The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been represented in the German Bundestag since the 2017 federal elections and currently (as of July 2024) in 14 of 16 state parliaments. Its parliamentary presence means that its ideas and concepts are increasingly having a real political impact. The topic of school policy is seen as a “resonance chamber of right-wing ideologies” (Rödel 2020, 136), which is “increasingly a field of action for the AfD” (Hafeneger 2018, 4), which “will use its parliamentary presence to change the political culture and shift political fields of action” (ibid.). At the same time, schools and other educational institutions are now more than ever faced with the question of how to deal with the increasing heterogeneity of learners in a meaningful way. Politicians are called upon to come up with solutions. The project examines the school policy proposals of the AfD party at federal and state level with regard to the following questions:

1.    On which school policy issues related to its understanding of education and school organization does the AfD express itself and what position does it take?
2.    What school policy ideas does the AfD articulate on dealing with heterogeneity and how does the party justify its positions?
3.    How have the AfD's arguments changed or been maintained over time?

To this end, the party's election manifestos, parliamentary documents and social media posts will be analyzed. This is done using the categories shown in Figure 1:

Fig. 1: Structure of the project

Rödel, Severin Sales (2020): (Erwachsenen-)Bildung in Zeiten rechtsgerichteter Metapolitik. In: Debatte. Beiträge zur Erwachsenenbildung Jg. 3, H. 2, S. 132-149.

Publications:

Editorships

2024 

• Matthes, Eva/Nikolai, Rita (Hrsg.) (2024, i.E.): Rechtspopulismus und Schule. Themenheft in der Zeitschrift Bildung und Erziehung 77 (4).

Journal articles

2024        

• Gawert, Moritz/Saur, Line/Nikolai, Rita (akzeptiert): Die AfD und Sportunterricht. Eine inhaltsanalytische Auswertung von parteipolitischen Dokumenten.  sportunterricht. Monatsschrift zur Wissenschaft und Praxis des Sports mit Lernhilfen.
• Moritz Gawert/Line Saur (2024, i.E.): Die Analyse von schulpolitischen Positionen rechtspopulistischer Akteur*innen in Sozialen Medien – ein methodischer Vorschlag. Bildung und Erziehung 77 (4), 467-482.
• Nikolai, Rita/Matthes, Eva (2024, i.E.): Rechtspopulismus und Schule - Einleitung zum Themenheft. Bildung und Erziehung 77 (4), 395-400.
• Nikolai, Rita/Feldengut, Celine (2024, i.E.): Rechte Christ:innen und die AfD: Gemeinsamkeiten schulpolitischer Positionen am Beispiel der Debatten um den Bildungsplan in Baden-Württemberg. Bildung und Erziehung 77 (4), 451-466.
• Nikolai, Rita/Gawert, Moritz/Saur, Line (i.E.): The Alternative for Germany and its school policy positions. on_education. Journal for Research and Debate.

Lectures:

2024

• Lecture at the Augsburg ver.di activist conference “Tatort Demokratie! Recognizing and countering right-wing narratives”
  Prof. Rita Nikolai, Line Saur and Moritz Gawert spoke on the topic of “AfD and school policy positions on social media”.
• Working group at the DGfE Congress 2024 in Halle-Wittenberg
  Prof. Eva Matthes and Prof. Rita Nikolai organized a working group on the topic of “Right-wing populism and schools” as part of the DGfE Congress. In the working group, Prof. Rita Nikolai, Line Saur, Moritz Gawert and Dr. Sina Meyer reported on their research work.

2024

• 26.08.2024: Radio interview on Bayrischer Rundfunk, Bayern 2, morning program “Nah dran” on the AfD's school policy positions
• 14.08.2024: „Bildungsvorhaben der AfD im Osten: Mehrere Rollen rückwärts“: On the AfD's education policy with interview quotes from Prof. Dr. Rita Nikolai on taz Online from 14.08.2024. URL:  https://taz.de/Bildungsvorhaben-der-AfD-im-Osten/!6026899/
• 12.08.2024: „So will die AfD Schule machen“. On the AfD's education policy with interview quotes from Prof. Dr. Rita Nikolai in the Süddeutsche Zeitung of 12.08.2024, page 5.
• 18.07.2024: Podcast on the working group at the DGfE Congress at the University of Halle-Wittenberg at the chair of Prof. Anke Grotlüschen (University of Hamburg): https://www.ew.uni-hamburg.de/einrichtungen/ew3/erwachsenenbildung-und-lebenslanges-lernen/podcast.html
• 20.04.2023: „Petzportal statt Inklusion“. On the AfD's education policy with interview quote from Line Saur in Der Spiegel No. 17 from 20.04.2024, p. 40-42.
• 17.04.2024: „Wenn die AfD Schule macht“. Report on the research group with interview quotes from Prof. Rita Nikolai in the Augsburger Allgemeine, 17.04.2024, No. 89, p. 14. https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/bayern/bildung-so-koennte-die-afd-die-schulpolitik-beeinflussen-id70442251.html
• 11.04.2024: Short report on Spiegel-Online about the research group with interview quotes from Line Saur: https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/bildung/afd-universitaet-augsburg-erforscht-afd-schulpolitik-a-5c284fa0-5b5f-4262-86be-3331cc88e166
• 10.04.2024: Short report on table.media about the research group with interview quotes from Line Saur: https://table.media/bildung/news/forschungsteam-widmet-sich-schulpolitischen-vorstellungen-der-afd/
• 13.03.2024: Deutschlandfunk report on the working group at the DGfE Congress. Deutschlandfunk reported on the working group „Rechtspopulismus und Schulpolitik“ at the DGfE Congress at the University of Halle-Wittenberg in the Campus & Karriere program on 13.3.2024. Moritz Gawert, Prof. Rita Nikolai and Prof. Eva Matthes were interviewed. URL: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/bildung-wie-rechtspopulistische-parteien-einfluss-nehmen-wollen-dlf-41501511-100.html

In international comparison, private school attendance is expanding. The proportion of children and young people attending public schools has increased significantly over the last three decades. An expansion can be seen above all in developing and emerging countries. However, a development of the private school sector can also be observed in many OECD countries.

