judaism, and Islam. In an age of globalisation and increasing multicultural and multireligious social realities, a religious dimension to
education is increasingly important – important for young people
to establish their roots and identity, to develop the capacity for
judgement in religious matters, to find orientation and purpose in
the world, and to foster tolerance and the ability to enter into dialogue. Religion today plays a major role in the lives of many children,
youths and adults, and this must also be rendered understandable
to those who regard themselves as non-religious. Not least, children
and youths have a right to religious education.
2. In the Protestant understanding, the idea of God must
be central to religious education. At the same time,
religious education opens access to sustainable values.
Religious education is sometimes regarded merely as a form of value
education. From the Protestant perspective, though, the question of
the truth of God precedes all value questions. Faith is not founded
in values but, on the contrary, values proceed from faith. Ethical
values can, of course, also be founded without religious faith, yet it
remains true that religion throughout history and today has been
among the most important sources of ethical and normative orientation. Both politics and science have presently gained a new respect
for the capacity of religious faith to create the ethical motivation for
responsible action. A new appreciation has developed especially for
207
the religious roots of freedom, responsibility, tolerance and the social
and global solidarity between people who acknowledge each other
as brothers and sisters across all boundaries through their shared
faith in Creation.
3. Religious Education needs its own school subject.
While it is, of course, right and necessary to address religious issues
in other subjects, for example in history or languages, in geography,
civics, art, music or biology, this does not obviate the need for a
school subject dedicated especially to Religious education. Just like
the native tongue of necessity is part of all other school subjects, yet
requires its own school subject as well, so religious education concerns the school as a whole and yet needs its own dedicated sphere
to be recognised. Only in this context is it possible to genuinely
maintain the high level of education guaranteed by a specially trained
teaching body, and only in this system can the option of non-participation be maintained, which a dedication to religious freedom
mandates. Religious education in schools is not a matter of population majorities, but one of fundamental freedom. In keeping with
the Basic Law, the Evangelical church believes that alongside Christian religious education, the subject should be offered not only in a
Jewish form, as is the case already, but also in an Islamic form as
soon as the legal requirements for its establishment are met.
4. Religious education finds a positive resonance with
students, teachers, schools and parents.
Almost all recent surveys and studies show that religious education
as currently taught meets a positive response from students. That is
especially the case in elementary school, but continues to be true all
the way to the higher secondary level. Teachers state that they like
to teach it, and many say they would be happy to do it more often.
208
In schools, they find broad acceptance and recognition. In crises as
they have been frequently faced by schools in the past years – be
they caused by personal tragedy, school violence, or the experience
of terrorism, both immediate and filtered through the modern media – Religious education teachers have again and again proven
indispensable spiritual counsellors for children, youths and adults
alike. Parents appreciate the importance of Religious education and
expect the subject to contribute centrally to the value education and
life orientation of their children.
5. Religious education fosters the development
of basic competencies.
Beyond its vital contribution to the development of ethical and
religious competencies we already outlined, the contribution religious education can make to fostering linguistic and cognitive competencies can hardly be overstated. It dedicates time, effort and care
to the understanding of complex texts and accords the word a central role. At the same time, religious education strengthens students’
interest in exploring the world, understanding it, and explaining it
to others. In addition, the religious education classroom offers a
venue where numerous other competencies – social, communicative,
aesthetic and media-related as well as historical, political and academic – can be exercised and developed.
6. Religious education is a task that the free and
democratic state and its schools can only fulfil
in cooperation with the religious communities.
If the religious dimension is part of education and religious education requires its own school subject, then teaching this subject is the
task of state schools, all the way to final secondary school exams. At
the same time the democratic state is bound to religious and ideo209
logical neutrality and thus cannot determine the contents and goals
of religious education on its own. Therefore, for the sake of democracy and freedom of religion and conscience, it needs the cooperation
of the religious communities as mandated in Article 7, Paragraph 3
of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) ‘ –religious education is established
as a ‘regular school subject’ (ordentliches Lehrfach), yet not subject
to state regulation, but given ‘in accordance with the tenets of the
religious communities’ (in Übereinstimmung mit den Grundsätzen
der Religionsgemeinschaften). Thus it can retain its nature as an offer,
made in keeping with the free and democratic nature of the state,
and allows for participation in the civic responsibility for schooling
by the religious communities. The integration of religious education
into the school curriculum also follows from the idea of positive
religious freedom enshrined in Basic Law (Article 4) by equipping
citizens with the means to freely and fully realise that right.
7. Other forms of religious and value education can augment
religious education in school, but never supersede it.
The constitutional reference to the ‘tenets of the religious communities’ is fundamental to the specific approach to religious education5,
allowing children and youths to address existential truth issues. At
the same time, this reference provides transparency regarding the
composition of the teaching body in charge of religious education.
Religious education is more than mere religious studies. As an offer
in the context of a free society, it needs to provide the option of
non-participation. In almost all German states, this is provided for
by regulations establishing a different type of school subject – variously referred to as Ethics, Values and Norms, Philosophy etc – existing alongside and complementing religious education. However,
any attempt to replace religious education by a solely state-control5 This is the case in most of the German Bundesländer with the exception of Berlin and
Bremen due to historical reasons.
210
led mandatory subject such as religious studies or values education
must be rejected. We equally oppose the devaluation of religious
education as a subject that would follow from the requirement of
visiting a mandatory ethics or religion studies class alongside it, thus
making participation possible only through an extra effort that can
hardly be plausibly expected of children and youths. The only way
of taking full account of the right to religious freedom (as mandated
in Article 4 of the German Basic Law) is not to mandate participation in a values class, but to retain the proven system of religious
education and ethics as complementary subjects of equal status.
8. Protestant religious education is open to all students.
It is frequently offered in ecumenical cooperation with
the Catholic Church, and sometimes in dialogue with
ethics. In the future, forms of cooperation with non
Christian religious education will also become possible.
Participation in Protestant religious education is open to students
who are not church members. In practice, many children of no religious affiliation visit Protestant religious education because they are
interested in the Christian faith, or because their parents wish them
to have an education in religion and Christian values, not least in
order to give them the capacity to make informed religious decisions.
In our opinion, the requirements for a confessional religious education as per Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law are fully met as
long as both the teaching body and the contents of the curriculum
are Protestant. A special form of opening up confessional religious
education is the interconfessionally cooperative religious education
model outlined in the 1994 EKD memorandum “Identität und Verständigung” (Identity and Dialogue). In this model, Protestant and
Roman Catholic religious education cooperate without either abandoning its confessional profile. Rather, both similarities and differences between the two confessions and their respective identities are
addressed. We also welcome an approach that regards religious edu211
cation and ethics as partners in dialogue. Religious education is capable of accommodating pluralism, takes account of the realities of
a plural society and imparts on its students the competencies required
to live in it. Future cooperation with Jewish or Islamic religious education e.g. in joint projects or shared classroom time in certain phases
is also possible and desirable as long as the different theological foundations of the faiths and the specific possibilities and limitations of
interreligious learning are taken into consideration.
9. Religious Education contributes to the productive
development of a school and sharpens its profile.
It is encouraging to note that an increasing number of school profiles
and programmes now make reference to religion, intercultural and
interreligious dialogue, tolerance and solidarity. This once again highlights the contribution that religious education can make to school
life – from school and student church services through projects and
extracurricular activities to the newly established partnerships between schools and church-operated youth work in all-day schooling.
Further, it acknowledges the growing importance of religious and
interreligious relations and challenges for a globalised world. A global
education under the auspices of peace, justice, and integrity of creation is a fundamental goal of Christian education and should be
pursued actively. Also worthy of more active attention are the opportunities afforded by the school opening towards its neighbourhood and environment, including the church congregations.
10. The Evangelical Church will continue to support
religious education in school – in the interests of
children and youths as well as society as a whole.
Conceived of as part of a free and democratic society, religious education at state schools requires active religious communities as part212
ners and counterweights to the state. These communities must in
their turn be willing to cooperate democratically. This cooperation
makes certain demands on them – not least the kind of commitment
and support for religious education that the EKD has been providing for decades in the form of teacher training, its public commitment to religious education as a school subject, extracurricular
school activities and spiritual counselling. It is particularly important
for religious education to function that church parishes and districts
as well as other church bodies and organisations cooperate systematically with the schools. Thus, a ‘living Church’ (lebendige Kirche)
is the ‘background on which religious education can flourish’ (EKD
Synod, 1997). At the same time, religious education also provides
the church with opportunities to learn and grow. Yet above all, it is
the place where the church can fulfil its spiritual obligations towards
children and youths as well as towards society as a whole through
its educational commitment and service learning (Bildungsdiakonie).
In addressing each individual child in its religious needs and interests, the motives of church and state, theological and pedagogical,
can harmonise in their joint efforts for solidarity and tolerance, for
freedom, peace, and justice in a globalised world.
213
Religion, Values and Religious Education
in Elementary Education
10 Theses of the EKD Council
(2007)
Introduction
The EKD Council, whose term of office is six years, is made up of 15 lay
people and clergy. 14 of the members are elected jointly by the Synod and
the Church Conference; the President of the Synod is the 15th member ex
officio. The Synod and the Church Conference select the Chairperson of the
Council and his/her deputy jointly from amongst the council members.
between the church agencies and associations in all areas, for representing
Protestant Christianity in the public sphere and commenting on issues of
religious and social life. This is generally done either by making statements
on current concerns at short notice or by having memoranda, studies,
contributions to public debates and position papers drawn up.
The following statement is a contribution of the EKD to the debate on
pre-school education. It argues to provide opportunities for individual
religious and ethical orientation in state related institutions and explores
the particular mission of Church child care institutions.
Key Words: Religion, values, religious education, pre-school education, elementary education.
Preface
Elementary education has been receiving greater attention in Germany lately. The Kultusministerkonferenz (Conference of Education
214
Ministers – KMK) began targeting the pre-school fields for reform
and a stronger educational role as early as 2001 under the impression
of Germany’s dismal showing in the PISA school performance study.
Potential deficits are no longer to go undiagnosed until primary
school, nor talents unrecognised. In 2004, these efforts were more
clearly defined by the KMK’s “Joint federal state guidelines for early
education at kindergarten level” (Gemeinsamer Rahmen der Länder
für die frühe Bildung in Kindertagesstätten). The document states that
“the strengthening of the individual’s personality as much as the development of cognition and motivation and physical growth and
health are all part of the individual care and education of the child.
To grow into a responsible member of society, a child needs social
skills and orientational knowledge. Values education includes the engagement and identification with values and norms and the addressing of religious questions.” In order to further strengthen the educational role of pre-school education, the Federal Ministry for Families,
Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth launched the ‘Initiative Responsibility Education’ (Initiative Verantwortung Erziehung) in 2006,
which had previously been initiated under the heading ‘Alliance for
Education’ in concert with the Churches.
In this situation, the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany
(EKD) sees the need to clarify its position and provide new impulses
for the debate on pre-school education. Religion and ethics are indispensible dimensions of human educations at the pre-school level as
much as at any other. Where pre-school education is in state hands
it is important that children are all given the opportunity for individual religious and ethical orientation, as the law mandates for
school. The central constitutional tenet of religious freedom must
extend into this area as much as anywhere else in our lives. Church
child care institutions, naturally, have a particular mission in terms
of religious education. Yet the place of religious education is not solely
in confessional kindergarten – all such facilities must allow room for
this important element of a well-rounded education including different religious and ideological perspectives. These different perspectives
and approaches require grounding in the confessions – Christian
215
education contributes to values education, but is not merely a part of
it, as conversely values education embraces beliefs and traditions beyond Christianity.
The present theses were prepared by the Advisory Group of the EKD
for Education, Children and Youth Work in cooperation with other
experts in pre-school education. I wish to express my heartfelt thanks
to the authors at this point. The Council of the EKD accepts them
with approval and has decided to have them published. They address
the publication Wo Glaube wächst und Leben sich entfaltet (Where
Faith Grows and Life Unfolds) on the tasks of Protestant child care
institutions presented by the Council in 2004. At the same time they
correspond to the Ten Theses on Religious Education published last
year. Thesis No. 2, for example, is largely identical in both texts. This
illustrates that the responsibilities the Evangelical Church shares with
other providers and stakeholders according to its constitutional role
are, for all the differences, parallel in both pre-school and school
education. Its definition of education is oriented by the belief in a
humanity open to God. Belief in inviolable human dignity and in the
reality of God go hand in hand. We equally value rootedness in a clear
religious identity and openness and capacity for dialogue. That is why
I hope these theses will find the attention and interest of all who engage with questions of religious education in state and Church, parishes and kindergartens.
Berlin/Hanover, March 2007
*
*
*
The fundamental importance of education taking place in early childhood before and later outside of school is increasingly being recognised. Child care institutions are no longer expected merely to take
care of their charges’ physical needs and supervision, but are increasingly tasked with their education. The educative process, after all,
216
does not begin with the school but as early as the family and kindergarten. That is why the importance of religious and values education
at the pre-school level will be explored in the following, not as an
alternative to care and education, but to show how kindergarten can
contribute to the individual growth and competence acquisition of
their charges beyond these aspects.
In the past, the assumption that pre-school education mostly depended
on children observing and imitating the actions of adults was current
while independent engagement with knowledge and beliefs was
thought to begin slowly with school age. Today, we better understand
the importance of both individual and external activity in the educative process – children need adults to offer them examples and orientation, but they also learn independently and individually. This is also
true of values, which are as much taught as learned through individual
engagement. As fundamental orientations for life encountered by children in their immediate environment, they become pedagogically realised through experience. Mature individual judgements, though, can
only emerge through independent, reasoned engagement with the
values thus assimilated. In the same sense, intentional religious education and individual religious learning (religiöse Bildung) are interrelated
sides of one phenomenon, that of religious education as a whole.6
The Church’s understanding of pre-school education and particularly
the educational mission of its pre-school education institutions were
outlined in the 2004 declaration Wo Glaube wächst und Leben sich
entfaltet (Where Faith Grows and Life Unfolds) by the Council of the
EKD. Yet the question of religion, values and religious education goes
far beyond the confines of the Church’s institutions. All kindergartens,
no matter whether state, Church or private, are tasked with supporting and guiding children in their perception, engagement and embrace of religion. That is why the Evangelical church addresses these
theses to state and non-state child care providers, parishes as much as
government, civic associations and private groups.
6 In English there is no equivalent translation for the German term “Bildung” that is used
in the German text.
217
The theses support an endeavour of vital importance for all children,
and for society as a whole. They aim to provide orientation and create
a sound basis for a future cooperation between the state and the
Church or religious communities, between parishes and local government, state and non-state child care providers and all stakeholders
willing to contribute to an increased awareness of the interrelation of
religion, values, and religious education. Their focus is on a field of
religious and values education whose relevance is more apparent than
ever today. Especially the broad range of backgrounds of children
growing up in Germany today with all its attendant problems must
remain present in our minds for the following analysis, though it will
not be specifically addressed.
1. Every child has a right to religious education.
Children ask questions to explore and understand their world. Their
imagination and creativity are part of the gifts adults often see in
children with a pang of envy. At the same time, children need a secure
and stable environment that can offer them the basis of protection
and love from which they can explore the world. The role of parents
and other important adults is crucial to the emergence of independence. Children need guidance to find their own ways. They are curious about a world they still find astonishing and inspiring. Their
desire for orientation often inspires great questions at an early age –
questions about God, the origin of the world, truth and understanding, but also about suffering, dying and death. Explanations with no
reference to deeper meanings are not enough to meet this need – children do not only ask about the how of their lives, but also about the
why. Without the religious dimension, their desire for orientation
and security cannot be adequately met. Children have a right to religion and religious education. This right alone requires offering religious education to all children, without obligation to either them or
their parents. Independent critical judgement requires a foundation
in religious education.
218
2. From a Protestant perspective, God must be at the
centre of religious education. At the same time,
a thorough religious education opens approaches
to stable, well-founded values.
The importance of values in education today is generally acknowledged. Religious education is sometimes regarded as an exercise in
value transmission itself. However, both the Christian faith and modern pedagogy militate against this oversimplification. Children are not
merely provided with values. A successful values education depends
on a firm grounding in the concrete reality and practical experience
of the children in question. With regard to religion, the question of
the truth of God precedes all other questions – values spring from
faith. A plural society, however, can permit no monopoly on the definition of values either with the Churches or the state. Though the
latter is defined in its actions by its allegiance to the fundamental values enshrined in the Basic Law, these merely provide a framework that
needs to be filled in the concrete reality of the educative process. At
this level, it is not enough to merely teach values; they must be lived
and exemplified in such a manner that they can take root and inform
the actions of children. Values education always depends on the fundamental orientations of the adults providing it, their religious faith
and beliefs. That is why the question which approaches to which values can be opened to children is so vital. Freedom, responsibility and
tolerance, but also local and global solidarity can find crucial support
in a religious orientation. Children who, for example, feel themselves
accepted and welcomed in Protestant child care as whole persons with
all their strengths and weaknesses can experience these institutions as
a space to understand the Christian conception of human dignity.
3. Parents seek support for a value-oriented education.
A value-oriented education is not merely an agenda of the Churches
or the state, but also a central wish of many parents who consider a
219
clear value orientation for their children a major criterion in the choice
of child care. To enable parents to give their children a protective and
supportive environment to grow into responsible, self-aware individuals they need to be supported in the many challenges that having
children present them with. They are looking for child care institutions that can offer them support and help as partners in the effort
of teaching their children values. Conversely, kindergartens, too, rely
on this partnership. No educational goal can be reached without the
support of the family. In practice, parent support and counselling has
been gaining in importance for years already. Regular contact with
and involvement of the parents is an important prerequisite for successful pre-school education and a step towards a lasting, reliable
partnership for the sake of the children. This approach to working
with the parents will play an increasingly important role in the future.
4. Religious education supports the child’s individual
development and aids in the acquisition of centrally
important competencies.
Children are subjects and must be regarded as such. Psychological,
pedagogical and theological reasons all militate for this central tenet
of education. The EKD Synod therefore demanded a perspective shift
from an adult-centred to a child-centred view on education in 1994,
setting into motion a fundamental and still ongoing process of pedagogical reorientation in the Church. Children assume active control
of their own development. That is especially true of their psychological growth, a process that is beyond external control by its very
nature. Nobody can ‘shape’ another’s personality. Yet at the same time,
children depend on us to provide them with a stimulating environment, orientation, and the acceptance and reassurance of others. Such
reassurance and acceptance from a Christian faith perspective eventually can emanate only from God, making it unmistakeably clear that
human beings can never be viewed merely as the products of their
220
upbringing or society, but only as free individuals in their Divine
createdness. That is why religious education supports the individual
psychological development of children as an encompassing process
of education. This process is the basis for acquiring vital competencies, to many of which – cognitive and emotional, linguistic, social,
aesthetic and moral – religious education also makes more direct
contributions.
5. Religious education fosters both identity development
and the competence for dialogue.
The goals of religious education as defined by the Evangelical Church
are ‘Identity and Dialogue’ (Identität und Verständigung, EKD memorandum 1994). It is intended as a contribution to both the formation
of individual identity and the ability to enter into meaningful dialogue
with people of different cultural or religious backgrounds. The two
presuppose each other. In an increasingly plural, multicultural and
multireligious society, religious education is not only becoming more
and more challenging, but also more and more necessary. Children
are confronted with plurality early in life and need help to orient
themselves. Dealing with plurality requires a clear position. A peaceful and tolerant coexistence depends on habits of thought and behaviour that are not automatic. The ability to live in a plural society is a
distinct educational goal that must address both religion and values.
Without relinquishing their specific Protestant character, Church
educational institutions have opened their door for children of different or no religious affiliation and place strong emphasis on interreligious and intercultural learning. In future, bringing a similar approach to learning into non-Church institutions will be a vital task
(cf. Klarheit und gute Nachbarschaft. Christen und Muslime in Deutschland (Clarity and Good Neighbourliness – Christians and Muslims
in Germany), EKD 2006).
