Weimar Germany - Education

Question 1

what are the Weimar Government’s series of goals for education

Answer 1

• Integrated system - more working class children in education
• Single type (secular) schools - phasing out of religious schools
• Abolish fee paying schools

Question 2

The weimar government also wanted a …………… educational system that served all children regardless of ………

Answer 2

common and integrated
background

Question 3

What were the 2 school levels in Weimar Germany

Answer 3

Elementary (primary - 6-9 years) and Secondary (9-14).

Question 4

There was also a move towards removing……… control over schools as religious schools tended to ………. some students.

Answer 4

church
privilege

Question 5

Education was compulsory until ___

Answer 5

14

Question 6

what were the beliefs behind the Weimar governments ideal education system

Answer 6

moral education, personal development & vocational training

Question 7

What was the Grandschule (primary level)

Answer 7

the compulsory and free education system (primary school)set up for children aged 6 to 10 years

Question 8

What were confessional schools (primary level)

Answer 8

• Faith-based schools which could run privately in Weimar Germany
• These were mainly Protestant, Catholic & Jewish

Question 9

What were common schools (primary level)

Answer 9

a school that took children of all religious faiths & gave them a separate religious education

Question 10

What were secular schools

Answer 10

A school with no religion at all

Question 11

What did The school law of 1920 state

Answer 11

• Tried to create a single type of primary school to ensure that all Germans received a standard education for the first 4 years of their lives.
• Schools that selected on ability and religion were phased out.
• This meant the WR met the aim of creating an integrated system

Question 12

How did the government phase out religious education in primary schools

Answer 12

• Stopped clerical inspections of schools standards (inspections by members of the clergy)
• stopped school prayer
• allowed selected parents to remove their own children from religious education

Question 13

Characteristics of the Grandschule

Answer 13

• Compulsory and free primary education
• Attended by children aged 6 to 9 years
• Prepared all students for future secondary education, and gave all students the opportunity for higher education at university level
• Education continued to be run by the Lander

Question 14

What happened with the 1927 education bill proposal

Answer 14

The bill did not pass as its contents could not be agreed

Question 15

Fee-paying preparatory schools were …..

Answer 15

abolished

Question 16

In 1927 what bill was put forward to the Reichstag regarding education

Answer 16

• Confessional, common and secular schools be set up on an equal footing
• Allow churches to play a greater role in education
• Children in common schools would have religious education in their own religion, separate from other religions

Question 17

Who supported the 1927 education bill proposal

Answer 17

All over Germany, people supported the bill (e.g. the Reich Parent’s League)

Question 18

Who didn’t support the 1927 education bill proposal

Answer 18

Groups (e.g. the Volkskirche Association for Evangelical Freedom) vigorously opposed it as they wanted religion to be a matter of religious bodies, not schools.

Question 19

The Weimar government’s failure to introduce a federal education bill meant that…..

Answer 19

the education system of Germany remained diverse and under the control of the Länder.

Question 20

What were non-confessional schools

Answer 20

Non-confessional, common schools were set up by the Weimar government, which students of different faiths could attend.

Question 21

How could confessional schools run

Answer 21

Confessional schools could only run as fee-paying private schools.

Question 22

Radical Education: who was Rudolf Steiner?

Answer 22

• One of the most famous educational reformers of period.
• He argued that schools should be independent of government or the church.
• Schools should simply serve the interests of the students.
• He opened 4 schools between 1919 and 1925 that rejected hierarchy/emphasised whole body learning

Question 23

In Weimar Germany, __________ became a university programme

Answer 23

teacher training

Question 24

In 1931, how many faith schools were there (protestant, catholic, jewish)

Answer 24

29,020 Protestant schools,
15,256 Catholic schools
97 Jewish schools

Question 25

By the end of the Weimar Republic, around ___% of schools were faith-based.

Answer 25

80

Question 26

In 1931, how many common & secular schools were there

Answer 26

8921 common schools
295 secular schools.

Question 27

……… no longer had the right to run state schools but could continue running private schools

Answer 27

Churches

Question 28

How did education contribute to the growing disillusionment with the Weimar Republic

Answer 28

• Education became apart of the debate as to whether democracy worked or not
• Many Catholics and Protestants began to feel that democracy was essentially anti-Christian,
• and essentially undemocratic, evident through the churches no longer being able to run state-schools

Question 29

Why did the government introduce the Aufbauschule

Answer 29

• To offer a gymnasium type secondary education to poor children who could not pay.
• This was an attempt to make education fairer.

Question 30

All students who wanted to go to university had to pass the …….. exam.

Answer 30

Arbitur

Question 31

After grandschule, aged …, your career was…

Answer 31

9
decided, determined by the specialised school you attended

Question 32

With secondary schools, Some schools were ………….. but many were …….

Answer 32

state run
private

Question 33

What were the 3 elements of the Weimar Republic’s three-part secondary school system

Answer 33

Gymnasium
Hauptschule
Realschule

Question 34

What was a gymnasium

Answer 34

• a secondary school
• that students attended for 9 years,
• to secure the qualifications to go to university,
• and then take up a professional job

Question 35

What was a realschule

Answer 35

• a secondary school
• that students attended for 6 years
• in order to go into business or technical training

Question 36

What was a hauptschule

Answer 36

• A secondary school
• that students attended for 5 years
• in order to go on to do apprenticeships or trade

Question 37

the Weimar Republic’s three-part secondary school system were often….

Answer 37

fee-paying

Question 38

A 1928 survey of the fathers of university students found that …% were civil servants working in government organisations, and only ….% were working class.

Answer 38

45%
2.3%

Question 39

Why could the Weimar government not reform the system of higher education including universities

Answer 39

the Weimar Constitution’s principle of freedom of choice meant that universities could carry on as before

Question 40

What were university corporations

Answer 40

• Universities had their own student “corporations”, seen to assist a student in pursuing a career path
• The “duelling” corporations, where differences were settled by swordfight, were popular with the sons of wealthy landowners
• Non-duelling corporations were seen as socially inferior

Question 41

In 1928, …% of students were members of a university corporations

Answer 41

65

Question 42

What did wealthy families worry about in education

Answer 42

That their children were losing their traditional privileges & that educational standards were falling