This project examines the development of the public school sector in selected countries and explores the causes of the different effects on the regulation and financing of public schools. The various development paths of public school developments in international comparison are examined based on analyses of secondary literature, document analyses, and expert interviews. Expert interviews are conducted with education policy actors (including political parties, associations, representatives of churches and religious communities, and ministries).

Publications on developments in Australia, England, and New Zealand:

Nikolai, Rita (2020): Vertragsschulpolitiken in England und Neuseeland: Zur Bedeutung schulpolitischer Akteure und Ideen. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 66 (2), 251-269.

Nikolai, Rita (2019): Staatliche Subventionen für Privatschulen: Politiken der Privatschulfinanzierung in Australien und der Schweiz. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Bildungswissenschaften 41 (3), 559-575. DOI: 10.24452/sjer.41.3.1

Publications on developments in Germany, Austria and Switzerland:

Nikolai, Rita (2019): Staatliche Subventionen für Privatschulen: Politiken der Privatschulfinanzierung in Australien und der Schweiz. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Bildungswissenschaften 41 (3), 559-575. DOI: 10.24452/sjer.41.3.1

Nikolai, Rita/Wrase, Michael/Kann, Caroline/Criblez, Lucien (2018): Wirkungen von Bildungsregulierung im Vergleich: Rahmenbedingungen und Finanzierung von Privatschulen in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie 38 (2): 272–303. DOI: 10.1515/zfrs-2018-0019

Collaboration: Dr. Yusuf Özdemir, Line Saur, Moritz Gawert

How do demographic conditions, especially population and birth trends, affect school network planning? This project focuses on the region as a dimension for educational processes. The gap in higher academic attainment rates has narrowed considerably in the European Member States over the decades. Still, the regional extent has regained relevance in explaining differences in educational attainment. The project aims to examine the planning and decision-making processes for school network development at the local level and their impact on educational inequalities using selected rural regions in Germany. The transformation processes at the regional level and their causes will be examined based on selected municipalities in two federal states about the following questions: How has the school infrastructure changed from 2000 until today? What role did political, institutional, and socio-economic factors play in the changes in school infrastructure? What influence did the respective actor constellations and strategies have? What scope for design and action did school policy actors use at the municipal level? Why did regions with similar challenges (e.g., decline in pupil numbers) adopt different solutions (e.g., establishing an integrated school form)? Why did the private school sector expand in some regions and not in others? The changes in school provision since the 2000s are traced using data from the official statistics of selected federal states. In selected municipalities, the causes of changes in school infrastructure since the 2000s are also analyzed with the help of document analyses and expert interviews with school policy actors (from political parties, associations, municipal school administration, and ministries).

Publications:

"Per Mausklick durch die Schulgalaxis" (By mouse click through the school galaxy):

Together with Marcel Helbig and Markus Konrad (both from the Social Science Research Center Berlin), I investigated the development of the network of public and public schools in East Germany since reunification and converted it into an interactive map. The content of our findings is that public schools are of little help where the slump in pupil numbers is becoming a threat to school coverage. The school map is currently being expanded to include the development of school infrastructure in the western German states.

Helbig, Marcel/Konrad, Markus/Nikolai, Rita (2019): Entwicklung der Schulinfrastruktur in Ostdeutschland und die Rolle privater Schulen. In D. Fickermann, & H. Weishaupt (Hrsg.), Bildungsforschung mit Daten der amtlichen Statistik (DDS – Die Deutsche Schule, 14. Beiheft). Münster: Waxmann, 105-120. Als Open Access verfügbar unter: https://www.waxmann.com/?eID=texte&pdf=4036OpenAccess.pdf&typ=zusatztext

Helbig, Marcel/Konrad, Markus/Nikolai, Rita (2018):  Die Schulinfrastruktur in Ostdeutschland. Ein multimedialer Zugang zur Analyse der Veränderungen von Schulstandorten, WZB Discussion Paper P 2018-006, Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung.

Helbig, Marcel/Konrad, Markus/Nikolai, Rita (2018): 25 Jahre ostdeutsche Schulentwicklung zwischen demografischen Einbruch, Landflucht und Privatisierungsbestrebungen, WZBrief Bildung Nr. 38.

Link to the map

https://schulenkarte.wzb.eu

In recent years, pedagogy as a scientific discipline and practice has increasingly faced the challenge of dealing with the influence of extreme right-wing actors on different fields (e.g. school policy or areas of social work). Particularly in the academic context, the analysis of these influences raises the question of the importance of a critical approach to research data and the (normative) positioning of academics as social actors. The dissertation aims to discuss these questions by developing a concept of a contemporary re-actualization of pedagogical critique in the context of extreme right-wing positions based on critical theory and testing it on empirical material. In doing so, she would also like to make a contribution to the revitalization of critical theory for pedagogical analyses.

A description of the topic will follow soon