221
6. Curricula must take account of the interdependence
of religion, values and religious education.
The growing awareness of the importance of pre-school education for
development is also reflected in the increasing proliferation of curricula for kindergarten. The Common Guidelines of the Länder for
Early Education in Child Care Centres [Gemeinsamer Rahmen der
Länder für die frühe Bildung in Kindertageseinrichtungen] (2004) as
well as the curricula created by several states place specific emphasis
on orientation, values and religious education, a task that pre-school
education providers have now themselves embraced. This highlights
the important fact religious education is not just a niche offer for
Church kindergartens – the curricula apply to all providers. A whole
and encompassing education must not depend on the Church affiliation of the kindergarten in question. While retaining their distinctiveness, non-Church institutions too, will need to address religious
education as a task. All children must be enabled to make informed
and independent use of their constitutional right to religious freedom,
none may be subject to coercion in religious matters in the process.
7. A free democratic state can only provide adequate
religious education in cooperation with
the religious communities.
A free state cannot itself undertake to provide religious education
without seriously jeopardising religious freedom. At the same time,
it must not identify with any one specific religion – this would violate
the separation of Church and state. Yet it is in the vital interest of the
state to enable its citizens to make informed and independent use of
their constitutional right to religious freedom (Article 4 of the Basic
Law) through religious education. This responsibility can only be met
in cooperation with the religious communities. Yet this constellation
also requires of these communities the willingness to transmit their
faith’s tenets and traditions to their children not through rote learning
222
or habituation, but through a genuine educational process and to
enter into a partnership with a free, democratic state.
8. Religious education needs multiple education providers
in cooperation.
The majority of kindergartens in Germany are operated by non-state
providers, most of those by the Churches. This is an expression of the
Churches’ own recognition of their Christian duty towards society’s
youngest members. At the same time it is part of their contribution
to a societal responsibility that ultimately rests with the state. This
pluralism of education providers is an expression both of democratic
principles (in accordance with Article 7, Paragraph 4 of the Basic Law)
and the subsidiarity principle which combine to prevent an educational monopoly being claimed by the state. Protestant kindergartens
are dedicated to the Protestant faith and a religious education informed by it and render this dedication transparent to parents. This
underlines their importance in education and particularly in religious
education. Where other – state or private – institutions also aim to
provide religious education, further cooperation between the state,
these institutions, and the religious communities will be needed. The
forms of cooperation practiced in providing religious education in
schools according to Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law have
proven themselves in both securing the separation of Church and
state and providing religious education in a manner appropriate to a
free society. Only the religious communities and their members can
determine – within the limits set by the overall educational mission
of the school in a democratic society – what the religious contents
and goals of their religious education are. In future, we must seek
ways to adapt and apply a similar model of cooperation in kindergartens of both state and private providers. Representatives of religious
communities may well be involved in non-state kindergartens as
well – in some cases, this is already being put into practice – or consulting services on religious education could be provided. Educators
223
themselves, too, may choose to present and represent their respective
faiths. Legal questions regarding the limits of religious freedom and
transparency in religious orientation that will arise in connection with
these solutions will, however, need clarification, and the Evangelical
church will be happy to assist in the process.
9. Religious and values education contribute to the
development of profiles and goals for kindergartens.
All providers need competencies in religious education
and must take this into account in the training
and qualification they provide to their staff.
It is an accepted fact that individual kindergartens nowadays require
an individual, elaborated and explicit profile. Many institutions are
in the process of formulating goals to help them define their profiles.
Religious and values education provide opportunities for this process
in terms of life in the kindergarten, a ritual framing and structuring
of days and weeks, but also through a situationally specific engagement with religious questions. Cooperating with religious communities is in the interest of a conception of education that is open to the
community it is situated in, including the parishes and other religious
groups. It allows for encounters with people, spaces and activities that
enable children to experience religion in the concrete. A clear dedication to values also makes kindergartens attractive to parents. Yet at
the same time, the development of goals and profiles from a perspective of values and religious education poses specific challenges. This
raises the demands made on the religious education qualifications of
the staff, not only those in Church institutions. The implementation
of new offers of religious education beyond the Church’s purview
needs to be accompanied by consulting, training and qualification
measures. The tasks outlined above can only be successfully attempted
if the staff themselves have positioned themselves in their own relation
to faith and values and gained an understanding of their own capacity for judgement.
224
10. The Evangelical Church is ready to work in
cooperation with others for an increased awareness of
the connection between religion, values and religious
education in pre-school education.
The Evangelical church has long been active in its support of children
and their education and care. It operates 9000 kindergartens for over
half a million children as well as its own training and qualification
facilities for religious education at pre-school level and offers further
activities for children in its parishes. In cooperation with its charity
and social work institutions, it provides consulting and training in
pre-school education far beyond the scope of its own institutions. In
the design of the new curricula it often took a leading role and is
committed to their implementation. Alongside the proven modes of
ecumenical cooperation, the Evangelical Church is ready to cooperate
with other providers, institutions, and partners in both state and society. Individual parishes, too, are happy to cooperate with nonChurch kindergartens. The Evangelical church’s commitment to the
well-being of children will continue into the future. On the terms
outlined above, state and Church, pedagogical and theological motives may meet in addressing each individual child, also in its religious
needs and interests – for religion, values, and religious education in
pre-school, and even more for the children themselves and their lives
and peaceful coexistence in a globalised world.
225
Protestant Schools
Self-Definition, Capabilities and Perspectives
A Guidance Paper of the Council of the Evangelical Church
in Germany (EKD)
(2008)
Introduction
representing Protestant Christianity in the public sphere and commenting
on issues of religious and social life. This is generally done either by publishing statements on current concerns at short notice or by having memoranda, studies, contributions to public debates and position papers drawn
up.
For work in specific areas of concern, the Council can set up dedicated
Advisory Commissions. One of the committees is the Advisory Commission
for Education, Children and Youth Work that publishes statements and
papers to foster the discussion of crucial issues in this field.
The following guidance paper on Protestant Schools addresses the fact that
Protestant schools have gained new interest among parents and consequently increased in numbers. The paper argues for backing up and fostering the quality of Protestant schools and establishing them as a permanent part of the public education system.
Key words: Protestant Schools; quality and ethics in education;
Church’s educational responsibility
226
Content
Preface
Introduction
1.
Protestant Schools:
Their Importance, Development Tasks and Future Perspectives –
10 Theses
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
Self-Definition and Standards
Plurality of Profiles
Shared Mission
Protestant Schools as Public Schools
3.
3.1
3.2
3.3
Structure and Performance
Protestant Schools throughout the Country
Pupils, Parents, Teaching Staff
Protestant Schools and PISA
4.
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
Quality and Ethics
Protestant Schools are Good Schools
Teaching Competencies
Faith and School Ethics
Religious Education
5. The Church’s Educational Responsibility and its Schools
5.1 Protestant Schools as Part of the Church’s Mission
5.2 Profiles of Protestant Commitment to Education
6.
The State’s Educational Responsibility and
Democratic Plurality
6.1 Plurality of Education Providers as an Expression
of Democracy
227
6.2 Integration through Difference
6.3 State Recognition of Protestant Schools
6.4 Funding Questions
Future Perspectives
Preface
The founding and support of Protestant schools has been moving
closer to the centre of attention for the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) in recent years. This development was promoted mainly
by the establishment of the Evangelische Schulstiftung in der EKD
(Protestant Schools Foundation of the EKD) in the early 1990s,
which supported and aided over 100 newly founded schools in the
former East German Länder with both funding and advice.
Lately, quality management and improvement has joined initial-phase
assistance as a major task in both East and West Germany. Numerous
offers to assist in improving teaching quality and heightening the
schools’ Protestant profile have been developed. A further important
task was to more clearly position and more effectively represent Protestant education in the context of the broader system.
The present guidance paper addresses these developments and places
them in the context of the challenges facing schools and the educational system as a whole. It thus illustrates the position of Protestant
schools as part of the public education system and both fundamentally
clarifies and specifically describes their development tasks and future
perspectives. In this, it embodies a basic position of our Church: Its
support for the schools in its own responsibility complements its
commitment to supporting the public education system as a whole,
as it does e.g. in the provision of religious education.
This paper also represents a further contribution towards a unitary
perspective on the various fields of education the Church is engaged in
and thereby provides impulses to their development (also see papers on:
Religious Education 1994, Adult Education 1997, Confirmation Edu228
cation 1998, Day Care 2004). All of these papers not only addressed
the activities of the Church in the narrow and specific sense, but widened the scope to societal developments as a whole from a Protestant
conception of education as outlined in the EKD’s memorandum on
education “On a Human Scale” (“Maße des Menschlichen” [2003]).
The present text above all discusses the question what constitutes a
good school today. In this regard, it both explores the specific contribution schools with a Protestant profile can make to the education
system and, on the other hand, the general demands that all schools
– including those in the EKD’s responsibility – must strive to meet.
The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany has accepted this
text by the Advisory Group for Education, Children and Youth Work
with gratitude and approval and has decided to publish it. My thanks
go to the Advisory Group and especially to the panel that prepared it.
I hope that through its publication, it will find the attention of decisionmakers and stakeholders inside and outside Protestant schools. This
paper aims to develop and improve the Protestant education system in
the interests of children and youths. It is for their sake that we must
not cease to strive for high quality in all aspects of our schooling.
Berlin/Hanover, May 2008
*
*
*
Introduction
With this text, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) aims to
clarify the self-definition of Protestant schools in Germany, reflect on
their current performance and develop perspectives for their future,
thus showing their great potential.
At the same time it aims to explain how a Protestant understanding
of education can translate into the school environment. Thus the
present work complements the 2003 educational memorandum Maße
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des Menschlichen in rendering the conception of education outlined
there in concrete, applicable terms for schools.
Ten theses form the beginning of this guidance paper in which the
importance and the tasks of schools in the responsibility of the Evangelical Church are clearly outlined and development tasks and future
perspectives for them are developed. The following chapters can then
be understood as the underpinnings, explication, and further development of these theses.
It is especially the schools themselves and a wider interested public
that the EKD aims to reach with this paper, including those presently
making efforts to found further Protestant schools. These schools have
already been addressed in previous publications that acknowledged
their work, but in view of their increasing importance for the Church,
society at large, and not least children and parents, it is now time to
accord them fuller treatment.
Protestant Schools must be distinguished clearly from the confessional
schools long dominant in German public education. Protestant and
Catholic schools then were not operated by the Churches, but the
state (cf. 2.1). Thus, schools in Protestant responsibility must not be
confused with the confessional public schools still extant in some
states. At issue in this paper are the specific self-definition, abilities
and perspectives that come with the non-state status of Church-operated schools.
1. Protestant Schools:
Their Importance, Development Tasks and
Future Perspectives – 10 Theses
1. Protestant Schools are an important contribution to
plurality in the public school system and in education overall.
Protestant Schools define themselves both as confessional schools
and as public schools in that they share part of society’s overall responsibility towards children and young people. Their funding and
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governing structure, their specific profile and educational offerings
are a vital contribution to a plural education system that makes
them a living expression of democratic education. They help to
open up wider opportunities to young people. All of this takes place
within the context of a public school system whose norms and values themselves are rooted in Christianity. This shared horizon of
tradition unites state and Protestant schools to a degree that, especially in Eastern, but also in Western Germany, is increasingly slipping from public consciousness. They differ from state schools in
integrating Christian tradition not only in terms of general cultural
affinity, but also in terms of a positive profession of faith that underpins school life and shapes their specific Christian, Protestant
profile. This profile is expressed in individually and specifically
adressing each child, in teaching engagement with the neighbour,
however distant in space, in the experience of community and a
visible presence of the Christian faith in the school environment.
Upholding this is the responsibility of every faculty member and
requires the active support by parents of a Protestant conception of
education.
Specifically, this means:
– Protestant Schools must be conscious of their role as public schools.
This means sharing educational responsibility with others and embracing the institutional pluralism within which they exist and
thrive.
– Protestant Schools must develop a clear profile while at the same
time maintaining their function as public schools. They radiate
Protestant values into society at large by enabling people to embrace responsibility based on their faith.
– The status of Protestant schools as public schools specifically requires them to transparently and consistently present their work
to the outside world, e.g. in internet presentations. It is often difficult for outsiders to understand the pluralism of Church schools.
Therefore, developing further structures of cooperation is vital to
improve public visibility and profile. The state, in turn, must in231
clude private confessional schools as well as Protestant schools in
its official registers and statistics.
– The social importance of Protestant schools must be recognised in
terms of state accreditation. The requirement of Church membership of the student body must not be used as a criterion to determine full formal accreditation. This conception no longer reflects
the religious and ideological plurality embraced by Protestant
schools.
2. Protestant Schools must be High-Quality Schools.
Even though the performance of Protestant schools in comparative
surveys is nothing to be ashamed of, securing and improving school
quality as a whole remains a challenge. As important as the quality of
instruction will always be, we must be aware that this is not the sole
criterion to judge quality and even the best standards only cover part
of the learning experiences and formative relationships that shape
young people.
– Protestant schools develop their specific quality from a responsibility for the school’s learning and formative environment shared
between teachers, pupils and parents. This form of cooperation
must be strengthened by both the schools and their operators in
order to strongly integrate a broader education of the whole person
into the school environment.
– Protestant Schools need systems of support to monitor and improve school quality. Extant offers must be maintained and expanded. Particularly offers of staff training and consulting both
before and during such efforts are needed. The schools’ operators
are called upon to develop and fund such systems.
– Protestant Schools and their operators must make every effort to
ensure quality in all subjects and fields. Areas such as the school
environment, community development, and outreach must be
taken into account in quality development.
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– Protestant Schools differ markedly from state-operated schools. In
–
–
–
–
the interest of plurality in education, quality control at both the
structural and individual school level should not simply be placed
in the hands of the state or state institutions. Doing so would place
the specific, religiously informed profile of these schools at risk as
the standards of state schools cannot automatically be applied in
their context. Aside from monitoring the quality of outcomes and
qualifications, the state’s role should be limited to enforcing evaluation while leaving the development of processes and criteria to the
Church operators of these schools. Schools in Evangelical responsibility by virtue of their mission as public schools can have no
interest in detaching themselves from the state’s evaluation systems.
They must, however, also consider the spiritual and charitable dimension of their educational mission throughout their evaluative
processes. The operators of these schools are required to develop
appropriate instruments and provide the necessary funding.
In this context it is desirable for the individual operators or the
Evangelische Schulstiftung in der EKD (Protestant Schools Foundation) to develop a certification for Protestant schools that serves
both internal quality control and signals to the outside world that
the schools thus certified meet both their educational and religious
criteria.
Protestant Schools also must participate in outcome-oriented evaluation efforts in the public school system to further improve quality. Both state and Church organs should allow them this opportunity.
In order to secure the quality of Protestant schools, awareness of
successful efforts and shared best practice is vital. Schools in Evangelical responsibility should cooperate and exchange information
both with each other and with state schools. One important platform for this purpose is provided by the journal klasse, die Evangelische Schule, which should be developed into a central publication for all Protestant schools.
A further contribution to securing quality in Protestant schools
can be made by introducing development plans. These represent
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agreements between the operator and the school on the goals of
strategic improvement. Operators are called upon to develop models of these in close cooperation with the individual schools.
3. Protestant Schools must Place Particular Emphasis
on Educational Justice.
The Protestant understanding of education is informed by a perspective of societal responsibility. Thus, the broader challenges of quality
improvement and equality of opportunity that face the German public school system overall are also those of Protestant schools. From a
Christian perspective, the goal must be justice in both education opportunities and enablement (Befähigungsgerechtigkeit, Wolfgang Huber) that appropriately takes account of the specific needs of all children. Here, too, the challenge is that nobody must be left behind.
This includes personal development and participation in social life as
much as it does professional qualifications. Protestant schools are
called upon to make a particularly strong contribution here.
– Founding Protestant schools must especially be made possible for
those pupils who face unequal opportunities in the state system.
This applies particularly to schools for children with special needs
or low academic performers. At the same time, Protestant schools
should follow the example of some German states in allowing for
greater upward mobility for high-performing pupils.
– The option of not promoting underperforming pupils is regarded
by many experts as the primary structural cause for the poor support pupils receive in the German school system. Therefore, Protestant schools should experiment with minimising or abolishing
the practice of non-promotion or expulsion of poor performers.
This would particularly require individual support be given to
them. Instead of absorbing the costs of non-promotion, preventive
investment in support appears both better and cheaper. Church
school operators should develop concepts to this end and make
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–
–
–
–
agreements with state agencies on both the targets and possible
financial contributions on their part commensurate with the projected savings.
A further important contribution to equality of educational opportunities is provided through offering higher educational qualifications in vocational schools. Protestant vocational schools should
especially seek to provide these.
Yet another contribution to equal opportunities is the provision
of all-day schooling. This must be expanded further and a qualified
structure of activities developed that integrates both the possibilities accorded by parish and Church youth work. The possibility
of cooperating with the Churches’ charitable organisations and
youth support programmes, too, must be further explored and
used.
Bursaries should broaden access to Protestant schools and offered
more widely than previously.
Boarding schools are yet another field where the contribution to
equal opportunities can be expanded. In view of the precarious
situation faced by many youths in overburdened families, these
schools can offer formative social experiences other than those of
their environment. Funding for this purpose will need to be provided, with state assistance if possible. This also allows for special
support to be given to the gifted.
4. Protestant schools can offer a multiplicity of learning
opportunities by interconnecting different spaces of learning
and should cultivate this advantage.
The interconnection of different spaces of learning to the advantage
of all is a further feature that defines the quality of schools in Evangelical responsibility. This is true for Protestant youth work as well
as other Protestant associations and institutions such as adult education and not least the parish and its links to the school. In cooperation with parishes, Protestant schools can develop learning opportunities that should be explored further, also as an example for state
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schools. More attention should also be paid to the transitions between kindergarten and primary and between primary and secondary
school.
Specifically this means:
– Interconnections between spaces of learning need to be further
expanded, especially in terms of relations between Protestant
schools and neighbouring parishes. The possibilities include action
learning in a parish charity context, the participation of parishes
in all-day schooling activities, synergies with parish artistic and
musical activities, the establishment of student companies in cooperation with the parish etc. Such approaches can be integrated
into an overall model that places both spaces of learning into a
positive relationship.
– These opportunities need to be used more decisively than before
to support young people. The structural cooperation possibilities
between Protestant kindergartens, day care centres, youth work
and support is still not used effectively by Protestant schools. This
could offer the closely woven network needed to support especially
pupils with special educational or social needs. The potential for
development here is particularly great.
– Cooperation with parishes allows for a joining of learning spaces
e.g. in confirmation classes.
– Protestant children and youth work offers young people many
opportunities for informal learning. School education can be better connected with these. Protestant schools should become more
aware of the possibilities and advertise them to their students e.g.
in the form of portfolios developed in cooperation with parishes.
– Accompanying the transition between kindergarten and primary
as well as primary and secondary school must be made easier by
increased cooperation between Protestant institutions in all these
fields as well as the parishes.
– Regional education planning could further broaden the horizons
and improve the cooperation of individual Protestant schools, to
the advantage of regions, schools and local communities.
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– The ecumenical movement and its international inter-Church relations offer a wealth of opportunities for international school
partnership and cooperation that is as yet too little used by Protestant schools.
5. Protestant Schools must be Schools of Living Faith.
Protestant schools must continue to define themselves as places of
faith and integrate the religious dimension beyond the limits of religious education lessons into their entire curriculum as well as allowing pupils to experience living religion in practice. Knowledge of the
Protestant tradition, of Christianity and of non-Christian religions
and beliefs should be emphasised in Protestant schools as a matter of
course and integrated in all subjects. Protestant Schools also welcome
pupils who are not part of a Protestant church, for even though their
offer targets primarily Protestant families and their children, it is not
designed as members-only, but as a service offered beyond our own
community to fellow humans. Thus, Protestant schools face the challenge of designing offers for non-Protestant, sometimes non-Christian
or non-religious pupils from a Protestant understanding of education
and their own specific purpose.
