Jump to content
The Education Forum

Mrs. Schuh-Fricke

Members
  • Posts

    4
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Mrs. Schuh-Fricke's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

  1. Sending your children to a private school is what France offers all those who are not happy with French secularism. But I think there is some danger here: as far as I know these priavte schools are not as closely monitored and controlled by the state as state-schools, as a consequence the state cannot influence what is really taught in those schools. An example: as far as I know Darwin and his theory of evolution is part of the curriculum of private schools established by orthodox Jews but it is only seen as a theory which is wrong because the only true story of the creation of the world and mankind can be found in the Genesis only: If school is seen as a medium to turn Jews, Muslims, Catholics, etc. into true French there should not be any private schools based on religious or ethnic differences at all ( the first Muslim private school was opened in Lille). For me schools should be a place where different people of different origins and religions meet and learn together to understand and accept diversity, to practise tolerance and respect.
  2. I would like to add some details to my own posting and John's explanation why I chose Willy Brand: for me he was a politician who still had a vision of a better and fairer society; but he was not a utopian, in a way he was vsisonary enough to strive for the nearly impossible by he was realistic enough to look for and find ways of making the impossible possible. The word "Realpolitik" in Germany is always used in context with Bismarck but in a way Brand's policy also was a form of "Realpolitik". He knew that the march to a better future began with the very first sometimes tiny steps be it a permit for people from West-Berlin to visit their families in East-Berlin after the Wall had been built or his "Neue Ostpolitik" which sometimes is actually called a "politics of small steps". His greatest succes definitely was his foreign policy and many believe that he failed in domestic politics which I think is true. But it was Brand who invited and encouraged the young people who had taken to the streets at the end of the 60's to join the SPD; he was willing to listen to us and to take us seriously. It was him who saw that the Federal Republic of Germany still showed signs of an autocratic system, that democracy was not yet firmly rooted in society and that democratisation of institutions like the universities, the parties, parliament itself was necessary. For the first time in post-war history the Federal Republic of Germany was led by two men (Gustav Heinemann - President and Willy Brand) who represented the "other" Germany, the Germans who had resisted and opposed the Nazi-system.
  3. Banning Religious Symbols and Clothes In a move that has sparked protest across France, the French government in February passed a law banning public school students from wearing Jewish skullcaps, large Christian crosses, Sikh turbans and, most controversially, Muslim headscarves. The 276-20 vote in the French Senate forbids religious apparel that shows a student’s religious affiliation. Furthermore the legislation also includes a lengthy preamble that demands that public schools guarantee total equality, including "coeducation of all teachings, particularly in sports and physical education." Schools, it said, are "the best tool for planting the roots of the republican idea. "The preamble and the law make clear that religious beliefs can not be used as an excuse to avoid gym or biology classes, and that questioning the veracity of the Holocaust would not be tolerated. Mr. Ferry also said the law "will keep classrooms from being divided up into militant religious communities ( quoted according to the New York Times, February 11, 2004) The French President, Mr. Chirac, a strong supporter of the law justified the French move by pointing out: “School is a republican sanctuary that we must defend in order to preserve equality during the acquisition of values and knowledge in girls and boys; in order to protect our children; so that our youth is not exposed to the bad winds that divide, separate and bring us into conflict with one another.” (Jacques Chirac: School must be a secular sanctuary From a speech by the French President on the banning of Islamic headscarves in Schools; The Independent, 18 December 2003 ) One of the main aims of education according to him is to unite the French behind “the values that have constituted and that still constitute France.It is in this way that we will remain a confident, assured and cohesive nation.” ( see above) The situation in Germany is a bit more difficult and at first sight slightly confusing: Headscarves are seen with increasing frequency on women in Germany's major cities, and they have become an expression of identity as well as of religious devotion. Muslim officials say that many more women in Germany wear the headscarf now than they did 10 years ago. The reasons for the headgear are no longer only religious; for some, the scarves have evolved as an emblem of confidence and identity for Muslim women. Fereshta Ludin, a 31-year-old Afghanistan native was banned from taking up post to teach English and German teacher in primary and secondary schools in 1998, because she insisted on wearing her headscarf, or hijab as it is known in Arabic, in the classroom for religious reasons. The board of education in the state of Baden Wuerttemberg