German schools place markedly less emphasis on political education compared to history or geography in their curricula. This is confirmed in the ‘2018 political education ranking’ presented by Professor Dr Reinhold Hedtke and Mahir Gökbudak from the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University.

Prof. Dr. Reinhold Hedtke and Mahir Gökbudak. Foto: Universität Bielefeld

According to the study, Bavarian grammar schools (Gymnasien), for example, plan nine times more hours per week teaching history and eight times more hours per week teaching geography than political education in their curricula.

The study reveals major differences between the federal states. At more than 4 per cent of total weekly teaching hours, Schleswig- Holstein and Hessen assign the most time for political education in their curricula; Bavaria, the least at 0.5 per cent.

Kontakt:
Prof. Dr. Reinhold Hedtke, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Sociology
Telephone: 0521 106-3983, 0521 875734, 0151 72649859
Email: reinhold.hedtke@uni-bielefeld.de