– Pupils join the school with a wide variety of experiences, knowledge
and individual religious orientations. Today’s society accommodates a great plurality of religious beliefs and practices. Protestant
Schools thus face the challenge of providing a religious educational
offer that takes account of such plurality without becoming devoid
of substance. This requires both a heightened awareness of the
individual preconditions of each pupils and a further clarification
of what we mean by a Protestant school profile. The current situation requires us to rethink and develop traditional models of
basic religious education and, where necessary, deploy new ones.
– Protestant schools must understand themselves as a place where
Christian faith is experienced and consciously offer their pupils
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the opportunity for such experiences – through encounters with
the Gospel, but also with people who represent their faith in their
life decisions, and through a spiritual dimension to school life both
every day and on special liturgical occasions. Not least, pupils must
be offered the opportunity to reflect on these experiences. In all
these respects, schools and their operators are called upon to clarify and develop their profiles.
– The necessary careful balance between the effort to allow all pupils
experience with faith and the requirements of their freedom of
individual conscience is part of the educational responsibility of
all Protestant schools.
6. The Profile of Religious Education in Protestant Schools
Requires Further Development.
Although religious education is often regarded as a specific feature of
Protestant schools, too little attention has so far been paid to its specific function and mission in the context of such schools. This regards
both the question of its relationship with other subjects – an issue
also touching state schools – and the specific relationship between
religious education and the school’s profile. The question arises how
religious education at Protestant schools can embrace the governing
principle of ‘Identity and Dialogue’ laid out by the EKD in 1994 and
the educational tasks that come with it. Not least, it faces the challenge of adapting to the changes in society and Church today.
– In Eastern Germany, but also in some western parts, Protestant
schools (especially vocational and special-needs schools) count a
growing number of pupils with no religious affiliation. These situations may require specifically tailored models of religious education and religious school life that can address the questions of
young people with no religious background. Thus, they can be
offered the opportunity to develop their own position with regard
to religious life in general and the Christian faith in particular.
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– A special kind of challenge is posed to ecumenical and interreligious in situations where attendance at Protestant religious education is mandatory. Both practical and theoretical discussions on
ecumenical and interreligious learning at Protestant schools are
still in their infancy though the current situation makes this an
unavoidable task. Schools and their operators are called upon to
see how especially Protestant schools can contribute to ecumenical
and interreligious learning both where separate offers are made to
different learning groups and where religious education is not provided confessionally separate.
– At some schools in Evangelical responsibility, the proportion of
Muslim pupils has grown to the point that specific arrangements
will need to be made in religious education. That is why the Council of the EKD has repeatedly spoken out in favour of Islamic religious education being introduced. Whether this can be provided
as a regular subject according to Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law is, however, uncertain as yet, despite model experiments
being run in several states. Thus, this problem cannot be solved
by the Church and its schools on their own, but will require cooperation by the state and the Muslim communities.
7. Protestant Schools Need to Offer Deliberate Support to Teachers.
Principals and teachers are a vital factor in ensuring quality and defining the profiles of a Protestant school. They are its daily representatives
in the classroom and shape its school life. Many teachers in Protestant
schools are highly motivated and professional despite lower pay than
in the public sector, a less secure status, and no tenure. Quality assurance should see to it that this situation becomes less unequal. Further,
school operators and church synods need to develop models to support teachers in their daily work e.g. through staff training. Further
attention needs to be paid to ensure that by engaging students and
graduates in Church organisations, young teachers can be recruited
in Church schools even at times when job opportunities in the public sector are plentiful.
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– Teachers particularly represent the religious orientation of Protestant schools. Their faith and religious engagement must not be
reduced to the formality of requiring Church membership.
– Schools in Evangelical responsibility need to present themselves as
interesting and stimulating places to work. Their attractivity as
employers must become independent of public-sector opportunities, based on the profile of their work and the close-knit and
high-quality staff training and support they offer. In future, the
situation of teachers needs to be improved to the point that their
professional status is no less than that enjoyed by those employed
at state schools.
– The organisations operating Protestant schools need to value and
publicly appreciate the engagement of their teachers in the context
of teacher conferences and other activities.
– Schools in Evangelical responsibility are increasingly developing
their own models of training and managing school development.
Such approaches can combine the general requirements of qualification and organisational development with those specific to a
Protestant, religious school profile. They also need to allow space
for individual, biographical learning and development for the
teachers, processes that are particularly important in the realm of
faith and religion.
8. Protestant Schools are Entitled to Adequate State Funding.
While public and Church coffers were filled, the model of financing
for Protestant schools was simply for the Churches to step in where
state funding did not cover the full costs. The increasing reductions
in state funding and concurrent drop in Church incomes are now
putting this model in jeopardy. Alternative sources of funding are
desirable in the long term, but it is currently difficult to estimate how
realistic expectations are in this regard. Therefore, a new agreement
with the states on the minimum amount of state funding is urgently
needed. Since Protestant schools, by shouldering part of the burden
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of the educational responsibility of society, support the state in this,
it is only fair for them to be accorded the same basic funding that
state schools enjoy.
Specifically this means:
– Funding for these schools is not a Church privilege, but a mandate
of the Basic Law that enshrines plurality of school providers.
– Especially the conditions for founding Protestant schools need to
be improved by reducing waiting periods required before state
funding becomes available. There is further need for agreements
on contribution to renovation and investment costs and participation in the refinancing of staff pensions.
– Protestant schools must be permitted to explore funding sources
beyond state and Church without being penalised for their efforts
by a concomitant reduction in state support as is sometimes the
case today.
9. Protestant Schools Represent an Important Investment
in the Future of the Church.
At a time of reduced institutional religious affiliations and de-traditionalisation, operating schools represents an important investment
into the future for the Evangelical Church in Germany – both in view
of its own future and that of teachers as representatives of Christian
faith in school and society. Protestant schools provide a venue for
young people to encounter Christianity, an important aspect where
religious socialisation in the family is becoming rarer. The same applies to youths of other religious affiliations. Protestant schools are
open to all children and young people in our society and at the same
time address parents who otherwise have little or no contact with the
Church. They function as powerful multipliers in the tradition of
Christian faith and values.
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– The importance of Protestant schools for the future must be emphasised more clearly and their importance for the Church revalued.
– Within the Church, awareness of the schools and its responsibility
must be increased and people must become conscious of their
vital function.
– The pivotal role of Protestant elites in the history of the Church
as well as for its present and future must be acknowledged as legitimate and necessary.
– In times of dwindling funds, resources for this area should be
spared cuts in view of their great importance for the future.
10. The Services that Protestant Schools Provide Must be
Maintained in Full in the Future.
If the services of Protestant schools are to remain available to the same
extent as they are now, that will in effect mean an expansion of their
market share as pupil numbers are decreasing. This includes founding
new schools. It is not only the Church that has an interest in extending the coverage of its schools – they are a boon to the education
system as a whole and continue to be in demand with parents. Also,
the desirable plurality in both educational services and providers in
Germany still are not sufficiently established given the large proportion of schools operated by the state. Concerns that a larger number
of Protestant schools would increase the current trend towards elitist
selection are unwarranted. In fact, this tendency is reinforced if anything by Protestant schools having to turn down applicants owing to
demand exceeding places. Care must be taken, however, to ensure
that future expansion does not cater only to a limited group of pupils
or school types and local and regional situations are carefully taken
into account. Well-considered regional education planning is as much
in the interest of Protestant schools as any others’.
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– The founding of Protestant schools should be supported and facilitated by the state.
– A larger proportion of Protestant schools throughout the education
system is desirable. A specific percentage to aim for in this development is not something that can be easily provided, though.
Rather, decisions should be based on local and regional criteria
such as the regional presence of Protestant schools, particular social
and educational challenges, support for disadvantaged children or
youth etc.
– In view of decreasing pupil numbers, the demand for a growing
proportion of schools in Evangelical responsibility does not necessarily translate into the need to build more, but rather into the
effort to maintain and secure extant ones. Reducing capacity in
line with demand must be avoided. Rather, decreasing numbers
of pupils can be seen as an opportunity for an expansion and
strengthening of Protestant schools throughout the education system.
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The Origin of the World, the Theory
of Evolution, and Creation Faith in School
A Reference Statement by the Council of the Evangelical Church
in Germany
(2008)
Introduction
on issues of religious and social life. This is generally done either by publishing statements on current concerns at short notice or by having memoranda, studies, contributions to public debates and position papers drawn
up.
For work in specific areas of concern, the Council can set up dedicated
Advisory Commissions. The following reference statement was drafted by
members of the Advisory Commission on Theology and on Education,
Children and Youth Work. It was published in a situation where an intense debate on the origin of the world, the theory of evolution, creation
faith and the way these issues should be addressed at school was taking
place.
Key words: Theory of evolution; origin of the world, creation, science, creationism.
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Content
Preface
1.
Current Situation
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
Scientific Theories and Creation Faith
The Character of the Biblical Creation Narratives
Creation Theology as a Subject of Christian Theology
The Difference to the Scientific Perspective
The Cosmological and Anthropological Scope of
Faith in the Creator
2.5 The Fallacies of Creationism
2.6 The Fallacies of Atheist Opposition to Creation Faith
2.7 The Dialogue with Science
3. Educational Perspectives, School and Religious Education
3.1 The Demands of a Comprehensive and
Differentiated Education
3.2 Religion and Science in School
3.3 Creation Faith and Evolutionary Theory in School Teaching
3.4 Didactic Principles for Addressing Creation Faith
and Evolutionary Theory in School
3.5 Future Problems as a Joint Challenge
Preface
We are currently seeing an intense debate on the origin of the world,
the theory of evolution, creation faith, and the way these issues should
be addressed at school. This is certainly welcome as it touches upon
a question that is fundamental to our view of the world. However,
many contributions to the debate do justice neither to the state of
scientific knowledge nor that of theology or a differentiated concept
of education. They are certainly far removed from a Protestant understanding of creation faith.
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“Education describes the interrelation of learning, knowledge, ability,
values and actions in the horizon of meaningful interpretations of
life” – thus runs the definition that the Council of the Evangelical
Church in Germany (EKD) developed in its memorandum on Protestant perspectives on education in a modern knowledge society “On
the Human Scale.” This concept deliberately and clearly distinguishes
between the factual knowledge available today and the meaningful
interpretation of life from the perspective of Christian faith. Yet it is
precisely this distinction that allows the two to be placed in a meaningful relation to each other. In contrast, many contributions to the
debate about the relationship between scientific theory on the one
hand and creation faith on the other in explaining the origin of the
world and its life blur the distinction by placing the two at the same
level. They therefore assume that either the theory of evolution must
displace creation faith or vice versa. This approach does justice to
neither side of the argument.
Neither the attacks of a resurgent new atheism on Biblical creation
faith nor the assaults on the theory of evolution carried out in the
name of Christianity can strike the opposite party at its heart. Doubtlessly there are interpretations of both creation faith and evolution
theory that can and need to be criticised. Yet this appropriate and
necessary criticism can only be formulated outside of the false dichotomies much of the debate is caught up in. A Protestant understanding of faith must be characterised particularly by the ability to
overcome this illusory alternative and to enable reasoned, valid criticism. It is therefore time to concisely lay out the position of the
Evangelical Church towards both the theological interpretation of
creation faith and the scientific theories of the origin of the world and
of life at this point.
The debate on these issues in Germany follows different patterns and
has a lower profile than it does e.g. in the United States of America.
Nonetheless, clarifying our fundamental positions is of great practical
relevance. It has, for example, been proposed that biology taught in
school should refer to Biblical creation faith and religious education
address the theory of evolution. The thrust of our own argument
246
suggests that these matters are best placed in interdisciplinary projects
where both the biological and theological perspectives can be treated
on their own merits and in their appropriate contexts. It is increasingly becoming clear that the relation between these two perspectives
can only be fully comprehended once the distinction between them
is understood. This requires pre-knowledge of both the theological
and scientific background that is taught and articulated in the school
environment, not only for interdisciplinary projects, but also where
either religious education or biology alone address the relationship
between evolution and creation.
The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) hopes to
contribute to spreading the knowledge and judgement required in this
fundamental question through this reference statement. It was drafted
by Prof. Dr. Michael Beintker and Prof. Dr. Friedrich Schweitzer. Prof.
Dr. Martin Rothgangel, Prof. Dr. Ernst-Joachim Waschke, Prof. Dr.
Michael Welker and other members of the two Advisory Groups on
Theology and on Education, Children and Youth Work contributed
in a consultative function. Further contributors also include Oberkirchenrat Dr. Vicco von Bülow and Oberkirchenrat Matthias Otte, both
from the Church Office of the EKD. I wish to express my gratitude
to the panel of authors for addressing this difficult issue and presenting their results at such short notice.
I hope that this reference statement will find widespread attention
among those who tackle with the origin of the world and of life and
address the significance of Biblical creation faith in school and society.
Both in education and in the personal approach to this issue, we cannot allow ourselves to merely skim the surface but must be open to
deeper insights and strive to articulate them.
Berlin/Hanover, February 2008
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*
*
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1. Current Situation
To the astonishment of many, the question “creation or evolution”
has once again entered the public arena, especially with regard to
school education, biology and religious education classes. For almost
a century it had been thought that, at least in Germany, this issue had
been settled for good by accepting the existence and validity of different, often divergent biological and theological perspectives on the
development of life and humanity. Such complementary perspectives
have by now been recognised as necessary in other fields as well: The
most tried and true physical theory cannot – nor should it intend
to – replace our sense of wonder when faced with the beauty of the
universe; the most precisely calculated and digitised language model
cannot render poetry superfluous; no degree of precision in research
into social relationships can replace the expression of love between
two people.
The current debate on creation and evolution in school shows how
little the relationship between faith and science has really been defined. Prejudices long thought extinct were expressed again – both
against the theory of evolution and biology as a science and against
theology, the Church and religious education in school. However, it
is indefensible either to equate evolution research with a profession
of atheism or to view Creationism of the kind widespread especially
in the United States as the only Christian form of creation faith.
Rather, Creationism deforms the Christian faith in the Creator into
a factual model explaining the physical world that in the final consequence abandons the alliance between faith and reason that is fundamental to Christianity.
In view of this situation, the present reference statement aims to contribute to a return of the debate to a more reasonable level and provide
impulses to address these vital questions. Among these, the position
of the Churches and the theological community (at least in their great
majority) on creation and evolution is surely a central one. The current debate was sparked in the context of schools, but it has quickly
shown that the scope of the unanswered questions at its core reaches
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far beyond this field. Nonetheless, the best ways of reasonably discussing the question in school also will be explored in the following. Thus,
a space can be created to deal with the questions and problems that –
beyond today’s misunderstandings, pushbutton issues and accusations – matter for the future: Questions of living and surviving in the
world and of an understanding of human nature and reality that can
meet the demands of humanity.
2. Scientific Theories and Creation Faith
2.1 The Character of the Biblical Creation Narratives
The two creation narratives of the Book of Genesis draw our attention
to the origin of heaven and earth, the beginning of life and of humanity. They identify the creative act of God behind everything that happens in this world.
The memorable sentence “In the beginning, God created the heavens
and the earth” (Gen 1,1) must be read as the overarching theme uniting the entirety of the creation process that originated the cosmos,
the biosphere, and ultimately humanity. Even though the following
first creation narrative (Gen 1,1-2,4a) is not based on anything approaching our current knowledge of the natural world, it lays out a
subtle conception of world order. In a sequence of great eras of time,
the “days of God” (cf. Ps 90,4: “For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night”), the
cosmic, biological, anthropological, cultural and religious elements
of creation are invoked and interwoven. Creation itself takes part in
the divine creative act: the heavens divide, the earth brings forth, the
stars reign, and humanity is given the proverbial dominion over the
earth. A simple opposition of creation and evolution would be alien
even to this most important Biblical creation account.
Unlike the account of the liberation of Israel from Egyptian bondage,
the revelation of God’s commandments on Mount Sinai or the prophetic message of judgement and salvation, the profession of belief
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in God as “Creator of heaven and earth” is not part of the earliest
traditions of the Bible. Rather, it represents a consistent development
emerging from the belief that the God of Israel is not merely the God
of his chosen people, but the sole God the entire world should worship. In the process, Israel adapted creation narratives from its environment in the Ancient Orient and reinterpreted them from the vantage point of its own experiences with God and its own
understanding of the world.
The places of professing belief in the Creator in this world are praise
in divine service (cf. Ps 8; 19; 104) and wisdom’s contemplation of
the perfect ordering of creation. In both cases, reassurance in the
world and comprehension of the meaning underlying its order are
emphasised while the question of the origin of being and the How of
the creative act itself remain a mystery hidden to man (cf. Prov. 8,22;
Job 28; 38ff.). Accordingly, the creation narratives of Genesis could
encompass entirely different and often at first glance contradictory
ideas. For example, the first creation narrative (Gen 1,1–2,4a) understands the creation of heaven and earth as the combination of the
creative word and act and defines humanity – meaning all humans –
as created in the image of God and imbued with the highest inalienable dignity as guardian of the order of creation.
The following second creation narrative (Gen 2,4b–3,24), which is
based on an older tradition, recalls the creation of humanity from
“the dust of the ground” and of the acquisition of divine knowledge
through eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, thus problematising
the capabilities and limitations of humanity in the world. Being created in the image of God, humanity – each individual human – strives
to become like God.
Old and New Testament agree in the view that the actual interest of
the creation narratives is not cosmological or metaphysical. God’s
intent in creation goes far beyond the level of natural processes. Gratitude for the present acts of God is by far the most prevalent form of
expressing faith in Biblical texts. As the work speaks the praise of the
artist, so does creation praise its heavenly Creator: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands,” (Ps
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19,1). “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea
resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything
in them; then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy, they will sing
before the Lord …” (Ps 96,11f.). Yet creation faith also includes the
lament of the finite nature of existence, mortality and precariousness,
and raises the issue of God’s intervention in saving and elevating his
creation. From the perspective of faith in the Creator, our reality takes
on a different character. It leaves its seeming autarky and we discover
it in its relation to God.
2.2 Creation Theology as a Subject of Christian Theology
The position adopted by Martin Luther in his exegesis of the first
Article of the Small Catechism provides a good example. In line with
the Biblical texts, he regards the divine creative act as an entirely current phenomenon. Without God creating here and now, the world
would perish, “where He does not begin, nothing could exist or become, where He ends, nothing can continue.” We cannot draw a
divide between creation and continuation – God wills the continuation of the world through a continuous act of creation (creatio continua). Thus, it cannot be regarded as ever having been finished. John
Calvin similarly placed his main emphasis on the current presence
and action of God in the world when considering its nature as a
creation.
We do not realise that we are created by God through a speculative
exploration of the first seconds of the universe, but through understanding our existence as a gift. The reformers saw the realisation that
humans are creatures of God and on that understanding of the mystery of creation can embrace the fact that their existence is purposeful
and finite at the core of creation faith. This does not render the createdness of our world a moot point, but it identifies the main point
that must never be ignored. As Luther illustrates, you could move
from university to university and learn all there is about creation. The
faith in the Creator that the creed exemplifies is not found along that
path. To embrace it, you need to understand yourself as created by
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God, as receiving everything from him and as able to express your
gratitude for this.
The 21st century presents creation theology with a twin challenge:
On the one hand, it confronts (at many levels) a world view that
perceives reality as though God did not exist. On the other hand, it
must address the ethical problems arising from a careless attitude
towards the environment in general and in particular from the new
opportunities for interfering with the foundations of life through
genetic technology. All adequate approaches to a modern creation
theology must therefore both include a detailed hermeneutics of the
Biblical creation narratives and seek dialogue with physics, biology,
cosmology, and anthropology. The ecological crisis that now appears
to broaden into a threat to the world’s climate has further revitalised
the theology of the environment and the debate on how to properly
and carefully husband it.
