Mandate ongoing professional development for history educators urged by historians
In an interview with the 'New Osnabrücker Zeitung' (Sunday edition), Lutz Raphael, the chairman of the Association of Historians in Germany (VHD), has expressed concern about the state of history education in the country. Raphael argues that history lessons are essential for civic education, and teachers should be brought up to date on the issues. He emphasized the importance of intensifying the teaching of history due to the impact of social media with fake news. A recent survey by the Jewish Claims Conference revealed some worrying trends. Approximately 40% of 18-29 year-olds in Germany do not know the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. Only two out of three respondents knew the name Auschwitz, and 12% said they had never heard of the term Holocaust. Raphael criticizes the school-based mediation of history as the cause of knowledge gaps, particularly regarding the Nazi era and the Holocaust. He believes that current history teachers need to be further qualified. To address this issue, Raphael calls for mandatory further training for teachers in the subject of history. He compared the lack of mandatory further training for teachers to the requirement for professionals like doctors, psychologists, and therapists to further qualify. He did not understand why there is no mandatory further training for teachers and considered it negligent. Raphael also advocates for history to be offered continuously, 'and that means enough time and by subject teachers.' He argues that history should be consistently taught by subject teachers, rather than being integrated into other subjects. In Germany, unlike professions such as doctors or psychologists, there is no mandatory legal requirement for teachers to undergo continuing education in specific subjects like history. Teaching professions are regulated differently, often with more decentralized educational governance by the federal states, and continuing education is generally encouraged but not uniformly enforced by law. Raphael warns that the weaknesses in the current teaching structure of history 'ultimately come back to haunt us.' He believes that it is crucial to ensure that future generations are well-informed about the past to prevent history from repeating itself.
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