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This paper analyses the
causes and effects of the striking change in terminology and
strategy in Germany’s education policy debates from a
sociohistorical perspective. It interprets the current popularity
of economic strategies and language in the context of the long-term
structural change in the German education system, the demise
of the system of entitlement and the expansion of commercial
education provision in traditional areas of state responsibility
over the last decades. The paper makes the point that, in the
long run, this may result in shrinking of free state education
provision to a core of schools offering the obligatory minimum,
with the education certificates relevant for professional careers
being increasingly attained in private an commercial institutions.
Such a retreat of the public sector from this core area of its
traditional responsibilities and the ensuing departure of the
social elites from state education would have a lasting impact
on the democratic culture in Germany. |
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