2.3 The Difference to the Scientific Perspective
Faith in the Creator perceives the cosmos and the biosphere from a
different perspective than the experimental natural sciences. It operates in dimensions detached from the plane of modern scientific enquiry. The dimensions of the real that is named and recognised in this
faith are closed to the scientific view and the methods of its choosing.
Physics and biology are dedicated as precisely as possible to study the
realm of the measurable and calculable. Their success is founded on
their ability to dissect nature into quantifiable segments and to formalise these as objects of human rational understanding. God cannot
be thus addressed as a measurable quantity or object. From a theological perspective, treating God at the same level as physical phenomena would not only be entirely inappropriate, but also inherently
guaranteed to render moot any chance of understanding its object.
The distinction from the natural sciences grew as they learned to base
their approaches increasingly no longer on reasoned observation, but
on mathematically derived and calculable data. Thus, Copernicus,
Kepler and Newton developed a model of the world that could oper252
ate without the concept of an intervening God, solely on the basis of
its own inherent laws. In the 19th century, the theory of evolution
took a dominant position as a similar model to explain the origin and
development of species. Scientists and theologians had to accept the
fact that the perspective of faith on nature and the concept that physics had of it increasingly came to diverge while biology developed
models of the development of life that markedly differed from traditional beliefs.
Evolution also informs the scientific view of reality itself: Human
knowledge of the natural world continues to develop as old knowledge
becomes obsolete at an ever increasing rate. The current state of
knowledge can never be raised to the level of dogma – any attempt
to treat it as such is fated to reject new discoveries that clash with the
received world view. The conflict of the Roman Church with Galileo
Galilei can be interpreted in line with this model, and the assaults on
Darwin’s theory of evolution are another case in point. These are,
however, extreme cases. Most scientists remained religious people
from deep conviction while most theologians learned to adapt the
new knowledge while retaining their understanding of the creative
action of God. The past and present role of many theologians as scientists and explorers is not purely a coincidence. To this day, a Society
of Ordained Scientists exists in Britain. Dialogue between theology
and the natural sciences in the context of conferences and publications
are common in many parts of the world.
It would be wrong to say that the development of modern science
furthered or even created modern atheism. Its roots lie elsewhere,
mainly in an absolute concentration on secular rationality to the
exclusion of all else and a rebellion against all things religious. Like
the first advance into the limitless reaches of space, unimaginable to
our ancestors, calls forth religious interest rather than denial, so does
the modern study of the circumstances under which life came into
being and our understanding of the profligate richness of the evolutionary process. Prominent defenders of the theory of evolution
professed their Christian faith for good reason; the word of the pianist Alfred Brendel: “the more exactly we understand, the greater our
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astonishment” apply to the study of nature as much as to that of
music.
Though the scientific, theological and spiritual approaches to the
world share many aspects in common, faith and science do not represent, as it were, opposite poles of the same plane or should be viewed
as competing and necessarily incompatible strategies of understanding
reality. Faith in the triune God always deals with the fundamental
direction of an individual human in all aspects and – correctly understood – encompasses all expressions of being. Physics and biology,
like all other sciences, can be understood as such expressions. Where
they are elevated to the status as the only thinkable expression and
their perspective alone is to dominate human thought and belief, we
can speak of scientism. A narrowing of human perception as it is
represented by ideological scientism affects not only theology, but
represents an assault on human thought in all its aspects.
2.4 The Cosmological and Anthropological Scope of Faith
in the Creator
It was mainly under the influence of Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason”
(1781) that distinctions between scientific, philosophical and theological perspectives and the respective competencies they require
gained ground. A greater understanding was acquired of what science
can understand, where philosophical reflection is called for, where
speculation begins, and what is a matter of faith. The realm of the
sciences is such that the question of God can neither be scientifically
asked nor finally answered. This allows theology to embrace the free
development of the sciences and the progress of knowledge it
brings.
This model of distinct competences has stood the test of time. Nonetheless, its weaknesses must be taken into consideration. There is
particularly a latent tendency for the different perspectives to lose
sight of each other. Physics, biology and theology then coexist, but
no longer communicate. Their shared quest for truth is dissolved into
a plurality of levels of understanding. In the end, this development
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blurs the very fact that the perspectives of the different fields intersect
in the pursuit of an adequate interpretation of reality – although the
fragmentary nature of human understanding does not allow us a
satisfactory formula for this intersection.
Thus, the distinction of perspectives must not be interpreted as a
divorce. Creation faith has cosmological implications that cannot be
neglected. Even though it is impossible to create a universal cosmotheology that unifies faith in the Creator with scientific knowledge
into a coherent whole, some ideological exaggerations of the scientifically informed world view are called into question by it. Anyone
who is convinced that the world and life ultimately exist through the
creative will of God cannot embrace coincidence as the sole criterion
of interpretation beyond scientific theory.
Creation faith makes claims on our interpretation of reality. Since the
cosmos and the human environment are part of this reality, it unavoidably enters the realm of cosmology – also where it teaches us to see
space and time as finite, as having a defined beginning (and end).
2.5 The Fallacies of Creationism
“Creationism” is a generic term for beliefs – propagated by a minority of Christians – that aggressively oppose the assumptions that underpin the theory of evolution. Based on the premise of a literal inspiration of the Biblical text, creationism defends the creation
narrative as inerrant. Initially a North American phenomenon particularly strong in the so-called ‘Bible Belt’ of the South, it has slowly
been gaining support in Europe over the past twenty years – especially
where fundamentalist evangelical influences from the United States
are strong.
Creationism exploits the questions evolutionary theory leaves unanswered and aims to highlight its inconsistencies. In its effort, it has
used arguments that can only be called questionable. By responding
to the ideological charge that an antireligious ‘Ultra-Darwinism’ imbued aspects of the theory of evolution with, the creationist position,
too, has become a scientistic ideology.
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In response to the frequent association between creationism and
Christian fundamentalism that was used to discredit it, its proponents have recently begun to give it a more respectable guise. It was
reformulated to become scientifically acceptable, eventually leading
to the acceptance of a developed form of neo-creationism into some
school and university curricula in the United States. Neo-creationists
are untroubled by controversies over the so-called literal interpretation of the Biblical texts and do not cling to a Biblical calculation of
the age of the world.
They do, however, attack the prevailing scientific world view as an
expression of atheism. In their view, some phenomena can only be
explained satisfactorily through supernatural intervention. The laws
and interconnections of the natural universe can only be understood
with the assumption of intelligence as their cause, not through a
random process of evolution.
This premise led to the formulation of the theory of ‘intelligent design’. In it, the teleological proof of God is resurrected through the
argument that the complex and artful design of nature requires a
purposeful, deliberately creating divine ‘architect’. Adherents of intelligent design look for signs of the creative acts of God in creation
wherever complexity and concepts of information could not be explained naturally. Yet despite the considerable effort in its defence,
concepts of intelligent design must be regarded as pseudo-science:
its hypotheses do not stand up to the scientific scrutiny.
Like any genuine scientific hypothesis, the theory of evolution must,
of course, remain open for criticism. Many of its assumptions are less
certain according to the standards of biological science than its popular descriptions allow for. But to show up the weaknesses of a theory
is not to refute it. There remain strong arguments in favour. As a
scientific approach to explaining the origin of life and the wealth of
different species it distinguishes itself by overwhelming plausibility
and productivity as an explanatory model. In view of today’s knowledge of natural history, clinging to the understanding of the Biblical
creation narrative creates far greater inconsistencies than the assumption that the world we know is the outcome of a billion-year process
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of natural development. Neither does this unwillingness to change
do justice to the Bible itself.
Further, creationism must be rejected specifically for theological reasons. It disregards the findings of history and systematic theology
about the origin, shaping and meaning of the Biblical creation narrative and ignores the historical context of its development. In doing
so, it robs itself of the opportunity to adequately interpret Biblical
creation as well as wilfully ignoring the necessary distinction of theological and scientific levels of understanding. Its fundamental fallacy
is the attempt to demonstrate and thus prove divine intervention in
the cosmos and the biosphere by scientific means. This forces God
into the role of an auxiliary hypothesis to use where science does not
(yet) provide an explanation. Seeking out gaps in the theory of evolution to insert deliberate intervention by God does religion a disservice. Rather than bringing God into the natural world, God is moved
out of it further with every gap closed by new scientific results.
2.6 The Fallacies of Atheist Opposition to Creation Faith
This misreading and misuse of Christian creation faith is mirrored by
the fallacy that seeks to logically extract a denial of God and an obligation to militant atheism from the insights of modern science. The
example of doctrinaire Marxism illustrates the outcome of ideologically instrumentalising scientific results, however well-founded and
solid they may be. Faith in the Creator was vilified as inimical to science at schools in the former GDR in the name of a state monopoly
on truth.
The ‘New Atheism’ today propagated by Richard Dawkins and other
authors seamlessly fits this pattern. It fundamentally absolutises its
own perspective. Its proponents deny the existence of God on the
basis of scientific arguments and do not stop even at defaming tenets
of faith. The ‘Ultradarwinist’ world view they develop considers religion a relic of pre-scientific times that would disappear with the rise
of scientific consciousness. As this disappearance does not happen
automatically, it must be brought about in an ideological struggle in
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which they seek the support of what they consider scientific certainties. Faith in God is to be undermined by demonstrating that God is
not required to explain the origin of the cosmos and of life. Here, too,
their understanding of God is entirely based on the misinterpretation
of a ‘stopgap’ deity. Creationists and proponents of intelligent design
are the enemy of choice in this conflict and are regularly declared to
represent Christianity or even religion as a whole. The development
of scientific theology, the achievements of critical and historical Biblical exegesis and the ethical strength of Christianity are routinely
ignored. Yet an enlightened faith in God does not need to fear scientific knowledge. On the contrary, it seeks an open dialogue with science to discuss fundamental questions without fundamentalist barriers.
2.7 The Dialogue with Science
In Germany, there is a long-standing tradition of dialogue between
theology and the natural sciences. In the past 60 years there have been
remarkable exchanges and promising approaches. The first nuclear
explosion and the horror at the consequences of the unbound urge
to invent provided a strong impetus to joint reflection. In the 1970s
and 1980s, the talks saw a second high point caused by growing ecological awareness and the realisation of the consequences a limitless
exploitation of the natural environment would have. There were
groundbreaking conferences and publications on the theories of open
systems, the understanding of time in theology, philosophy and science, and on the responsibility of scientists. Today, many interdisciplinary dialogues take place worldwide especially on hermeneutical
questions, the concept of humanity and eschatology. In Britain and
the United States, respected universities have endowed chairs for ‘Science and Theology’ or ‘Science and Religion’.
This interdisciplinary dialogue on the interpretation of the world is
of great importance for the orientation of the Christian faith in the
world – and the philosophical and ethical orientation of modern science. Our approach to reality can only profit from the combination
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of different perspectives. However, this encounter requires suitable
spaces and constellations. The Church will continue to regard this as
an important task. Reflection across subject boundaries that accords
room to each participant’s competencies and openness promises considerable gains in insight and understanding.
3. Educational Perspectives, School and
Religious Education
3.1 The Demands of a Comprehensive and
Differentiated Education
In a Protestant understanding, education means more than mere
knowledge or abilities. It also encompasses the question of the ultimate cause of all knowledge, and the purpose of all understanding.
Thus, questions on the theory of science and hermeneutics are as
much part of education as those of the origin and goal of human life.
Knowledge and science can only contribute to it if they are also understood in their ethical horizons. Education means the appreciation
of knowledge, understanding and reason, but also insight into their
limits (cf. the EKD’s statement on education: “Standards of Humanity; Education on a Human Scale. Protestant Perspectives on Education in a Knowledge Society,” 2003).
A comprehensive and differentiated education is only realised once
different approaches to reality and avenues of gaining understanding
can both be distinguished from and related to each other. The scientific concept of complementarity, the necessity of using mutually
contradictory explanations in parallel, must also be made productive
in the field of education theory. The current German debate exemplifies this with the distinction between practical vs. orientational knowledge (Verfügungs- und Orientierungswissen) and the distinction of different modes of encountering the world. These include its schematic
representation in mathematics and natural sciences, its exploration
and expression in language, literature, music and art, and the engage259
ment with economy and society in history, economics, politics and
law (respectively cognitive/instrumental, aesthetic/expressive and
moral/evaluative rationality, cf. PISA-Study 2000). Religion and philosophy in turn need to be distinguished from all those as they address
“questions of the whence, whither, and why of human life” and thus
“problems of constitutive rationality” (Jürgen Baumert). Altogether,
the systematic introduction to different modes of encounter with the
world forms the framework around which the curricula of modern
schools are designed. Thus, immediate experiences of the world and
interpersonal relationships are connected with scientific interpretations. Students must address the present differences and learn to reflect them.
3.2 Religion and Science in School
If education needs an understanding of different modes of encounter
with the world, the school can dispense with neither religion nor
natural science. In this context it is not a central issue how this is
organised in the context of any given institution – whether, for example, different sciences are accorded separate subjects. It is vital,
however, that children and young people can experience different
modes of encounter and realise their specific nature and unique qualities. This necessarily includes the relationship of these modes to each
other. The establishment of specialised subjects for e.g. physics, biology or religious education guarantees adequate exposure to their perspectives on reality, but it can lead to a form of (self-)isolation of their
respective approaches. Thus, a school organised in separate subjects
is especially in need of cross-subject teaching units and approaches.
Beyond its educational rationale, religious education in school is an
expression of the freedom of religion mandated in Germany’s Basic
Law (Article 4 in connection with Article 7, Paragraph 3). It underpins the free practice of faith in the sense of a positive freedom of
religion (on this issue, cf. the statement of the EKD on religious
education “Identity and Dialogue. Position and Perspectives of Religious Education in a Plural Society,” 1994). This goal, too, can be
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met in a cooperation between subjects that e.g. allows it to address
religious questions raised in science classes or clarify apparent contradictions between faith and scientific insight. Religious education has
been striving for over a century to present an interpretation of creation faith that does justice to the categorial distinction between faith
and science and is open for scientific knowledge.
3.3 Creation Faith and Evolution Theory in School Teaching
Schools that are not beholden to any ideological position cannot have
any taboo questions. Therefore, all subjects may in principle address
both creation faith and the theory of evolution, though they must,
of course, do so in a clear awareness of their respective competence
and their responsibility for a well-founded education. As both creation faith and the theory of evolution are fundamental and formative
aspects of our culture, albeit in different and often contrasting ways,
it is desirable for any school to – critically – address both.
This cannot be viewed as a violation of the religious freedom of children or their parents as long as no influence – either pro- or antireligious – is attempted. The state’s mandate of ideological neutrality
does not mean that religion has no place at a state school or that
children and young people need to be shielded from expressions of
faith. On the contrary, a positive freedom of religion includes the
right of students to express their own religious and ideological – including creationist – views in the classroom. The same does not apply
to teachers, both in view of their pedagogical responsibility and their
duty to refrain from indoctrination. Neither creationist nor other –
such as atheistic – positions should be openly advocated by them.
The Christian creed plays a fundamentally different role in religious
education than in other subjects. This includes faith in God as the
Creator, but not in creationism. Protestant religious education provided, as per Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law, “in accordance
with the tenets” of the Evangelical Church may address creationism,
but cannot advocate it. This religious education rather subscribes to
the conception of creation faith we outlined above and is therefore
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interested in conducting an open dialogue with the scientific subjects
in full awareness of the differences.
Such an engagement with creation faith and evolutionary theory – as
well as with creationism – is desirable both from the educational and
school perspective, but it leads the individual subjects to the limits of
their separate competencies. This applies to religious education as
much as biology or other natural sciences. Teachers who hold degrees
in both biology and theology may hold particular promise in bridging
this divide, but in most cases the most advantageous approach will
be cross-curricular teaching that allows two or more teachers to combine their respective academic competencies. Thus, a responsible and
balanced engagement with different approaches and academic disciplines as well as their insights can be ensured. The right of parents to
opt out of religious education does not militate against such cooperative ventures. A combined unit does not constitute religious education as per Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law. Thus, it is not
subject to any confessional requirement, though Protestant or Catholic religious education teachers may explain Christian perspectives
and approaches on the basis of their respective denominations. Rather,
its openness for different perspectives and approaches is a constitutive
element of its particular educational worth.
3.4 Didactic Principles for Addressing Creation Faith
and Evolutionary Theory in School
The following principles must be stressed both for work in individual
subjects as well as in cooperative cross-curricular teaching:
– World views and forms of engagement with the world are not created in the classroom. Therefore, so-called ‘pre-scientific theories’
and developmentally appropriate manners of understanding and
interpreting the world are finding increasing attention in the didactics of science and religion. The conceptions of children and
youths should also be embraced as a point of reference to begin
educational efforts when it comes to creation faith and evolution.
– An adequate approach to creation faith and evolutionary theory
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requires an understanding of theories of hermeneutics and science.
Therefore it is particularly important didactically to familiarise
young people with the different natures of various approaches to
the world and interpretations of reality and humanity and to clarify the principles of scientific understanding. Especially commonly
used and misunderstood concepts such as ‘fact’, ‘proof ’, ‘disproof ’
(verification and falsification), ‘hypothesis’, ‘theory’, ‘progress of
knowledge’ etc. are in great need of such clarification. It would
further be desirable to introduce students to the various models of
classifying approaches, especially in the context of complementary
thinking.
– Productive clarifications are only possible if both creation faith
and evolutionary theory are addressed not in terms of problematic
and often hostile distortions, but from a differentiated understanding that is appropriate to each. References to Ultradarwinism or Social Darwinism are as inappropriate as to creationism,
however important a critical engagement with these ideologies is
in the context of responsible education. Similarly, a presentation
of evolution as a scientific criticism of (let alone substitute for)
creation faith precludes a full understanding of both approaches
and their respective separate character. Not only the theory of
evolution, but also creation faith needs to be addressed in careful
awareness of its understanding in its appropriate field of knowledge.
– Children and young people do not engage with creation faith and
evolutionary theory independent of the cultural contexts they grow
up in. Especially widespread popular and pseudo-scientific theories
propagated by the media that seek to turn the theory of evolution
into an ideology to obviate faith are problematic from a religious
perspective. Such distortions of evolutionary theory, too, need to
be critically addressed in school.
Thus we can conclude that both the assertion that “Darwin proves
God does not exist” and that “God proves that Darwin was wrong”
are didactically flawed. Biology in school cannot claim the role of
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teaching ideological or religious issues and thus usurp the place of a
counterpart or antagonist to religious education.
3.5 Future Problems as a Joint Challenge
The conflict between creationism and evolutionary theory and its
repercussions for schools have found broad attention in the public
arena. Yet over this sound and fury, it should not be overlooked that
both science and creation theology face far more pressing and immediately relevant problems today. The question whether and how
we can survive and live on a world threatened from many sides, how
to deal with the consequences of a drastic climate change that is at
least in part human-induced, or how to secure the rights of future
generations in a scenario of finite resources remains unanswered just
as that of the limits of human intervention in our own genome. These
and many other challenges face both theology and the natural sciences. The great overarching task is to contribute to survival and life
in genuine humanity. The Christian faith understands the resources
we need to live as gifts of God, teaches gratitude and stresses the need
to take seriously the scope and limitations of humanity as created by
God. It encourages us to contribute to the solution of society’s problems in spirit of hope and responsibility with the strength of the
liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Church and Education
Challenges, Principles and Perspectives of Protestant
Stewardship of Education, Educational Responsibility
and Church Activities in Education
A Reference Statement by the Council of the Evangelical Church
in Germany EKD
(2009)
Introduction
reserved for other organs. It is particularly responsible for ensuring cooperation between the Church agencies and associations in all areas, for
on issues of religious and social life. This is generally done either by making statements on current concerns at short notice or by having memoranda, studies, contributions to public debates and position papers drawn
up.
