SYSTEMATIC PROGRESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 17, 21 January 1936, Page 5

SYSTEMATIC PROGRESS

EDUCATION IN GERMANY

TREND OF PAST YEAR

During the year 1934-1935 systematic educational progress has been made in Germany, writes Percival R. Cole in the "Sydney Morning Herald." The German used to be reproached for thinking too much before he acted. This defect, if it existed, is now being corrected; the Nazi Government will have nothing to do with a one-sided intellectualism. The German of the future is to be educated for blood and soil, to be racially and eugenically selected, realistic and practical in ,his attitude, entirely devoted to society as organised in the State, a true national Socialist in this sense, while vehemently adverse to the slavish and uneconomic principles of Communism. He is to learn discipline and to put his trust in the Fuhrer, the National leader. At the same time neither Hitler nor any other leader can retain his preeminence except in so far as he continues to represent the spirit of the dominant party in the National Socialist State; Hitler regards himself as the people's leader. If the plebiscites which have indicated a 90 per cent, confidence on the part of Germans in their Fuhrer have not been free from the suspicion of the employment of intimidation on the part of the Sturm Abteilung, at least they have conclusively demonstrated that the President and Chancellor retains the confidence of the strongest party. "Give me four years," he has asked; and not without making mistakes in respect at least of his racial policies, he is demonstrating that a great deal can be done even in two or three. ' THE PAST YEAR. From the addresses and the conversation of Dr. Hennings, of Freiburg University, and more precisely from the latest numbers of the "Internationale Zeitschrift fur Erziehung," en livened by the background of a peregrinatio academica to Germany, now alas long distant, it is possible to indicate the character of the progress of German education during the past year. Without any radical change, as yet, in the school system as a whole, the emphasis has been moved, especially in the primary schools, away from the development of intellectual activities alone, and towards the development of courage, will-power, and character. A new type of primary school teacher is being trained. The would-be teacher must take his six months' course along with the youth of all the other elements of the community in the workservice camps, where he learns to respect and serve the interests of the community by the labour of his hands. These camps, initiated on account of the prevalence of unemployment, from being voluntary, have become compulsory; and from being a device to preserve the young from the evils of unemployment have become the training ground of character. It is admitted that in practice they are not always ideally conducted. At least they are doing much to correct and modify some of the aristocratic prejudices which, rooted as they are in centuries of feudalism, have done much to divide and antagonise the' sections of German society.' "BACK TO THE LAND." One of the fundamental dbjects of the Nazi Party is to correct what is regarded as the unnatural drift from the country to the cities. The people are to be made land-conscious. Thus the teacher^ of rural schools are tp be drawn from rural areas, and lest they may be spoiled by undue contact with city life, a number of the colleges for the training of teachers have been removed from the large towns to small country centres. Rightly or wrongly, it is the conviction of the German Government that the proper development of the body and the mind is to be achieved more readily in the country than in the city. The city tends to develop the mind apart from the body, a condition that is not to be tolerated. Moreover, the youth of the cities if unfamiliar with country life will too easily fall into social antagonism with the youth of the country. Education, therefore, must not be confined within four walls, it must extend to the home and especially to the open fields. " . . In order to produce the required re^ suits of National Socialist unity and of realistic as opposed to intellectualistic nurture, two plans of great educational significance have been instituted—the Landjahr for primary school children and the Lehrgange for secondary school pupils. The Landjahr is a country year to be spent by children who at the age of fourteen shall have completed their primary school course. The summer of 1934 saw 22,000 Prussian children depart from their cities to spend nine months in the country, sharing the life and work of the peasants. The children, while permitted to manage themselves and their own affairs, are placed under the strict supervision of leaders. It would seem that the experiment has proved successful since in 1935 there were 31,000 Prussian children doing their land-year. The Lehrgange represent a similar, but more restricted, experiment which was undertaken in 1934 and 1935 in the Rhine Province. All boys and girls of the two top classes of the secondary school are sent for three weeks of their school training to the country, being' accommodated at the land homes" which some of the schools pos, sess, or at the numerous Youth Hostels. The love of discipline which the German mind always seems to manifest is fully indulged, while the teacning centres upon the topics of population land settlement, economy ,of living,, and the work of the countryside. OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL. Apart from the experiments mentioned above, the centre of character training and of physical exercise has been removed to a point outside the school proper. The pupils are enrolled in the "Hitler Youth Organisation, which develops drill and discipline, seeks to select leaders, arranges crosscountry and other rural sports and demonstrations, and generally prepares the young to become realistic, active members of ths' National Socialist State. Every Saturday from 8 to 6 in the winter and from 7 to 7 in summer is devoted to the educational activities of the Hitler Youth Organisation at the schools. For the girls there is a corresponding institution known as the Bund Deutscher Madchen. It has long been an English theory that certain moral qualities such as comradeship and team work are developed not in the classroom, but on the playing fields; this notion has been taken up by Germany in a more systematic and considered, if less spontaneous, manner than ever it was by England. Yet it must not be forgotten that the English public schools in particular have long anticipated and still preserve many of the more admirable features of the new German education, including especially the development of character through organised games and by means of the leadership of prefects.

The new type of German education resembles the type that was introduced into Italy by the Fascist Government, in that it is more concerned with fashioning what Cromwell called "men of spirit" than i* is with the accumulation of facts. Since this spirit, whatever it may be, is not that of knowledge for its own sake, the effect upon research, so long the glory of German intellectual life, may be any-

thing but beneficial. The ancient 1 Greeks fashioned men who were both j intellectual and athletic, but even among the Greeks pre-eminence in both fields could seldom be achieved by the same person at the same time. Under modern conditions specialisation? however deprecated by the Nazi Government, remains an essential condition of efficiency in research. It may be expected that exemption from work-service and encouragement of specialisation may soon be found to be: advisable in the case of individuals of exceptional gifts and talents. One can hardly suppose that the spirit of research will be permitted to suffer, if only because the practical results which may accrue from it are of inestimable value. The Fascists turned Italian education from positivism to idealism; the Germans are turning education from liberalism to realism.

Wisely, the German Minister of Education, Herr Rust, lias withheld his long-expected Education Bill, pending the results of the experimental action which is already in progress on an extensive scale. In one of his speeches, as reported in the "Internationale Zeits : chrift fur Erziehung," he said: "The way to the new schools will not be covered by wearing 'seven league boots.' The time necessary for the construction of a new national education system may be compared to the time in which one reckons in forestry. Faulty ideas do not make themselves quickly felt, as in other spheres, so that they may be quickly corrected. Mistakes become apparent later. Responsible State • leadership in educational life has therefore to work with greater care and under heavier responsibilities. The general introduction of educational reforms and institutions is therefore undesirable until they have been experimentally tested in practice." In the meantime the central idea of training the young to serve the nation and the State in the spirit of national Socialism is; definite and persistent. By a decree of October 24, 1934, in connection with each school, a council is erected, known as the Schulgemeinde, including parents. teachers, and the delegated leader of the Hitler Youth Organisation, to work towards this end.