Nazi Education System - Research Paper Example

Nazi Education system Education plays a vital role in influencing future citizen’s lives. Such critical role must be played effectively because it will affect the future of the economy of Nazi Germany. This means that educational, social, intellectual, and personal needs of the young Nazis were to be given first priority especially in shaping the goals of education by analyzing the effectiveness of the Nazi Curriculum. The analysis aims at understanding in depth, the Nazi curriculum with its weaknesses, strengths, possibilities, theories, and disagreements. Education played a significant role in Nazi Germany in attempting to draw a respectful and loyal following for the Nazis and Hitler1. The Nazis knew that education would establish loyal Hitler followers by the time they were adults. Indoctrination and the utilization of propaganda were to be practiced and implemented by Schools in Germany. In addition, the Nazi curriculum relied on teachers and administrators in implementing it. All administrators and teachers underwent vetting process by the Nazi Germany officials. Therefore, any administrator or teacher discovered to be disrespectful was dismissed or sacked. In addition, majority of them attended classes during holidays where Nazi ideologies were taught. The teachers and administrators had to be careful in what they taught because students were directed to report and record what the teachers taught in classes. For instance, in case a teacher failed to teach what the Nazi curriculum demanded, they were sacked. It is also significant to note that subjects in the Germany schools underwent major transformations2. Definition of a curriculum Curriculum is the totality of learning and teaching experiences by students and teachers respectively so that the students can attain skills and knowledge at schools and a variety of learning sites. This can be expanded to incorporate technological advancement, which is included in the learning sites. A curriculum in a school setting is designed to cover the subjects being offered. Each of the individual subjects has objectives, expectations, assignments, and deadline to be accomplished by the teachers and students. Structure of the Nazi Curriculum It is significant to note that the Nazi schools were traditionally organized as they continued the secondary and primary education system in German. Further, the Nazi German maintained the Party schools in order to teach and train students Nazi ideologies. There existed specialized Party schools for certain students. The Nazi Curriculum was structured to fit different learning ages. There are total of ten stages through which students pass. Each stage has to learn four areas of education namely German, Mathematics, Sciences, and History. The first stage is identified as the Foundation stage. In the foundation stage, German strands include language, literature, and literacy. In mathematics, students are to learn understanding, fluency, problem solving, and reasoning. Science has three strands: science understanding, inquiry skills, and science as a human endeavor. In history, students learn about their own history and that of their families. These main areas of study continue in years 1 through 10. Because of the differences in the ages and levels of cognitive development, the content is improved as one move from one level to the next. Level 10a is the last level identified in the curriculum and involves learning of mathematics in particular. Here, students learn real numbers, patterns, algebra, linear and non-linear relationships, geometry, and trigonometry among many other core topics of mathematics. The structure of the Nazi educational system aimed to fulfill political demands of the Nazi government since it aimed to teach students anti-Semitic, xenophobic, and authoritarian ideas3. Support for teaching of science practices in school Changing attitudes of educators and community leaders was a critical challenge to the Nazi education system. Educators and others can easily rationalize low student educational and career aspirations as the accepted norm in a rural culture that seldom rewards high academic achievement of graduates in the local and regional economy. Need for an educated workforce; however, was evolving as Nazi leaders connected future educational demands of citizens with economic prosperity of the German students. Once predominate agricultural and manufacturing economies are in decline, as communities strive to survive in a global economy. Development of the Nazi educational system or curriculum Curriculum development cannot be successful or useful to teachers and learners without knowing the key elements of curriculum. The elements can be derived from questions that curriculum developers must ask themselves before successfully trying to develop a curriculum. For instance, they must know what should be taught, why it should be taught, who should have access to such knowledge, what rules should govern the teaching, and how the various parts of curriculum can be interrelated to form a coherent flow of knowledge to the learners. Furthermore, the Nazi curriculum developers knew what they wanted to achieve. The controller in the selection and distribution of knowledge was also being known4. For this reason, curriculum developers in Nazi German had options that used in designing a curriculum that fitted their