For work in specific areas of concern, the Council can set up specific Advisory Commissions. One of the committees is the Advisory Commission
for Education, Children and Youth Work that publishes statements and
The following reference statement on Church and Education seeks to draw
attention to the enormous challenges that the Church is facing in the field.
It seeks to make it clear why, especially in view of these challenges, education must be understood as a fundamental responsibility of the Church
and it aims to open present and future perspectives to orient Church activities in education.
The target audience of this reference paper are: Members of synods and
other deliberative bodies within the Church as a support in planning and
decision making; those involved in the Church’s educational activities, as
a means of orientation; and public, academia and political stakeholders
265
to introduce them to the Church both as one of the largest education
providers and a partner in public discourse on all aspects of education.
The content, the introduction and chapter two of the statement are included in the book.
Key words: Church commitment in education; principles of church
education
Content
Preface
Introduction
1. Challenges
1.1 Religious Change: The Church’s Communicative Strategies
between Identity and Relevance
1.2 Demographic Change
1.3 Funding Shortages and the Problem of Future Sustainability
1.4 Migration and Globalisation
1.5 Cultural Change
1.6 Accommodating Growing Social, Cultural
and Regional Disparities
1.7 Measuring Education
2.
Principles of a Protestant Understanding
of Churches’ Activities in Education
2.1 Justifying the Church’s Educational Commitment
2.2 Underlying Principles of Educational Commitment
3. Perspectives for Action
3.1 The Church’s Educational Commitment towards
Education in Humanity
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3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
The Internal Quality Drive in Church Education
The Protestant Profile: Open for Plurality
How the Areasof Protestant Education Connect
Networking the Church’s Educational Offers
Developing Modern Forms of Communication
Possibilities for Individual Support in Pursuit of
Justice in Participation
3.8 Educating Responsible Leaders
3.9 Training and Supporting Staff
3.10 Raising the Profile of the Church’s Educational Activities
Perspectives
Preface
“Church and Education” – these two concepts are closely linked. The
Reformation especially emphasised that education was a prerequisite
for growing in faith. To Martin Luther, the faith of free Christians
required the ability to read the Bible and enough education to not
only know by heart, but also be able to teach the Small Catechism.
This meant the ability to express and transmit, as it were to speak
one’s faith. In effect, this entailed the demand that education must
be available to all, not only the few with the money to afford it. Luther
himself was an adamant defender of educational justice and universal
access to learning. To him, faith was always educated faith, born not
from convention and habit, nor from spiritual experience alone, but
from the conscious embrace of the liberating Gospel message. On the
other hand, Luther’s conception of faith was also one of individual
responsibility: Each Christian is loved by God as a person, and accountable to God as an individual. These are the historical roots of
the church’s commitment to education and to an educated faith.
This perspective also means that a conception of education that can
properly be called Protestant must be one that takes its departure from
the individual human biography and the educational needs that
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emerge in each phase of it. The church itself addresses all these phases
in its own educational efforts in day care centres, schools, social work,
tertiary education and other institutions. Yet we must also keep in
mind the special responsibility that our parish communities shoulder
in educational tasks, realised in prayer and service, in addressing children and youths, but also adults, women and men, and the elderly.
“... and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”
are Jesus’ own words as he charges the apostles with their mission
(Matthew 28,20). Transmitting the faith and learning for life inside
the classroom and outside it, that is the biblical duty the Evangelical
Church in Germany seeks to fulfil at all levels, from parish to member church, in its associations, foundations and clubs. These present
guidelines aim to formulate the challenges, perspectives and foundations for this task. I wish to express my gratitude to the Advisory
Group for Education, Children and Youth Work for developing this
text, which the Council gladly gives full support to, and hope that it
will find a ready reception among stakeholders and decision makers
inside and outside the church’s educational system.
Bishop Dr. Margot Käßmann
Hanover, November 2009
*
*
*
Introduction
The Protestant Church is among Germany’s largest providers of education across the spectrum, through its parishes and educational foundations, in cooperation with public schools as well as in dedicated
confessional ones, in its Evangelischen Akademien and social services,
in elementary education, children’s and youth work, adult education,
at university level and in lifelong learning programs. This is proof of
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the central position that educational responsibility holds and the degree to which its commitment to education extends to all parts of
society. Especially in its social (diaconical) services, educational support for children, youths and families, it reaches out far beyond the
limits of the Church in its institutional sense.
By its own understanding, the Church’s commitment in all its many
forms and throughout all segments of society, both on its own and in
cooperation with others, is an expression of its specific responsibility
arising from a Protestant understanding of education. Today, the
Church independently provides and funds above all educational programs at parish level. In many other fields, it has entered into a free,
non constrictive partnership with state organs to provide education
e.g. in schools, vocational training and social services. Religious education in public schools in Germany is defined as a joint responsibility of the state and religious communities according to Article 7,
section 3 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz). Involvement in the public
debate on education reaches far beyond this aspect, however.
The memorandum: “On the Human Scale. Protestant Perspectives on
Education in a Knowledge- and Learning Society” (2003) laid out the
EKD’s position on the broader educational discourse in society and
outlined the tasks that society at large faced in this field. The understanding of education defined there also applies to the Church as a
provider itself. However, it still remains to be clarified what tasks arise
from this for the Church specifically, how they can be addressed and
how a specific Protestant educational profile can be developed in the
face of current challenges. Though education is one field in which the
activities of the Church reliably and sustainably reach people far beyond its institutional limits, it is also one facing potentially revolutionary changes that may have enormous repercussions for its future.
The present reference paper is based on an understanding of Protestant educational responsibility that rests on four pillars: The Church
and parish, publicly funded Church-based educational institutions,
joint responsibilities of the Church and state, and an active involvement in the public debate. Within this framework, it is dedicated to
three aims:
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– It seeks to draw attention to the enormous challenges that the
Church is facing in the field.
– It seeks to make it clear why, especially in view of these challenges,
education must be understood as a fundamental responsibility of
the Church.
– It aims to open present and future perspectives to orient Church
activities in education.
The primary target audience of this reference paper are:
– Members of synods and other deliberative bodies within the
Church as a support in planning and decision-making;
– Those involved in the Church’s educational activities, as a means
of orientation;
– The public, academia and political stakeholders to introduce them
to the Church both as one of the largest education providers and
a partner in public discourse on all aspects of education.
The primary focus here will not be on a description or qualified
analysis of educational activities which, from the point of view of the
Church, is an important aspect, but remains to be addressed elsewhere. It is vital to distinguish clearly between empirical reporting
and the theological and pedagogical principles underpinning the
Church’s commitment to education. Identifying and explaining these
foundations is the purpose of this reference paper.
At the heart of these principles lies an understanding of education
that is oriented “On the Human Scale” (EKD 2003) and aims to open
up perspectives for a self-determined and responsible life. The distinction between formal education (Bildung) and familial education (Erziehung), which remains useful in other contexts, has no place in this
understanding of the term. Rather, it embraces and accents goals that,
in the German tradition, are more easily subsumed under the one
(Bildung) than the other (Erziehung).
This reference paper ties into the 2003 memorandum “On the Human Scale” and explicitly aims to develop consequences for the
Church’s own efforts towards “Education in a Knowledge- and Learn270
ing Society.” It thus represents a further development of previous
statements by the EKD referring to specific fields – elementary education, religious education in public schools, Church-run confessional
schools, confirmation education, youth work, adult education and
social work towards a holistic understanding that the challenges of
the present times increasingly require. At the same time, it will again
outline the fundamental link between the Church and its educational
mission from a Protestant perspective.
Without disregarding the full scope of educational responsibility
which, from a Protestant perspective, extends to all age groups and
all phases of life, this paper will primarily focus on educational activities aimed at children and young people. A different focus might
equally lie on changes in the labour market, on lifelong learning well
into old age, or the internationalisation of education and educational
responsibility in a European context. This is not to imply any competition between these fields. The focus of this paper is intended to
provide an example, not a comparative valuation.
(...)
2. Principles of a Protestant Understanding
of Educational Activity
The challenges facing the Church in its educational commitment are
of an urgency that spurs us to fast and decisive action. Yet at the same
time, their scope means that they equally pose fundamental questions
extending even to the very purpose of the Church’s activity in the
educational field. That is why it is important at this point to reopen
the question why the Church should be involved in education.
Beyond this, it must be borne in mind that challenges do not arise in
a vacuum. The very act of identifying something as a challenge is
dependent on the interests and convictions that structure our perception. What the appropriate response to these challenges is can only
be said once we have developed an understanding of the principles
underlying their evaluation with a view to the Church. Thus, this [...]
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chapter will focus on the guiding principles that underpin the educational activities of the Church.
Finally, the claim that the educational discourse should never limit
its scope to mere technological or economic considerations or reduce
the criteria for judging performance to such narrow parameters itself
is a key mark of a Protestant understanding of education. This also
includes a willingness by the Church to openly bear witness to the
underlying principles of its approach to education and thus to actualise its responsibility in the public discourse by defending a concept
of education that embraces a broader understanding of humanity and
reality.
2.1 Justifying the Church’s Educational Commitment
Throughout its history, the Protestant Church has been distinguished
by a strong commitment to education even compared to other Christian denominations. In this respect, the confessions in Germany have
increasingly approached greater consensus especially in the second
half of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, good reasons remain that
especially bind the Protestant church to a fundamental, constant, and
constitutive commitment to education as a core value.
Education as a Foundation and Consequence of Faith.
The Protestant understanding of faith is invariably one of faith in
justification. It refers centrally to the justification of the individual
solely through divine grace. This faith, understood as an immediate
relationship to God revealed in Jesus Christ, from its origins is founded
from its very beginning on knowledge of the Biblical tradition of
Jesus. To the Reformers, education was of central importance primarily because it allowed each individual person direct access to the
teachings of the Bible. It is in this sense that education can be considered a fundamental aspect of faith.
As a relationship to God through Christ, faith in justification does
not lead the believer out of this world, but is lived within it. This is
true not only for individuals, but also in the communicative context
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of the faith community and in relating to people of different convictions. Communication within the community, but also with different
religious and nonreligious concepts of humanity and reality itself
requires education, while simultaneously becoming a constitutive element of it. The ability to bear witness to oneself and others about
the Christian faith is itself one of its key characteristics. It strengthens
and deepens the desire for a more profound understanding of the
Christian tradition and Divine creation that has been part of it from
its beginnings.
For all of this, faith in the understanding of reformation theology
remains something that is given to man. It is not subject to human
disposition, but dependent on the gift of the spirit. That means education itself can never be a prerequisite of or justification for faith;
nobody may, for example, claim that the mentally handicapped are
incapable of faith as a personal relationship with God. We must remain fully aware of the fact that faith itself can neither be taught nor
learned. This resonates with an understanding of education that does
not limit itself to acquiring and disposing of knowledge.
The Church Cannot Exist without Education.
The Reformation itself can be understood in terms of an educational
movement. Without education, it would be unthinkable. In a Protestant understanding, the Church is constituted by the preaching of
the Gospel, by baptism, and the community of the Eucharist. Doing
this right requires preachers who understand and can competently
interpret the Biblical tradition and Christian doctrine and an audience
capable of understanding and judging their words. To “judge all teaching” is both the duty and right of the Christian community in the
words of Martin Luther himself (alle Lehre zu urteilen, Martin Luther
1523). Neither is possible without grounding in education.
This concept of the Church is specifically Protestant in its rootedness
in faith in justification. Nobody can be represented or replaced by
anyone else – including the Church – in the direct relationship to
God. In the Reformation understanding, each individual directly and
individually relates to God in which the faith of the community can
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not take the place of that of the individual. This, together with the
tenet of universal priesthood of believers, is the foundation on which
the Protestant demand for universal catechetic instruction in the tenets of faith rests (a tradition that begins with the argument laid out
prominently in Martin Luther’s Catechism). It also justified the demand for access to education for all, an idea that took on remarkably
egalitarian features early in its history: “Where God made no distinction, let men raise no bars” (Johann Amos Comenius).
Humans are Both Capable and in Need of Education.
The createdness of every human being in God’s image (“So God created humankind in his image,” Gen 1,27 [NRSV]) has widely been
understood to include educability in Christian traditions. Denying
this opportunity to any person would violate the God-given dignity
and unique position in creation that is the right of every human. That
is why it also offends against an understanding of education that is
founded on faith in Divine creation that an education system can
systematically generate ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ or that educational success can depend on an individual’s family background. The fundamental egalitarian view of humanity inherent in creation faith militates against this. The Biblical and Reformation understanding of
createdness in God’s image has rejected limiting education to any
specific group of people from the beginning. In calling on parents to
open educational opportunities to their children, Martin Luther
clearly voices this conviction: “It is not God’s will that born kings,
princes, lords, and nobles should rule and be lords alone, he wills to
have his beggars with them, so that they may not think that noble
birth alone makes lords and rulers, and not God alone.” (“Gott will’s
nicht haben, dass geborene Könige, Fürsten, Herren und Adel sollen
allein regieren und Herren sein, er will auch seine Bettler dabeihaben,
sie dächten sonst, die edele Geburt macht alleine Herren und Regenten und nicht Gott alleine” [Martin Luther, 1530]).
In the Biblical Christian tradition, man is in need of education in
several ways. To fulfil the demands that come with createdness in
God’s image, described after Gen 1,28 (“God blessed them and said
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to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule
over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living
creature that moves on the ground.”) as a charge of rulership, but
today understood in a specific sense of a duty of service and stewardship towards all of creation, education is a need to acquire the necessary knowledge and abilities. From a Biblical perspective, these abilities require deliberate cultivation. This is especially evident in Biblical
wisdom literature (e.g. Proverbs). However, man also stands in need
of education in relation to good and evil. Creation faith does teach
confidence in an initial goodness of human nature, but the fall from
Grace separates us from this foundation (Gen 3). Thus, education
cannot simply build on the foundation of this goodness. Rather, it is
a necessary means of containing the lasting damage inflicted by injustice and violence and providing ethical orientation. Pedagogics
cannot alone heal the rifts in human existence, else it would be redemption itself, transgressing against the boundaries that define its
proper relation to the Divine.
Education is Rooted in a Christian Understanding
of Intergenerational Relations.
The Bible views children as a gift and promise of God (Gen 12ff.).
Care for the young generation and those following are a constitutive
element of humanity. This is not limited to the offspring, family circle or nation of each individual. Serving children is divine service, no
matter who they are (Mk 9,37). This is expressed especially pointedly
in the New Testament word that the Kingdom of God belonged to
the children (Mk 10,14).
The tasks that arise from this intergenerational relationship are explained in the Bible especially with a view towards religious instruction. The questions of children must not be left unanswered. They
are to understand what faith is about: “In the future, when your son
asks you, What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws
the LORD our God has commanded you? tell him: We were slaves
of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a
mighty hand.” (Deut 6,20f.). This provides a direct biblical anteced275
ent to the church’s commitment to catechetic instruction and religious
education. It is also the basis of recent claims that “the foundational
themes and contents of the Christian tradition need to be returned
to the centre of Protestant educational activity” (Kirche der Freiheit,
78).
The Church’s religious educational mission is thus founded both on
the Christian faith with its need to understand and on the intergenerational relationship including a narrative and explicative transmission of the Biblical tradition. That a modern understanding of education in the sense of Bildung is truly applicable here ahead of its time
is demonstrated by the Bible reference to religious maturity as the
capacity for judgement: “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed
back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind
of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4,14).
Commitment to Education as Part of the Church’s Social
and Global Responsibility.
The responsibility for our fellow humans arising from faith in their
createdness in God’s image cannot be limited to our own faith community. It was in the days of the Babylonian exile that the prophet
Jeremiah said: “Seek the welfare of the city” (Jer 29,7). According to
Martin Luther, the aim of catechetic instruction in the Ten Commandments is not solely to inculcate right action through Christian
faith, but also the general acceptance of the “common law” (Stadtrecht)
by those who do not embrace Christianity. An ethical education
towards peace and justice (pax et iustitia) and social cohesion has
been part of the Protestant understanding of education since the
Reformation. Today, it is time to re-actualise this endeavour politically, ecumenically, interculturally, and interreligiously in a globalised
world.
The educational commitment is a central part of the ethical responsibilities of the Church. It reflects the specific understanding of humanity and reality that its Christian faith determines and that guides
its actions in this field as in others. Its ethical education opportunities
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are open to all, but also specifically address people in responsible
positions and functions (recently discussed in Germany as Verantwortungseliten, roughly ‘responsibility leaders’). Even a democratic, egalitarian society still requires people who are willing and able to assume
responsibility for others above and beyond the norm. The education
and preparation of such leaders has long been a recognised as a central
task of the Protestant Church’s educational mission, evident in the
founding of dedicated schools as early as the 18th century (Hallesche
Anstalten, August Hermann Francke) and continued through to our
days in the running of excellent Protestant schools. Obviously, a sincere faith in createdness forbids any elitist thought as a violation of
the fundamental equality of all humans in dignity, yet the obvious
difference in abilities and faculties between humans encourages and
obligates us to teach everyone to lead in realising their faith in society
to the best of their abilities. Leadership in responsibility is not an
elitist position.
The Church’s Educational Commitment is Consistent
with the Democratic Principle of Freedom of Religion.
The Protestant tradition’s conviction that human conscience can only
be subject to the truth of faith has been strongly tied to commitment
to freedom of religion from its inception. If, as our understanding of
justification theology holds, certainty in faith is attainable only as a
divine gift, it follows that the principle of religious freedom enshrined
today in Article 4 of the German Basic Law is not only a fundamental principle of democratic society, but above all has deep roots in the
Christian faith as a source of freedom throughout history and through
to the present day.
The plurality of provision of education that is also mandated in Article 7 of the Basic Law must be understood as an immediate consequence of this principle and as a form of realising it in practice. The
plural provision of education allows religious freedom to become
concrete reality in the providing of schools and other educational
facilities. It is the avowed intention of the state to support initiative
and individual responsibility. This extends into the education system
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with a call to engage individual citizens to contribute their abilities,
ideas and energy and to develop their faculties to learn and create
change. It is here that the true richness of a society can be tapped.
Operating educational institutions in its own responsibility for the
Church creates the opportunity to exemplify the constitutive link
between faith and education in concrete reality. Yet it is also engaged
in cooperation with public schools and other institutions in active
support of valuing and actualising religious freedom. This is done
above all in religious education taught in public schools, though the
full scope of commitment in the education system extends far beyond
that.
A Church in Plurality Needs Interreligious Education
and Debate with Nonreligious World Views.
Alongside the challenges in terms of ethical thinking that we have
outlined above, a situation of religious, cultural, and ideological plurality creates concrete educational tasks in the tradition of the Christian faith for the Church. No credible representation of its own
convictions is possible any longer without reference to other religious
and non-religious world views. Children and young people who are
bombarded exclusively with messages about the truth of the Christian
faith in school RE class or confirmation lessons to the exclusion of
the other faiths and beliefs they encounter in the media and their
own lives are made less secure, not more. The findings of a nationwide survey of confirmation education have confirmed this view and
underscored the need for reforms to address the challenges of plurality.
Education is key not least simply because a sound and detailed knowledge of other faiths and belief systems is a necessary prerequisite both
to coherently discuss your own convictions and to enter into dialogue
with others. A Protestant understanding of faith further makes it
mandatory in order to develop a considered position towards other
beliefs and convictions from a reasoned understanding and to reflect
and intelligently represent this point of view.
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2.2 Underlying Principles of Educational Commitment
In its memorandum “On the Human Scale” (2003), the EKD presented “Foundations of a Protestant understanding of Education” for
a “Knowledge- and Learning Society.” In it, “universal general guidelines are developed and boundaries defined” which “embody no rigid
dogmatic framework, but require constant interpretation” (60). These
principles, addressing education in its aspects of time, locatedness,
social space and material requirements, will here first be presented in
a tightly condensed form and then interpreted as they apply to the
Church’s own educational commitment.
