Appeal from the "Cooperative for Freinet Pedagogy e.V., Germany" to all educators and educational institutions

 

May 2024

We look back over the last 80 years in Germany, we can see, despite all the justified criticism in detail, that we have by and large lived in internal and external security and achieved a high degree of prosperity. There have been no armed conflicts for almost 80 years. That is unique in German history.

However, especially in recent times, things have happened and continue to happen that can shake our belief in the continuation of this state of affairs and thus give rise to uncertainty and fear of the future. Some of these may be real, but often they are also deliberately fueled. 

This happens through disinformation, false claims and targeted political influence for the purpose of destabilizing our political system. Trust in our democratic institutions, which have grown over decades for our benefit, is to be shaken by propaganda-like campaigns. The resulting desire for new security is then to be fuelled by impulses that once before, in the 1930s, plunged life in Germany into a situation of decades of suffering and brought death to many millions of people.

We plead you:

Become active in your schools, daycare centres or whatever educational institutions, come clean and resist the unbearable right-wing positions and dogmas that are increasingly spreading in our country.

It's about our country and its future. The more we think about it, the more we realize that, despite all the faults and weaknesses that this country has, we have a treasure that must be preserved by all means. Let us all work together to ensure that our democracy is not only preserved in its current form but, on the contrary, expanded and developed. We firmly believe that it is democracy in action that can put a stop to these tendencies.

Let us not lose this opportunity. In view of our country's history, we even have an obligation to take a stand.

The educators organized in the Cooperative for Freinet Pedagogy have been working closely with Freinet groups from around 30 countries worldwide for decades to give democracy sufficient space in their field of work (schools, daycare centres, etc.). The guiding principle in this work has always been Freinet's saying:

"The democracy of tomorrow is prepared by exercising democracy at school. An authoritarian regime at school cannot educate democratic citizens." (Célestin Freinet, Pedagogical Invariant No. 27)




For us Freinet educators, this has always meant prioritizing the teaching of democracy over the practice of democracy in order to gradually develop a democratic attitude in children and young people. The principles of a diversity-conscious school are multilingualism and multi-perspectivity, interculturality and internationality as well as many forms of democratic participation.

With this in mind, let's start work first thing tomorrow:

Let us transform our institutions into consistently democratic institutions in which learners and teachers can develop and consolidate their democratic attitudes.

Let's start tomorrow by expanding or setting up class councils and school assemblies in which learners (including teachers) can try out real co-determination and learn how to deal with boundaries.

Utilize democratic education to focus in particular on decision-making processes in class councils and school assemblies.

Create situations in which learners can experience and develop self-efficacy and self-confidence.

Get together with like-minded people and communicate with others.

Even small steps can have the impact of setting a good example.

Develop a variety of creative opportunities through music, art, theatre and language to explore life in diversity. Freinet pedagogy is our source. In our projects, young people deal with multilingualism, religious diversity, social power structures and the associated identity conflicts.

This appeal could be a start. Let's get in touch and work together to maintain and develop democracy.

Let's make it happen.

On behalf of and in consultation with the board of the German "Kooperative für Freinetpädagogik"

Hartmut Glänzel, former chairman, glaenzel@t-online.de

Gitta Kovermann, former president of the FIMEM, b.kovermann@t-online.de

Franz Steinberger, current board member, franz.steinberger@wirnet.de