demands. Curriculum theorizing was further categorized into prescriptive, descriptive, and critical-exploratory to suit the Nazi demands. Prescriptive theorizers tried to create school-practice-improving curriculum development models. In addition, descriptive theorizing aimed at identifying how curriculum development worked in school settings. Another important model included objectives, outcomes model which teachers, and students had to understand. This model aimed at creating objectives of study to meet what has been defined knowledge and therefore set the required outcome after, say, the end of a lesson. The outcomes usually refer to what the student should have grasped at the end of interactive teaching and what the teacher should have achieved it terms of performance. The situational model generalizes and is free to allow the condition of the learning environment to dictate the outcome of a syllabus or a curriculum. All these models of curriculum development are influenced at a higher level and in most case; a national curriculum is formed. Some national curriculums were created for a long time. These curriculums had support and objections in equal measure. Those who objected such curriculums tended to offer improvement proposals – or reports – that could be used in the implementation in schools to produce skilled students rather than tyrants. The government has the command of changing curriculum at the expense of teachers and students5. It is also imperative to note that national curriculum helped regulating formation of numerous curricula that could confuse teachers and learners. Since the Nazi government prepared the curriculum, all students were required to learn how to be obedient and physically fit. It is also vital to note that in Nazi Germany, no person was permitted to think for him or herself. Due to this, the Nazi government introduced a core curriculum that could assess, monitor what the teachers were teaching in schools. For instance, all instructional materials were re-written and had to be approved by the Nazi Party. Nazi curriculum ideologies The Nazi curriculum aimed to instill conservative ideas in students. According to the Nazi Party school perception, the school was a replica of cultural attitudes and values of the Nazi German. It was seen as an institution of transmitting the cultural values and norms from one generation to the other, thus maintaining and preserving the cultural heritage for future generations. In addition, the school also helps other institutions by spotting or identifying future leaders and offering the education necessary to its destiny as a leadership cluster or group. The conservative curriculum aids to transmit the societal culture to all people and offer relevant education to the different groups in society. It incorporates the accepted general skills such as writing, arithmetic and reading found in learning institutions. Additionally, loyalty to the societal membership was established by the application of literature to demonstrate important cultural themes. For the Nazis, history needed to be incorporated in the curriculum because it offered perspective into the evolution of the culture and its values or norms. Music and fine arts are also applied to expose learners to the cultural values. Prescribed and defined cultural norms and values are utilized to influence and shape character or behavior to follow the traditional values or norms6. In some applicable instances, Nazi schools included behavior or character formation within religious realm. Higher and secondary education continued to nurture intellectual discipline via the study of subjects such as classical or foreign languages, science, mathematics, and native English. The Nazi German curriculum focused more on the fully articulated ideology. It stresses on the continuity of education and emphasized on the strength of the cultural heritage to influence and shape values, knowledge and character. Nazi Party schools perceived humans as unequal in capacity and abilities, and in turn, it perceives an excellent society as one organized hierarchically. Due to this, education founded on conservative ideology was a process of cultural transmission and maintenance or preservation of the Nazi ideologies. Conclusion In conclusion, the Nazi education system was organized traditionally. The Nazis knew that education would establish loyal Hitler followers when they grow. The schools in Nazi Germany were owned by the Nazi Party, which implied that they aimed to teach Nazi doctrine. The Nazi curriculum relied on teachers and administrators in implementing it. All administrators and teachers underwent vetting process by the Nazi Germany officials. The Nazi Curriculum was structured to fit different learning ages. There are total of ten stages through which students pass. Each stage has to learn four areas of education especially Biology and History. The Nazi German curriculum focused more on the fully articulated ideology of Hitler regime. It emphasized on the continuity of education and emphasizes on the strength of the cultural heritage to influence and shape values, knowledge and character. All students in Nazi Germany were required to learn how to be obedient and physically fit. It is also vital to note that in Nazi Germany, no person was allowed to reason for himself. Reference Pine, Lisa. Education in Nazi Germany. Bloomsbury: Bloomsbury Academic, 2011. Print. Read More