Education from a Protestant perspective is located in this world, aiming for peace, respect for a liberal society, support for social justice, care
for life in its vulnerability, and dialogue with people of other cultures
and religions.
Education must take account of the individual biographies and development of each child, youth, and adult it addresses, foster a respectful
intergenerational dialogue, and critically reflect memory and historical tradition.
Education must remind us that all things in life are gifts of God. It
teaches gratitude and respect for the scale and limitations of human
createdness, and encourages responsible and hopeful commitment to
the here and now, strengthened by the liberating Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Education addresses all people in all situations and all stages of their
lives. This above all is a challenge to the Church’s own commitment.
As we described before, the Church’s responsibility in the educational
realm unfolds not only in Divine service and in parish activities working with children, youths, adults and the elderly, but also in co-responsible commitment to child and youth social work, in day care, schools,
the corporate world, and in universities and other institution of adult
education. Like the entire human being, the responsibility towards a
human education is intrinsically indivisible (On the Human Scale;
p. 64f.).
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These aspects of Protestant understanding of education are centred
on the Gospel itself. From a Christian perspective, an education that
views the human as its measure is rooted in the relationship with the
loving and merciful God of Jesus Christ. That is why the question
how the Church can open access to the Gospel to people in its educational commitment must rightly be addressed first.
The Fundamental Task: Access to the Gospel
All aspects of the Church’s educational commitment are united by
their orientation towards the Gospel as the heart of the Christian
faith. It is the shared characteristic between parish work, Churchoperated day care, youth and social work and confessional schools.
Without it, no education in the Protestant understanding can exist.
The particular, unmistakable profile of all the Church’s educational
efforts in a Protestant conception comes about through their constitutive “Communication of the Gospel” as a “unison of promise and
reality” (Ernst Lange). In this communication, tradition and current
reality dialogically interrelate in order to offer modern people with
all their doubts and questions access to the heart of the Christian
tradition in their quest for certainty.
The Gospel informs the actions of all who work in or with the Church
in its educational efforts. A Christian understanding of humanity and
reality, its Menschenbild, in German parlance, thus becomes the foundation of an education that at the same time remains open to the
findings of modern science. The specific Protestant conception of
education is strengthened not by insular self-reference, but by an open
dialogue with the experiences and insights of its time, its theoretical
and empirical knowledge and the perspectives of other denominations, religions and world views.
Through communicating the Gospel, the Church opens up manifold
individually tailored approaches to its underlying principles for the
children, youths, and adults it addresses at its various levels. In terms
of formal education, this consists of encounters with the Biblical
Christian tradition, a deeper insight into its conception of humanity
and reality, and an existential engagement with the truth claim un280
derpinning Christian faith. Faith itself cannot be an educational goal
in the sense that it could be achieved through human action. Yet while
faith itself remains exclusively a gift of God, this does not preclude
teaching children and youths about the content of that faith and to
discuss it, with its truth claims, in an educational context.
The open and explicit thematisation of Gospel and faith is also how
the Church bears witness in its educational activities. It is here that
the motives and fundamental principles underpinning it are expressed
openly and publicly, accessible to debate. Christian faith is not esoteric, but open to critical questioning.
Subject Orientation as an Educational Principle
Subject orientation in this context means far more than a pedagogical
approach. It flows from and practically realises the Christian conception of humanity and reality. The God-given dignity and Divine createdness of all humans makes it imperative that they must not only
be ‘taken into account’ as didactic subjects, but acknowledged and
respected as individuals. This acknowledgement as individuals does
not deny the reality of ongoing processes of emerging personality
development. Education, properly understood, unites acceptance of
individual personhood with support for the development of a fuller
future personality.
The synod of the EKD expressed this conception of subject orientation very clearly in its 1994 call for a fundamental change of perspectives (Perspektivenwechsel) away from an adult-centred view towards
the child. In its critical and self-critical appraisal, it pointed out that
“there is no tradition in Church or society” that “asks about the children’s own conception of life and the world and their own wishes and
ideas, let alone takes them seriously” (49). The fundamental principle
of subject orientation makes it clear that such a change of perspectives
cannot in the end be limited to children. It must include people of
all ages as they come in contact with the Church’s educational effort.
Modern pedagogical science also supports the principle of subject
orientation as a guiding principle of educational activity. The insight
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gained in long pedagogical tradition that education ultimately can
only be effected by the subject itself is now gaining credence through
the findings of developmental psychology and neurology, but also
from biographical research, systems theory and epistemology (autopoiesis, constructivism etc.). People cannot be shaped from the
outside as objects. Education understood of a transitive process of
formation fails in its fundamental principle.
Responsibility for the Coming Generations
If a Protestant understanding of intergenerational relationships must
regard them as a task and a promise, this is especially true today in
responsibility towards the coming generations. This responsibility
needs to address several challenges:
– We must create living conditions that encourage and allow people
to have children by supporting them in bringing them up. Especially given the severe threat to intergenerational balance through
dwindling numbers of births, all educational activities by the
Church must have this goal in view.
– Processes of cultural and religious tradition transfer must be secured on a new basis. All educational action and theory is founded
on the intergenerational relationship (Friedrich Schleiermacher).
The nature of human existence in generational difference makes
it necessary. Each individual human must learn to navigate the
society he or she is born into, and societies need education to perpetuate their social and cultural achievements, including religion,
faith, and the Church, across the generations.
– Intergenerational responsibility also includes respect for the rights
of children and youths today and in the future, including those of
future generations yet unborn. This requires a sustainable use of
natural resources such as oil, but also a careful treatment of the
ecosystem as a whole. Beyond this, the shift in the age structure of
society has increasingly become a concern. The burden of a future
aging society will need to be distributed equitably between the
generations.
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Commitment to Justice in Education and Participation
The vision and promise of a life in universal justice (Shalom) is characteristic for the entire body of Biblical Christian tradition. The demand for justice in access and participation in education, itself rooted
in the Biblical concept of human dignity, has gained increasing urgency in view of the growing disparities in society. The educational
activities of the Church must thus invariably be designed to allow
access to education to all humans and to reduce social disparities or,
where this is impossible, at least to mitigate their consequences. This
must include education specifically targeting those people whom the
public education system fails to adequately support, but also a critical
thematisation of justice and injustice in society as a subject of education. The aim here is not only creating equality of opportunity, it is
to enable each individual to make use of the opportunities provided
to the fullest extent. One approach here is individual support for each
pupil in school or through increased efforts in youth work. Justice in
education, in a Protestant understanding, must always include justice
in access (“Befähigungsgerechtigkeit,” Wolfgang Huber). It concerns
not just material poverty, but questions of social participation in all
aspects. Thus, individual support must be joined with a critical quest
for a just education system and the institutional changes that must
be made to successfully support all children and youths.
The social work and social pedagogy of the church can look back on
a long tradition. The churches’ commitment in social issues (diaconical commitment) centrally contributed to the development of the
modern German welfare state. Yet even though the modern welfare
state has today taken over a large part of vital social work, from material security to employment and support in crises, the church has no
intention to reduce its own commitments in this field. To do so would
ignore both its own self-understanding as a Church with an outreach
ministry (diakonische Kirche) and the fact that justice in education
and participation have again become matters of concern far beyond
the sphere of the state. The government’s organs alone would be severely overtaxed with addressing all challenges, not to mention that
a democratic society cannot allow commitment to justice to become
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a mere function of the state. It follows that the Church’s educational
efforts cannot be limited to religious education. It is especially holistic approaches that closely interweave religious and social education
in the tradition of many Church luminaries such as Johann Hinrich
Wichern, founder of the Rauhes Haus charity school in Hamburg that
are attracting increasing attention and plausibility in the ongoing
debate on Church youth work. Critical question from young people
themselves what a specific offer the Church makes them is “good for,”
should not be read as evidence of alienation from religion per se. They
represent a legitimate challenge to revisit and further develop the
connection between support in faith and life.
Justice in education for the Church always includes commitment to
the rights of those whose educational opportunities are limited from
the start by disabilities. In the case of these and other disadvantaged
groups, the claim for justice in access and participation gains yet
greater urgency, especially in terms of the opportunity to participate
supported by specific aid tailored to individual needs. Yet the need
and usefulness of learning together in mutual support (diakonischen
Lernen) grounded in a Christian understanding of mutual humanity
(Diakonie) is not limited to a specific group of children in need of
‘extra’ charity. It applies equally to everyone. It fosters justice in education by offering the opportunity to individually and concretely
further justice in participation and counteract processes of social exclusion.
The Contribution of the Church’s Educational Commitment
to Religious and Values Education
Religious education is often regarded as merely a subset of values
education. From a Protestant perspective, though, dedication to God
means that the question of truth must precede all thematisation of
values. Faith is not based on values, but values emerge from faith.
Ethics can be justified without recourse to religion, though religion
has been and continues to be one of the most important sources of
ethical and normative orientation. Respect for the ethical conviction
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that faith can provide as a foundation for responsible action is growing in both the political and academic sphere today. Especially the
religious foundations of liberty, responsibility and tolerance along
with societal and global solidarity among people who, across all divides, view each other as brothers and sisters in their faith in Divine
createdness are increasingly acknowledged (10 Theses on Religious
Education, EKD 2006).
Thus, the Church’s educational activities offer a multiplicity of opportunities to the public and society at large to develop individual
and collective ethical orientation. It is a vital contribution to civil
society and a strong, vibrant democracy. The Church’s participation
in values education continues to be valued and appreciated well outside the institution itself. Even people who are far removed from its
structures consider the Church a competent actor in this field. This
should encourage us to raise the profile of these contributions to
ethical education especially in areas such as the parish level with its
largely informal educational structures, where recognition so far has
been limited.
However, we must remember that the contribution of the Church to
values education extends beyond the sphere of religious education in
school and society. A transparent and clear dedication to ethical values is characteristic of all Church activities. In future, the importance
of all its educational activities beyond the limits of the Church in its
institutional form must be made visible to the public.
This discussion of the founding principles of the Church’s commitment to education should be understood as an example, not an exhaustive treatment. It should serve to clarify why education can never
be just another task for the Church but must be and remain a dimension of its engagement with society it cannot abandon without threatening its own character as the bearer of the Gospel message. Beyond
that, it is these principles that allow us to understand how the challenges outlined in the first part can and must logically lead to the
future perspectives we will now explore.
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Church and Youth
Situations – Encounters – Perspectives
A guidance paper of the Council of the Evangelical Church
in Germany (EKD)
(2010)
Introduction
on issues of religious and social life. This is generally done either by making statements on current concerns at short notice or by having memoranda, studies, contributions to public debates and position papers drawn
up.
For work in specific areas of concern, the Council can set up specific Advisory Commissions. One of the committees is the Advisory Commission
for Education Children and Youth Work that publishes statements and
The following guidance paper on Church and Youth takes into consideration the crucial importance of youth for the future of the church. Its
overall message is that today a more differentiated relationship is needed
between church and youth. Challenges for the church, its mandate and
tasks in this field are particularly highlighted. The paper provides creative
ideas for church activities with young people. It addresses especially members of synods and other deliberative bodies within the Church as a support
in planning and decision making; those involved in the Church’s activities
with youth, as a means of orientation and guidance; The content, the
introduction and chapter two of the guidance paper on the life situation
of Young People and the Gospel as the Heart of Church Activities are
included in the book.
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Key words: Church and Youth; situation of young people; future;
youth work
Contents
Preface
Introduction
1.
1.1
1.2
1.3
Church and Youth – the Current Situation
Liberty and Choice
Majority and Minority
The Challenges of a Church Sensitive to the Concerns of Young
People
2.
The Life Situation of Young People and the Gospel
as the Heart of Church Activities
Individualism and the Subject-Orientation
of Protestant Church Activities
The Desire for Religious Orientation and the Offers
of the Christian Community
Concern for the Future and the Church’s Responsibility
in the Dialogue of Generations
Precarious Lives and the Church’s Commitment to Social Justice
Aestheticising the Quotidian through the Media
and the Beauty of Religion
The Desire to Make a Difference
and Contributing Everyone’s Gifts
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
3. Church and Youth – Multiple Spaces of Encounter
3.1 Multiple Spaces of Encounter
3.2 Open questions
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4.
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
Perspectives for a Church Sensitive to the Concerns of Young
People
Respecting the Communication Cultures of Young People and
Learning Creatively from their Theology
Recognising the Importance of Young People for the Church
Addressing Manifold Life Situations through Multiple Offers
A Commitment to Justice
Supporting Families
Connecting Youth Work
Training and Supporting Youth Work Staff
Supporting Young People
Preface
The youngest child asks: “Why is this night different from other
nights?” And the elders answer by telling the story of how God saved
the people of Israel and led them through the Sinai desert. This Jewish Pesach tradition eloquently expresses the importance of sharing
our faith with the young generation.
Young people will only be able to frame their faith in their own words
and relate the biblical accounts to their own experiences if others tell
them of it and transmit to them in word and action what they have
themselves heard and come to believe. We know that the earlier in
their lives people encounter faith, the more profound the impact on
their lives. In view of the far-reaching social and cultural changes
challenging the automatic acceptance of tradition for its own sake
even within the church, and in view of the dominance of material
values in society today, intergenerational relations are increasingly
crucial to Christian education and communities, and a test of the
vitality of faith.
Establishing their own identity is a process of constant change for
young people today. In its course, they seek orientation to develop
perspectives for their own lives and to find answers to many, very
different questions. These always also concern values and the meaning
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of life, which means ultimately religious questions. Engaging young
people in dialogue on these existential questions and taking them
seriously in this quest not only as seeking, but as inspired, can open
entirely new approaches to the questions and goals to all parties involved.
“There’s someone else you can turn to. You can pray to God, even if
everyone else seems to turn away from you.” This experience can be
liberating to many young people today. They want to hear what adults
believe in, where they, and their own peers, find support and stability
in the church. Their models need not be saints – but they must be
recognisable in their strengths and weaknesses.
This present paper seeks to provide impulses and perspectives on the
relationship between church and youth. I thank the Advisory Group
on Education, Children and Youth and its working group for its
preparation. It was presented to the EKD’s Council at the end of its
term of office and found its unanimous approval then. The new
Council will now gladly see it published. I hope and trust that it will
find the attention and approval of all those involved in the church’s
work with young people.
Bishop Dr. Margot Käßmann
Hanover, November 2009
*
*
*
Introduction
The relationship between the Church and the coming generation
must be developed into a source of present and future perspectives
for each and every young person in it. It is also, especially in a society
where a Christian upbringing has ceased to be the rule, decisive in
shaping the present and future of the Church itself.
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Today’s society requires the Church to take a differentiated approach
towards the young generation. Many young people continue to be
socialised into Church life through their families, but many others no
longer experience this organic process of growing into their faith and
Church. Young people today also face a religiously plural society.
Whether at school, in organised activities or their free time, they regularly encounter people of different religious backgrounds who often
live their faith in a radically different manner from them. This situation makes great demands on their ability to independently reflect and
make choices in the religious sphere, and in their relationship with the
Church. Surveys show that they are often actively engaged with religious issues, but find the Church as an institution unattractive. This
points to problems in the communication between it and their generation. The Church is now faced with the challenge of redefining the
balance between its lasting tradition and an institutional openness
towards plurality addressing the manifold religious needs of the coming generation and courageously testing the elasticity of its core message
in the face of an increasingly individualised approach to religion.
The purpose of this text is
– to outline the challenges facing the Church in its relationship with
the young generation.
– to recall and clarify the mission of the Church in this field.
– to describe the many and different areas in which the Church interacts with young people today.
– to provide impulses for structuring its actions and taking productive approaches towards this issue.
The following considerations are addressed especially at decision makers within the Church, be it in parish and church councils, administrative offices, Church-affiliated associations, providers of social services, or the highest levels of leadership. They are intended as an
encouragement to decisively prioritise the relationship with young
people even in times of scarce resources and aggressive restructuring
at all levels, as an aid to raising the profile of youth work and help in
decision making processes.
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This publication touches on issues addressed in several earlier texts.
The ongoing process of conceptionally developing youth work received decisive impulses at the 1994 EKD synod, where a deliberate
shift of perspective towards embracing the independent point of view
of children and young people was addressed (“Growing up in Difficult
Times”). By repeatedly raising the important issue of unemployment
and urging a solution at societal level, the Council of the EKD embraced its role as a responsible social actor. This was expressed in the
1997 publication “The Social situation of Young people – Youth
Unemployment” (Soziale Lage junger Menschen – Jugendarbeitslosigkeit) and the 2003 publication in “Perspectives for Disadvantaged
Young People.” The EKD also provided impetus for the development
of religious education when it addressed fundamental questions of
RE in school in its 1994 text “Identity and Dialogue,” questions of
confirmation education in1998, and religious education for Muslim
pupils in 1999. Further publications addressed the qualification of
staff in Church youth work (“Lernwelten und Bildungsorte der Gemeindepädagogik” [Settings of Learning and Spaces of Education in
Parish Education], Comenius-Institut 2008) and the introduction of
whole-day schooling (2004). The position paper “Evangelische Jugend bildet – zur Bedeutung von Bildung in der Evangelischen Jugend” published by the Protestant Youth Federation (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Evangelischen Jugend aej) in 2003 highlighted the close
relation between youth work and education. In 2003, the EKD Council, addressing both the Church and society, outlined a Protestant
understanding of education in its memorandum “On the Human
Scale. Protestant Perspectives on education in a Knowledge- and
Learning Society,” an issue it returned to in 2009 with the reference
statement “Church and Education.” “On the Human Scale” addressed
the situation of young people and outlined the educational challenges
this created. “Church and Education” (2009) clarifies the specifically
Protestant conception of education that must inform the Church’s
actions in this field. In the following, the issues raised in these two
fundamental texts will be related to the current position of young
people and perspectives for the Church in its relationship to them
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developed. Thus, these considerations are also a contribution to the
future development of the Protestant Church.
When we speak of ‘youth’ or ‘young people’, we refer to youths and
young adults aged between 12 and 25. Though many of the fields
examined here are closely related to working with children, this text
focuses solely on this specific age group. This should not be read as
an attempt to separate these two fields, much less to reverse on the
valuable efforts to integrate the two that have taken place in the past.
Rather, the goal is to focus clearly on the situation of a specific generation, analyse the needs of young people and to successfully meet
the attendant challenges in all areas of our work.
In chapter I, we will begin by outlining how the Church currently
relates to young people. The reaction to this situation will be outlined
in three steps. First, we call to mind the Gospel message and its potential relevance for young people today as a basis for the future of
this relationship (chapter 2). The many ways in which the Church
addresses young people are then described and some key challenges
for their future development outlined (chapter 3). Finally, perspectives
for creating a Church that is sensitive to the needs of young people
will be unfolded (chapter 4). Examples of Church work addressing
young people are used to illustrate chapters 2 and 3. While this list
should not be read as exhaustive or representative, the examples will
provide the reader with an idea of the range of possibilities and the
breadth of the Church’s present efforts.
2. The Situation of Young People and the Gospel
as the Heart of Church Activities
The Gospel has to be placed at the heart of the Church’s relationship
with young people. We must recall to memory and develop this foundation together with young people taking into account their current
situation. Only this approach can develop the profile of a Church
working both for and with young people into the future.
The Church acts in the certain hope that the Gospel can become vis292
ible and open to experience in the world. According to our Protestant
belief, faith is a gift of the spirit of God. This conviction has been a
firm foundation to the way the Church relates to young people to
this day. The transmission of faith depends on the experience of a
living Gospel manifest in ritual and community, in Church youth
activities or the support that its charities extend to people in their
daily lives. Yet we must bear in mind that the actions of the Church
towards young people cannot be determined by the interpretation of
the Gospel by adults alone. It is precisely their addressees who can
make the Word of God come alive in their world and the Church
through their encounters with the Gospel, with adults and with each
other. This means the Church must realise “Communicating the Gospel” as a “unison of promise and reality” (Ernst Lange). This communication relates tradition and environment to each other and dynamically interweaves the Gospel with the lives of young people as
the subjects of this dialectic process (..)
