EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY - A NEW ANALYSIS OF AN EXAMPLE OF INTERCULTURAL INFLUENCE

Post-war Germany presented a unique example of a country with a strong cultural and educational tradition which was in need of democratisati on. As one of the occupying powers, the British saw educational reform as a key element to this. Their idea of 'education for democracy' gav e rise to a controversy concerning 're-education' versus 'educational reconstruction', which is analysed in this article, thereby revealing basic assumptions and aims. Universities were intended as a major area fur reform in the New Germany. It is seen that the initial British ro le of strict control was quickly transformed into an advisory and supp ortive function, for which the involvement of the British University O fficers was vital. An example of a well meaning but failed implementat ion of change, i.e. the 1947 AUT delegation, is contrasted with the wo rk of the University Reform Commission of 1948. The latter laid the fo undations for a new start, recommending in particular stronger links b etween universities and adult education. Some examples of these are br ought out here. By adopting a systematic rather than a solely historic al stance, the conclusions drawn are transferable to other, comparable situations ultimately concerned with intercultural understanding, and to contemporary intercultural issues in Education.