argued at the time that her headscarf would violate the state’s neutrality on religion. Since then Ludin, who became a German citizen in 1995, has seen her case move through a string of German courts -- from the municipal level all the way to Germany's highest court. In January, the constitutional court stressed in its ruling that though Germany’s constitutional law did not explicitly forbid the wearing of headscarves in the classroom in state-run schools in the first place, the possibility remained for states to legally enact such a ban. The court stressed that the German state’s neutrality on religion shouldn’t be understood as a strict separation of church and state. Thus, if federal states didn’t want to employ teachers wearing a headscarf, they would first need to create unambiguous laws that expressly forbid religious symbols in the classroom, the court said. In Ludin’s case, such a legal ban wasn’t in place in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, it noted. Ms. Ludin and the Muslim communities in Germany welcomed the ruling and saw it as a victory, but a string of German states have now issued statements saying they plan to introduce legislation that would ban Muslim teachers (teachers only, the students are and will be allowed to wear the hijab)from wearing the headscarf in the future in state-run schools and thus preserve the state’s neutral stance on religion. The new laws would only apply to Muslim dresses and symbols Christian and/or Jewish dresses or symbols would still be allowed in state-schools. But there are also opposing views: famous women formed a group, which sees itself working independently of political and religious considerations, which signed an "appeal against a headscarf law." Initiated by Federal Commissioner for Integration and Foreigners, Marieluise Beck, the protest initiative includes politicians from across the party spectrum, scientists and leaders from the church and media. Former parliamentary president, Rita Suessmuth (a member of the CDU= Christian Democratic Union), minister for Consumer Affairs and Agriculture Renate Kuenast (The Greens), Federal Commissioner for Human Rights Claudia Roth and popular actresses Katja Riemann and Renan Demirkan have all lent the petition their support. The group resists equating Muslim women wearing headscarves with fundamentalism. Though they admit that the headscarf can be a visible instrument used by Islamic fundamentalists to portray the repression of women, it insists that not all women wearing the headscarf are religious fanatics. The protestors emphasise that many Muslim women don’t view emancipation and the headscarf as contradictory. Ms. Ludin has always stressed that she wears the hijab out of her own will and that it is part of her religious and ethnic identity which she wants to keep even though she has become a German citizen. In contrast to Mr. Chirac the German President, Mr. Rau, strongly opposes forbidding Muslim teachers to wear a hijab. In different speeches he demanded that Islamic headscarves receive equal treatment with symbols of other faiths such as Christianity or Judaism. "State schools must respect each and everyone, whether Christian or pagan, agnostic, Muslim or Jew," Rau said on television. "If the headscarf is an expression of religious faith, a dress with a missionary character, then that should apply equally to a monk's habit or a crucifix." (the crucifix still can be found in Bavarian state-schools; the right to display it is encoded in Bavarian law) In addition to religious education for Catholics and Protestants in German state-schools Rau expects state-schools to offer religious education for Muslims, which he sees as a palliative against students’ being indoctrinated and manipulated. If someone wants to teach in a German state-school he/she has to swear an oath of loyalty to the German constitution thus accepting it and its principles especially the Human Rights and the democratic system of German. I think the first round of the debate should concentrate on the situation and different positions mentioned above. I personally think that the debate about the veil is only one aspect of a larger issue, namely integration of immigrants and/or ethnic minorities. A second round could refer to the following questions: - how do we define “ integration” - would we prefer “ assimilation”? - how much multiculturalism, ethnic and religious diversity are we/our societies willing to or able to accept without losing its own identity - what do we expect from the immigrants/ethnic minorities living in our midst? Mr. Chirac does not mince words and has a very clear definition of what he expects from those who want to be French: “Everyone must be proud of France, our country. Everyone must feel a guardian of her heritage. Everyone must feel responsible for her future. Let us transform today's problems into tomorrow's assets by resolutely pursuing the unity of the French people. By confirming our commitment to an open and generous secularism such as we have been able to create year after year. By improving equality of opportunity, the spirit of tolerance and solidarity. By fighting resolutely for the rights of women. By uniting behind the values that have constituted and that still constitute France.” (see above) I think the “musts” of the German President sound different: he expects every immigrant and/or member of an ethnic minority to learn the German language, to accept and follow the Basic law- our constitution – to accept the rule of law and the German laws and legal system.
×
×
  • Create New...