Ultimately, the success of this communicative process is beyond human ability to engineer. It can take place in a variety of ways – in
Bible study groups or on canoeing trips, in church services and individual counseling, in a chance encounter at a youth centre bar or at
an organised event in a church, in religious education lessons as much
as in spontaneous prayer and meditation around the campfire. Knowing that we cannot create this success on our own is a warning against
theologically privileging one field over others and a reminder to creatively seek out a multiplicity of encounters between young people
and the Church. At the same time, the realisation that a successful
communication in the encounter with the Gospel is entirely a matter
of its subjects forbids us to neglect the question under what conditions it can succeed. This chapter will investigate that question.
The central position of the Gospel requires all Church actions to be
shaped to fit the situation of the young people it addresses. On the
one hand, this situation faces us in the shape of a “generational situation” (Generationenlage, Karl Mannheim), membership in a specific
age cohort and thus immersion in its attendant fashions, styles and
perspectives. This aspect has been researched extensively by sociolo293
gists. On the other hand, young people also encounter the Church’s
offer as individuals whose views and needs may greatly differ from
those of their generation’s mainstream, crafted by their own personal
biography and situation. Thus, the activities of the Church must be
guided both by the generational and individual situations of young
people. In addition, the Church must be able to navigate the various
milieus in which the young people locate themselves. Milieus generate youth cultures and thus also structure relationships with the
Church and faith. The current situation is increasingly characterised
by diverging youth cultures. »Young people today« are less and less
alike. The ways they experience life at their age are manifold, and
when we speak of ‘young people’, we must remain aware that we are
addressing an increasingly heterogenous group.
Finally, it needs emphasising that the encounters of young people
with the Church must be understood as fully constituent parts of the
Church. The Church consists not just of adults and does not only
address young people through specific institutions and the actions of
dedicated youth work. Rather, it is young people themselves whose
actions in the encounter create and define it. The Gospel Message
addresses young people in its dual nature as both comfort and challenge. This interweaving of the reality of their lives and the Church’s
mission will be the defining link connecting all fields of Church activity addressing young people we will now discuss. That makes the
question of the Gospel’s relevance for the lives of young people a
decisive one.
2.1 Individualism and the Subject-Orientation
of Protestant Church Activities
The life situation of today’s youth is characterised by a plurality that
strongly fosters individualism. Young people must negotiate their
own mode of participating in society and develop their own plans in
the face of a multiplicity of options: Modern ‘choice society’ perpetually requires them to make decisions and articulate positions.
During their youth, their most important challenges are both devel294
opmental (growing up in terms of developing an identity, acquiring
competencies, stepping out of their family, and addressing their sexuality) and already of the quotidian adult sphere, in which they are
treated as quasi-adults required to position themselves in the educational and labor markets. They must master risky decisions in acquiring qualifications and entering into their careers. The demands our
society makes of them in terms of independence and decision making ability are considerable. Some develop creative individual approaches to dealing with the ambivalences of societal determindedness on the one hand and individual decision making with its
“demands of flexibility” (Flexibilitätszumutungen Sennett 1998) constructively. Others have far fewer competencies in coping with this
contradiction.
Across the grain of the challenges of their situation, young people
display a number of compensatory reactions to the acceleration, identity definition, and performance requirements that characterise their
lives. Those who are able to meet these demands often readily comply with and embrace them, while at the same time focusing on
pleasure-oriented leisure activities and increasingly engaging in risky
or addictive behaviours. Those who find it hard, if not impossible,
to meet the demands because they are disadvantaged in material or
social resources often show resignation, rejection, and integration
into problematic social environments and attendant aggressive or
autoaggressive behaviours. Across the board, the importance of the
family and immediate social environment is increasing even though
its structures change more frequently than in the past. Young people generally want stability for themselves, be it in their desire to
enter a lasting relationship, have children, or develop trusting
friendships. Belonging to a stable group emerges as a central factor
in developing a robust identity and reflecting and developing their
individual position in the world. This has led to a reduction in
intergenerational tensions compared to a few decades ago. Young
people maintain and invest effort into a good relationship with their
parents not at the expense of, but in addition to those inside their
peer group.
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The Church’s answer to this situation lies in adressing the whole person as the subject of the relationship born from a Protestant understanding of education. Education in this sense addresses the human
ability to create meaning and to live up to his createdness in the image of God relating to aspects and objects removed from the immediate demands of social norms and short-term economic purposes. In
the spirit of the Reformation, it stresses the individuality and immediacy of the relationship of each individual person to God. Individual
theological judgement is entrusted to and expected of each and every
one of us. At the heart of this conception of education stands the
individual person, not its functioning in society, Church or economy.
That is why the young people themselves, as individuals with their
own needs and in their generational and personal situatedness, are in
the focus of Protestant Church youth work. Its free-time activities,
group meetings, school projects and street workers are all rooted in
this individual approach. This should never be confused with orienting offers towards entertainment value at the expense of the expectation and challenge of, along with support for, individual responsibility. A specifically Protestant profile is evident where young people are
given the opportunity to experience the comfort and challenge of the
Gospel and where they can explore the importance of freedom of a
Christian for their own lives. This allows them the space to experience
and explore freedom without abandoning relationships. Empirical
studies show that young people are ready to volunteer for community
work if it allows them to answer affirmatively the question “Am I
important, am I irreplaceable here?” This gives them the experience
of recognition and allows them to experiment with potential future
roles.
An individual orientation in youth work needs funding and specific
offers, opportunities and support systems. It needs a foundation of
basic material resources as well as openness for questions of orientation in and coping with life and the ability to guide towards or open
access to full social participation. Not least, it needs spaces in which
young people can act independently.
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2.2 The Desire for Religious Orientation
and the Offers of the Christian Community
Many young people feel an urgent desire for meaning and orientation
in their lives extending into the religious sphere. They need to interpret the experiences of contingency in their lives and the ruptures
they suffer feed the need for orientation. Not least, it is the experience
of growing to maturity that fuels a desire for the transcendent and
spiritual, for a dimension beyond the quotidian.
Religious socialisation in the family or peer group can only meet this
need to a very limited degree. The question arises how, then, this
desire can be met, especially since answers are rarely sought with the
established churches. The Shell-study of young people in Germany
finds that the churches as institutions rank very low in popularity,
barely higher than political parties. That makes them unlikely destinations for those looking for answers to their existential questions.
Nonetheless, the Religionsmonitor 2008 survey by the Bertelsmann
Foundation shows that religiosity among young people has not simply vanished. Even traditional tenets of faith such as the conception
of God, of Resurrection and Creation are no less prominent among
young people than among the older generation. Only belief in a personal God appears to decline slightly.
Young people with their questions, their desires for orientation and
meaning today live in a society where answers are ubiquitous and offered unsolicited from every corner. Dealing with this confusing array
is a challenge for them. In recent years, an actual market offering
competing interpretations has emerged. Commercially provided quasi-religious activities are a particularly successful growth sector. Protagonists of movies and novels more or less closely related to history
and the Church offer themselves for identification. Live role playing
games let take on the roles of elves, witches or monks. Players in
computer games can attain godlike attributes to master the challenges
of virtual realities.
A common reaction among young people to this religious marketplace
is the creation of an individual religion (‘patchwork’-religion) assem297
bled from various bits and pieces selected from the range on offer. In
the process, they test various ideas to see how they fit their background
and situation. Usually, they are cautious about making final decisions
and resist outside definition, put a premium on flexibility and reject
institutional ties of membership that could limit the options for future
choices in a fast-changing environment. The Church to them is just
one more competitor among many offering interpretations of meaning and can no longer rely on any greater credibility or the effects of
a religious upbringing. Even among young people who are practising
Christians and close to the Church, Christian convictions often mix
with those from other religious traditions. An increasing number of
people also tend to be temporarily religious, engaging in religion and
interacting inside a religious community at some points in their lives
and for a certain period of time, but again retreating from any permanent commitment. The degree of activity and involvement in the
Church alone thus represents a poor measure of religiosity for this
generation.
This complex generational situation challenges Church youth work
both analytically and practically. The desires expressed in popular
youth culture can also be read as expectations of and demands they
make of religion. Where young people are supported in their quest
by a programme that allows for the emergence of the meaning they
seek through pedagogically and theologically responsible activities,
the Gospel can be communicated well outside the bounds of what is
conventionally considered ‘religious’ activity. Youth work designed
along those lines offers the potential for access to interpretations and
meaning-creating conceptions of the world that can aid young people
in coping with their individual reality in the face of today’s increasingly complex and fragile biographies. The Church can also strive to
communicate the Gospel message by entering into market segments
that young people find attractive as such, e.g. new media or youth
culture aesthetics (see 2.5). The potential for experiencing faith is no
less real within the forms religion takes in these contexts. In order to
do this, though, the Church needs people who can succeed in relating
the offer of the Gospel to the problems of today and to position it on
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the new religious market. It will further need to foster a new understanding of Church community beyond the traditional level of the
parish, one that can successfully integrate new forms such as youth
churches (Jugendkirchen) into existing structures. This communication of the Gospel above all aims to develop the individual’s capacity
to make informed decisions in religious matters. The emerging religious market makes this more necessary than ever before.
The relationship between the Church and the young generation also
attains a specific profile when the Church develops criteria to address
and reflect current youth culture and enters into dialogue with it. To
date, instances of this have been isolated and only rarely coordinated
in any way. For example, Church staff are supported in their approaches to youth culture through the media-related recommendation
of the periodical epd-film and the information and training programmes of the Church’s media offices (Medienzentralen). The contribution that the Protestant Church makes to the development and
implementation of media classification in the interest of youth protection also contribute to qualifying it as an instance of objective
discourse on the qualities of media content in film, television and
internet. Its own media products – including the internet platform
youngspiriX – represent an attempt not only to be part of popular
youth culture, but to decisively shape it with its specific, Protestant
profile.
In view of the increasing desire for religious orientation in the face of
a broadening range of offers, pastoral care is an increasingly important
aspect of the Church’s offerings to young people. Here, they can find
people who are ready to listen to them, be they volunteer youth group
leaders, members of Church bands, youth social workers, religious
education teachers, pastors or educators employed in parish and social
work. This valuable potential must be maintained and further developed to serve the needs of the young generation.
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2.3 Concern for the Future and the Church’s Responsibility
in the Dialogue of Generations
The situation of young people today is also characterised by a changing intergenerational dynamic. An increasing diversity of individual
life situations and a mounting pressure to perform in every aspect of
life have defused the generational conflicts that were so dominant in
the experience of earlier age cohorts. It does not automatically follow,
however, that young people today have the liberty and opportunity
to grow according to their need. The current demographic shift is
leading to a reduction in the number of young people, which makes it
harder for them to make themselves heard in political discourse. At
the same time, more and more adults adopt the mannerisms, fashions
and habits of youth for longer periods of their lives, being counted
among the ‘young generation’ well into adulthood, which is a further
burden for the articulation of youth issues in the public arena. Thus,
the intergenerational position of young people is distinctly ambivalent:
On the one hand, the attentions of the older generation are focused
on an ever shrinking number of youths, yet on the other hand developing an independent profile and voice distinct from the previous
generation is becoming harder and harder. At the same time we can
see the adult generations increasingly turning their attention on themselves. Intergenerational learning no longer happens as a matter of
course. Reduced public awareness meets individual worries about the
future in many young people, who are less than optimistic in their
outlook.
The Bible addresses intergenerational responsibility from various perspectives. The Old Testament’s fourth Commandment (“Honour your
father and your mother,” Ex 20,12, NRSV) stresses the social obligations between the generations as they relate to the »Promised Land«
of guidance in freedom and the possibility of a life informed by love.
Concern for the life perspectives of the young generation is voiced in
the New Testament with the exhortation to parents not to “embitter
your children” oder “exasperate your children” « (Col 3,21; Eph 6,4).
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Jesus himself was attentive to children and invited them to come to
him (Mt 18,1–5 par.), according them a position of particular importance. This kind of “guidance to freedom” is alive today wherever
the Church provides the room young people need to grow and to
develop their own theology (…) A balanced intergenerational relationship is realised in the individual behaviour of people towards each
other. However, it is equally manifest in the opportunities that the
coming generation as a whole is accorded in terms of the planet’s
natural resources and sustainable finances. The Church’s commitment
to sustainability, environmental and climate protection defends the
opportunities of future generations by striving to limit the burden
that the present places on their shoulders. Thus, the Church’s concern
for the younger generation is realised even in areas – such as global
ecumenical dialogue or the integrity of Creation – where young people themselves are not the direct addressees.
One issue in intergenerational relationships that is of particular theological importance is the transmission of traditional knowledge. The
introduction into a tradition is only possible through active involvement at many levels: Encounter, observation, oral narrative, active
participation and emulation all play a role. The current demographic
and social developments make this process increasingly difficult. Religious socialisation and the automatic acquisition of practices and
knowledge about ceremonies, holidays and church services are impossible where this faith is no longer living practice in the family. Allowing young people continued access to the familiar forms and patterns
of religious socialisation remains a responsibility of the Church, but
in the process we must not lose sight of the fact that an outreach cannot be limited to teaching theology alone. Young people need the
room and freedom to independently engage with and acquire traditions. This will also require the traditional Church position of inviting people into its structures to change to an active outreach that
approaches them where they are. The Gospel can be communicated
wherever the Church opens the space for young people to actively
encounter and engage with its traditions.
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2.4 Precarious Lives and the Church’s Commitment
to Social Justice
The widening gap between rich and poor and growing social divides
have aggravated the situation of a growing part of young people. In
Germany, more and more of them live in families depending partly
or entirely on welfare payments. The EKD-Council’s memorandum
on poverty “Just participation – Enabling Self Responsibility and
Solidarity” (Gerechte Teilhabe – Befähigung zu Eigenverantwortung und
Solidarität) (2006) and its position paper »Perspectives for Disadvantaged Young People« (2003) have already addressed this issue in depth.
Despite a slight reduction in recent years, unemployment remains a
depressingly serious problem for too many young people. Joblessness
robs them of material security and future perspectives, making the
task of integrating into society almost insurmountably difficult. The
close link between social background and educational achievement,
typical of Germany, means that escaping from an underprivileged
position is often all but impossible. To date, German society has failed
to adequately address this form of discrimination and exclusion.
We now see a growing number of young people exhibiting high-risk
behaviour. It appears that some of them react to their precarious
situation by increasing their own physical risk e.g. by using drugs and
alcohol, deliberately speeding and driving dangerously, or consciously
embracing other dangers. Eating disorders and other forms of selfharm have ceased to be marginal phenomena, and the attraction of
extremism both of the left and right is increasing. Violence is more
and more frequently regarded as an acceptable solution to individual
problems. This complex bundle of social challenges ultimately relates
back to the lack of integration into mainstream society that the young
people affected by them experience. Thus it is a question of social
cohesion and functioning democracy. Unaddressed, these problems
feed doubts about traditional values, political participation and democratic processes. Especially among young people with low educational achievements, the willingness to undertake volunteer work is
markedly low, even where participation is institutionally organised
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such as in case of the government-sponsored volunteer social service
year (Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr BMFSFJ 2006).
The Church’s commitment as an institution to helping young people
both in the public arena and at the individual level, by supporting
them and opening spaces of active participation to them, is an expression of its will to concretise the Gospel. The principle of »Option for
the Poor« is a central tenet of the Christian faith (…). That is why
offering young people the option to adequately participate and a voice
in the public arena are goals of such vital importance. In this sense,
all forms of support extended to young people – homework and study
groups, social work and educational support outside the family, holiday trips and activities etc. – can be understood as an expression of
Christian faith. That is equally true where support for young people
takes place across borders in an ecumenical perspective, such as the
development aid and relief efforts of the charity Brot für die Welt or
the church’s Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst aid organisation. And it
is doubly true where young people themselves are active in church
programmes to help the disadvantaged, such as in educational social
work projects or in volunteer social service years in Church institutions.
2.5 The Aestheticising of Everyday Life and the Beauty of Religion
Among a growing number of choices, young people are paying more
and more attention to aesthetics and the choreography of religious
practice. This new concern for aesthetics is closely bound up with the
media as a vehicle and expression of experiencing beauty. Using media to present oneself is an increasingly vital aspect of success in attracting attention in the realm of marketised personal relationships.
Internet services like YouTube, Facebook, Myspace or Twitter and the
creation of individual homepages are visible expressions of this development.
The new media also hold a great degree of fascination for young
peopole. Many of them have been deliberately targeted as potential
customers from early childhood. This affinity opens new spaces and
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options of expression and experience, but it also increasingly puts
them at risk of being instrumentalised as consumers in every aspect
of their personal lives. Many of them already find it difficult to control the scope and length of their media consumption adequately. The
trend towards dissolving the boundaries between separate media and
the locatedness of media in time and space are impacting both individual use patterns and control of access. Today, what content young
people access via their PCs and the internet is often decided solely by
them. The competence to responsibly consume media is therefore a
vital part of the socialisation they need to cope with the modern
world. This issue has polarised public discourse: One side takes up
the torch of alarmism, pointing to the dangers of media use in terms
of loss of values, orientation and inhibitions; Others view the media
as having the potential to convey moments of meaning creation, aid
individual development and allow for processes of self-socialisation
and as playing a key role in structuring contemporary identities.
Among researchers in the field, there is a broad consensus that the
individual, subjective acts of the young people in using media mainly
determine whether their positive potential is unlocked or their dangers
come into play. The decisive role here seems to be played by their
individual and social contexts and the goals they pursue.
Thus the growth of the media market emphasises the urgent need to
support especially at-risk youths and provide the genuine encounters
that have long been understood to be vital by anyone involved in
youth work. Contact in virtual environments increases the importance
of genuine communication as well as creating entirely new opportunities to aestheticise daily life using the possibilities provided by the
new media.
The Church can actively allow young people to experience the fascination of religious aesthetics in church buildings, music, and sacred
art. They can enter into this realm as recipients, but also actively engage in self-determined creative processes. Especially church music –
whether in the classical tradition of choirs and instrumental ensembles
or along modern lines such as German “sacro-pop” or gospel – is attractive in its dual character of consciously belonging to a tradition
304
while actively engaging in creative endeavours. Part of the attraction
of dedicated youth churches lies in the combination of an old building’s beauty coupled with the opportunity of new, unconventional
experiences. The beauty of religion as an aesthetic experience is evident both in its traditional cultural realisations and in the quest for
new ways of artistic expression for faith. Especially in the effort to
communicate the Gospel to young people, these opportunities must
be actively sought out.
The possibilities of reaching out to young people on religious issues
that the new media offer are also interesting to the Church as an internet content provider. Specific websites targeting a young demographic have already been set up. In many parishes, young people can
assume responsibility in handling new media in an intergenerational
environment. Parishes are supported e.g. with recommendations on
handling online gaming to enable them to address young people’s
interest by offering PCs on their premises. Parish or issue-related blogs
offer further outreach opportunities.
The Church can offer young people dialogue with media-literate and
trained staff. The communication of the Gospel can thus extend into
new aesthetic spaces and open its own – for many certainly unusual –
perspective on the beauty of religion.
2.6 The Desire to Make a Difference and
Contributing Everyone’s Gifts
Young people want to make a difference and see that they are doing
so. Experiences of effectiveness and importance, the sense of being
able to do something worthwhile, are an important motivation for
action at all ages, but especially so for young people. The motivation
for volunteer work has been changing in accordance with a general
value shift in society, away from a traditional duty-based outlook and
towards one based on self-actualisation. Volunteering is seen as a way
to enrich one’s own life through learning and cooperative experiences
and change the environment and the organisation supported. The
305
motives of helping others and actualising individual values at the
societal level have not been displaced, but their position has become
secondary.
This new motivation is often wrongly interpreted by the older generation as pure egotistical fun-seeking. They see a sharp contrast between their own youth and today’s far less politicised young people
in a much less strained relationship to them than they had with their
parents – we have already addressed the reasons for this – and read it
as a sign of lacking commitment. The expectation of “fun”, however,
can be a central motivation for volunteer commitment for today’s
young people. Fun is not limited to entertainment or shallow enjoyment – it encompasses the experience of effectiveness, joy of living,
a sense of humour, and the playful acquisition of competencies that
improve a young person’s sense of self-worth. Fun is about experiencing successes and enjoying learning in life.
The growing complexity of their personal lives allows young people
ever fewer opportunities to genuinely make a difference. That is doubly true for those with a migration background, those coming from
broken or unstable family backgrounds, or the socially and financially
disadvantaged. They often find it hard to create any such opportunities for themselves.
Where young people are both at liberty and challenged to commit
themselves to a worthwhile goal, they can experience this sense of
their own effectiveness. The Biblical image of the Body of Christ to
which each member contributes its own abilities and in which no part
can exist without the contributions of others views every member as
an active contributor. All are called upon, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received” (1 Pet 4,10). Every contribution – no matter its form and intensity – is integral to the Christian life in the sense
of the New Testament and a constitutive element of the Protestant
tenet of the universal priesthood of believers.
The Church can offer spaces to young people – spaces of encounter,
of freedom and learning – for their personal development. They can
discover new places, interesting stories, and other people. In its gender-sensitive youth work, the church allows young men and women
306
the opportunity to explore their sexual identities and to develop sensitivities for different expression of sexuality.
Active volunteer participation lies at the heart of this commitment.
This is also a vital pathway for the recruitment of Church staff, as
many who are employed by the Church today came to make this
career choice through the experience of volunteer work in the Church
or its affiliated organisations as youths or young adults. Over the past
15 years, the involvement of young volunteers in confirmation education has grown steadily as more flexible methods and structures make
their inclusion easier. Supporting those volunteers is a necessary component of our effort to communicate the Gospel to young people.
Helping them to find the language to express their faith and expand
their didactic and educational abilities is as important as the personal
regard and community in prayer and communion we offer them.
307
Public Statement: “No one should be lost!”
A Protestant Plea for more Educational Justice
(2010)
Introduction
The EKD Synod usually convenes once a year for a session lasting several
days, held in a different place each year. It is elected for a period of six
years and headed by a seven-person governing board, the Presidium. The
Synod’s job is to discuss issues concerning the EKD and pass resolutions
on them. These include church law (such as budget, labour legislation,
data protection), submissions by the Council and the Church Conference,
and in some cases motions and petitions. As a rule, each session of the
Synod has a keynote theme which has been prepared by a committee especially set up for this purpose.
The main theme of the 3rd session of the 11th Synod in October 2010,
held in Hanover, dealt with issues of educational justice. The outcome of
the discussion was highlighted in a public statement that aims to contribute to the public debate about the quality and efficiency of the education
system.
Key words: Educational justice, Protestant identity, education system,
comprehensive education
Preface
The 11th Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany passed a “Protestant Plea for more Educational Justice” titled “No one should be
lost” at its third conference. The call for justice throughout the educational system founded on the biblical precept of human dignity is
gaining clearer profile and greater urgency in the face of growing
308
inequality. This also applies to us as a church and a provider of primary and secondary education in our schools and child care centres
at all levels. We must strive to provide targeted support for those
whom the conventional system fails, and continue our critical engagement with justice and injustice in society as a central subject of education. Yet we will also need to provide more and more individual
support for all children and youths at school, both those whose poor
scholastic performance requires it and those who excel intellectually.
We have seen at the Synod conference what great wealth of options
especially parishes and their institutions have to support children and
their families through neighbourhood networks and thus to contribute materially to realising educational justice. The Synod further expresses its gratitude to all those engaged in education for their dedicated and responsible efforts. It wishes to extend an offer of
cooperation at many levels and recognises the need to improve the
material conditions of their demanding work.
Now it is time to back up our plea for educational justice with action.
This will take patience and dedication. More educational justice can
neither be simply created nor mandated. Realising it needs time and
consideration. This documentation aims to support all those engaged
in this effort. Alongside the Synod’s public statement, presentations
and Bible studies offer their own respective approaches and deeper
insights into the issue. The rich fruit of preparatory labours and the
high quality of all contributions have been appreciated universally,
and I wish to thank all those who took part.
Katrin Göring-Eckardt
Hanover, 10 November 2010
*
*
*
309
Public Statement of the 11th Synod of the Evangelical
Church in Germany in its 3rd conference on the subject:
“No one should be lost!”:
A Protestant Plea for more Educational Justice
In the course of the decade leading up to the quincentenary anniversary
of the Reformation in 2017, the year 2010 is dedicated to education.
This is fitting, since the Reformation itself not only profoundly changed
the Church, it also was itself an educational movement. In this aspect,
it is inseparably linked to the person of Philipp Melanchthon, a close
associate of Martin Luther. In remembrance of this educational reformation and in a conscious continuation and expansion of the reform process “Church of Liberty” (Kirche der Freiheit) initiated by the Evangelical
Church in Germany, which included a profound re-evaluation of its own
educational activities, the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany
has chosen to make education its primary focus. The following Public
Statement titled “‘No one should be lost’: A Protestant Plea for More
Educational Justice” has now been passed. Conscious of the breadth encompassed by a comprehensive understanding of education, it focuses
primarily on the aspects affecting children and youths, a field where there
is an urgent need for long overdue action.
Educational Justice is part of a Protestant Identity
God “... desires everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the
truth” (1 Tim 2.4). To this certainty is owed the theological strength
and efficacy of the Reformation to this day. Education gives people
orientation, helps them establish their identity and allows them to
express their faith. “For it is to this end above all that humans have
been created, that they should instruct each other about God and the
Good. This is what God has given them language for. This is why it is
clear that the life that unfolds in teaching and learning is the one that
pleases God most.” (Philipp Melanchthon). The ideal of the Reformation’s leaders was a community of Christians who read the Bible
310
independently and thus come to understand their faith, gain the
ability to judge for themselves and understand the knowledge
(Glaubenswissen), the fundamental narratives, experiences, traditions
and confessions that underlie Christian faith and Christian history.
This “knowledgeable, reflected and conscious” faith distances itself
from fundamentalist and pseudo-religious claims. It creates liberty
to have faith and to develop in the faith, to witness it in the world
and to serve in it.
From this understanding of liberty flows the Reformer’s advocacy of
a system of public schools and universities. Education was to cease
being a privilege. The opportunity to learn and to participate in social discourse would be opened to all, regardless of birth and status.
They were convinced: “Neither bulwarks nor walls are more lasting
defences to our cities than citizens distinguished by education, prudence,
wisdom and other virtues.” (Philipp Melanchthon) Hence their demand
that access to education should no longer be limited to selected
groups. All people should be enabled to live their lives responsibly
and independently, to participate in the common deliberation of
public issues and to live their Christian faith in the community and
the world. Education, and the struggle to create this form of justice
in education, was an integral part of life to them.
All human striving for justice is grounded in justice as a gift of God.
God abandons nobody, he comes to people, helps them up, and
invites them to follow him (Lk 10,25ff.; Lk 15,1ff.; Lk 15,11ff.). The
duty to especially turn to the weak, the disadvantaged and fallen, to
demand justice for them and to ensure that none are left behind is
rooted firmly in God’s justice and mercy. It is through this duty that
we are charged with calling for better conditions to grow up and live
in, particularly for children and the young (Mk 10,13ff.) whenever
these conditions bar opportunities and perpetuate injustice and inequality. All people with their various talents and limits depend on
society and enrich it. Those living their Christian faith in positions
of leadership and responsibility experience this sense of community
especially strongly. To the Christian community, it is expressed in
the biblical image of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12,22–26).
311
Christians raise their voices for the unqualified recognition and respect of all human dignity trusting in the justice of God. They themselves have experienced through God’s mercy that human thought
and action, confidence and self-worth are not only dependent on
improvements in material conditions, but existentially grounded in
their unreserved acceptance by God. Faith in this acceptance enables
us to overcome our own limitations and to succeed in realising a life
in a community. The certainty of God’s justice and mercy informs
the strong advocacy for educational justice by Christians today, even
in the face of their own inadequacies and the experience of failure.
Divine justice and mercy raise their eyes beyond the compass of their
own horizon towards God, with whom new beginnings are always
possible.
Injustice in Education Demands Protest
The current education system continues to fall short of what is appropriate to a contemporary knowledge-based society, whose perspectives have been laid out at the EKD’s Synod of 1994, dedicated to
the subject “Growing up in Difficult Times – Children in Society
and the Christian Community” (Aufwachsen in schwieriger Zeit –
Kinder in Gemeinde und Gesellschaft), in the memorandum “On the
Human Scale” (Maße des Menschlichen) and the orientation paper
“Church and Education” (Kirche und Bildung). Educational justice
in a Protestant understanding is justice in enabling people. This goes
beyond the provision of formally equal opportunities to a fundamental review of the design of both individual and institutional realities
with the aim of allowing individuals to take opportunities and find
support in this effort, to realise potential and bring their willingness
to contribute to successful outcomes. We must neither reduce our
fellow humans to the sum of their abilities nor hinder them in the
productive use thereof. This raises the broader question of the conditions that underlie a successful individual development and formation as well as those of challenging and supporting students purely
312
in institutional frameworks. The current structure of education,
when viewed from this perspective, still fails to provide adequate
educational justice.
We cannot and will not accept this. Conscious of and trusting in
the liberating and enabling Gospel message, we will, above all, not
tolerate that
– Social origin, poverty and the educational background of the family continue to determine school careers, thus limiting opportunities and access to some children from the very beginning.
– The family as the crucial environment of primary and formative
education receives too little support in its educational role and is
too little integrated into efforts to strengthen education. Government policy continues to prioritise cash transfers over a qualified
and adequate provision of child care and education in day care or
family centres.
– Children and youths with special needs are still too rarely educated
and taught together with others. Educational institutions remain
wedded to an ideal of exclusive rather than inclusive education
that falls behind the duties incumbent on the state under the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
– Inequality of educational opportunity not only is not adequately
addressed by the system, but in large parts of it is exacerbated by
promoting social and ethnic segregation and tolerating an excessive spread of performance outcomes.
– School systems between the federal states remain both widely different and often confusing, which leads to a lack of transparency
and transferability, cementing differentials and barriers to mobility between the states.
– The religious, ethical, philosophical, and charitable (diakonische)
dimension of education continues to be marginalised at all levels
from primary to tertiary, promoting an understanding of education that prioritises economic usefulness and material profit.
– Too many young people still leave school with no formal qualifications and with educational attainments that make any further
training or education almost impossible, leaving them to spend
313
too much time in transitional stages before being able to enter the
labour force.
– University education is increasingly ruled by the dictate of profit
and efficiency, which leads to the marginalisation and underfunding of centrally important academic disciplines such as the humanities and theology.
– Non-formal processes of education such as extracurricular youth
work continue to be individualised and self-motivated and their
qualifications and outcomes undervalued. They are often marginalised or displaced compared to formal institutional processes and
as a result suffer from increased underfunding.
Itself one of the largest providers of educational institutions in Germany, the EKD is only too painfully aware that these and other
points of criticism partly apply to its own institutions just as they do
to any others. Thus, our plea is directed not only at the outside world,
but also at ourselves. As a church, we are called upon to address and
rectify deficiencies in the content, structure, and funding of our own
educational arm.
Educational Justice Demands Appropriate Action
The demographic development, the disappointing results of national
and international comparative tests and the increasing internationalisation of educational qualifications pose challenges to Germany’s
policy. The Evangelical Church in Germany believes that its goal
must be to realise educational justice for all, regardless of origin and
social background. “No one should be lost!” is no mere slogan, but
informs our actions. Thus, educational policy is also social policy
and, from an international perspective, development policy. That is
why we advocate a comprehensive individual, social, cultural, and
practical education. Personal development must be supported
through profound factual and orientational knowledge, both of
which are a central prerequisite for equal participation and a self314
determined, responsible life. At the same time, the readiness to take
responsibility for themselves and others must be fostered in young
people. Without this responsibility, and without the charity exemplified by the Good Samaritan, no true solidarity is possible.
For the sake of the children and youths as well as their families, we,
the Evangelical Church in Germany, consider the following demands
of educational justice to have absolute priority:
– Educational justice is decided early – that is why parents must be
strengthened in their educational task. The family remains the
first and formative place of education. The parents bear great
responsibility in this process and should be offered proactive, noninterventionist support as equal partners in their efforts. Realising
adequate care and learning in early childhood requires a systematic
cooperation between families, day care centres and primary
schools, and the establishment of family education centres and
intergenerational places of encounter and exchange. We further
demand a legal right to day care for every child and oppose competition between care providers at the purely economic level, with
inadequate regard to pedagogical quality.
– Educational justice is incompatible with exclusion – that is why we
demand a comprehensive new approach towards inclusive education in day care and schools for children and youths with special
needs along with a significant increase of efforts to integrate children and youths with migration backgrounds as well as their
families.
– Educational justice requires community, transparency, and mobility,
also between the states – that is why the currently overly complex
and widely divergent educational systems of the various Länder
must be unified and integrated with each other. Education careers
must not end at state borders. We advocate an increased horizontal and vertical mobility between the different tiers and types of
school education. Based on the premise of their fundamental
equivalence, we envision two distinct scholastic careers, one dedicated to general, the other more towards vocational education,
315
in the various Länder. In it, joint learning past primary level and
the acquisition of equal qualifications within different times need
to be realised. Our demand is to end the undisguised squabbling
over differentiated versus integrated schools or an education for
the masses versus the elite for political gain.
– Educational justice requires more support and remedial instruction –
that is why all children and youths must be able to attend day care
and school that extends into the afternoon hours, including sociopedagogical, psychological and religious counselling and activities.
Institutions whose activities extend throughout the day need to
enter into varied partnerships with outside bodies. Adequate preconditions for a cooperation between these institutions and outside bodies, including the churches, will have to be created.
– Educational justice aims at a comprehensive individual education
– that is why religion and education depend on each other. The
religious, ethical, philosophical, and charitable (diakonische) dimension of education that relies on communicative ability in questions of religion and ethics, autonomy in faith, and compassion
and assistance towards fellow humans is central to the mission of
every educational institution. Currently, its thematisation is
mainly the preserve of religious education in schools and of theology in universities. Thus the constitutional guarantee of religious
education as per article 7, paragraph 3 of the Basic Law must be
enshrined in law in all states. Only as an equal, full school subject
can it realise the right of positive freedom of religion according to
article 4 of the Basic Law and ensure the participatory involvement
of pupils from a variety of different faiths and belief systems. Further, theology at the academic level established at universities
makes an invaluable contribution towards developing religion and
belief as a source of orientation in modern society. This must not
be put in jeopardy by cuts to the quantity or quality of its teaching and research infrastructure.
– Educational justice must extend past the school years – that is why
further vocational or tertiary education for all young people must
be ensured through the provision of adequate capacities by the
316
–
–
–
–
parties responsible. It also requires an equitable form of funding.
Young people without school qualifications must be given a second chance.
Educational justice runs contrary to a devaluation of specific curricula and qualifications – that is why qualified employment in
e.g. social and charity work must not be treated as inferior to a
similarly qualified artisanal or administrative position e.g. by significantly lower pay; studies in the humanities, social sciences, or
arts must not be disadvantaged in funding for academic excellence,
scholarships, or grants, compared to natural or applied sciences.
Educational justice is rooted in professionalism – that is why a qualified, ideally academic training for day-care workers and educators
in church institutions and parishes as well as improved teacher
training in universities and traineeships are necessary prerequisites
for a successful education throughout society, as are continuous
learning opportunities and adequate working conditions for educators at all levels.
Educational justice needs educational processes to exist beyond mandatory schooling and formal qualifications – that is why extracurricular education and youth work must be cherished as a valuable
contribution to individual education and gradually expanded.
Youth work offers a multiplicity of opportunities to assume responsibilities that allow young people to acquire the practical capacities needed for a successful life early on. The offerings of extracurricular education for children and youths further need to
be systematically tied into school activities especially in the course
of a school day extending into the afternoon. This also applies to
confirmation education and other forms of religious education
provided by parishes and other church institutions.
Educational justice needs different approaches – that is why educational institutions in the responsibility of the Protestant church
must be accepted and integrated as a necessary part of the public
education system and provided with targeted and adequate funding.
317
The Evangelical Church in Germany undertakes to support these
reforms and aid in their realisation in the public education system.
It further undertakes to critically evaluate its own educational institutions and activities and develop them further in the spirit of these
goals. It does so in full awareness that education reform is not free.
This applies to both church and government funding.
The Evangelical Church in Germany calls on the federal and state
governments to use the financial opportunities that will open up as
demographic trends lead to reduced school enrolment by investing
the funds thus freed to drive needed reform throughout the system.
It further demands an immediate end to conflicts about the division
of funding between state and federal levels in the interests of the
coming generations. The goals of the Dresden education summit,
especially the projected increase of government education funding
to 10 % of GDP by 2015, must be realised fully.
Education is a Mission of the Church
Education is part of the evangelical teaching mission of the Church.
Thus we understand the biblical task “… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28,20) as a mission of education
laid on the parishes, the church districts, its member churches, and
the church associations, clubs, and foundations. It is founded both
in the Christian faith, which is rooted in knowledge and understanding, and in the intergenerational relationship that encompasses the
narrative and explanatory passing-on of the biblical tradition. The
nexus that links the various educational activities of the church is
provided by the constitutive reference to the Gospel as the heart of
the Christian Faith. It unites confirmation education, Protestant
youth work, child care, family education, childrens’ and youth social
work, Protestant schools and Protestant religious education at public schools. Without it, there can be no church education in the
evangelical sense. Despite all differences between them, the fields of
our educational activity are mutually interrelated, and the church
318
realises them in the spirit of the evangelical teaching mission. Many
activities in the parishes, in educational institutions run by the
church, its associations and clubs that are not regarded as educational
at all by the wider public nonetheless are invaluable contributions
to education in the broader sense. On a global perspective, this also
includes ecumenical work and development aid.
To fulfil this mission, the Synod asks the member churches, the
church’s social work arm (Diakonie) and other Protestant educational
institutions to dedicate themselves to working especially with children and youths in view of our responsibility towards the coming
generation, and to provide the required staff and funding despite
declining financial means.
Responsible Educational Action Relies on Recognition,
Dialogue and Cooperation
Education requires support and recognition from both the state and
society to succeed. This is especially true for the church’s schools
and other educational programmes, which play a prominent role
in the striving for educational justice and are especially active in
integrating people whose educational needs and abilities would otherwise put them at risk of falling through the cracks of the system.
In order to continue to enrich and complement the public school
system in their government-accredited role, they depend on the
constitutionally guaranteed freedom of independent schools as
much as adequate financial support from the government.
Justice in education can only be achieved in a joint effort of all
stakeholders. The Evangelical Church in Germany expresses its
gratitude to all those active in education for their efforts and invites
them to enter into dialogue. It seeks improved conditions for their
responsible work and offers to cooperate with them at numerous
levels. Its manifold activities to support and educate families, educators and learners at all levels are open for their active participation.
319
The Evangelical Church in Germany emphasises its resolve to continue to strongly pursue the task that Philipp Melanchthon formulated in the Reformer’s spirit for both church and public education:
“It is two things towards which all of life should be oriented: piety and
learning.”
Hanover, 10 November 2010
Katrin Göring-Eckardt
320
Gütersloher Verlagshaus
ISBN 978-3-579-05965-5 WG 1544
01
www.gtvh.de
17,99 [D]
18,50 [A]

Education from a Protestant Perspective

Transcription

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