As of: March 6, 2024, 3:48 p.m
By: Markus Thiel
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“Creative subjects like music actually need to be strengthened,” says Munich baritone Christian Gerhaher.
© Gregor Hohenberg
Bavaria's state government did not expect this headwind to the primary school reform.
Education Minister Anna Stolz (Free Voters) emphasizes that it is “simply wrong” that music, art and works are combined in one common subject at primary schools.
In addition, each of these subjects can continue to be taught with the same number of hours as before.
However, it is not just the “can” formulation that arouses suspicion.
Also with baritone Christian Gerhaher.
Even if, according to the minister, the three subjects will be retained, it is clear that more German and mathematics should be taught while keeping the total number of hours constant. This means that cuts have to be made somewhere. What are you afraid of now?
I fear that the Free State is increasingly failing to fulfill its responsibility for the cultural mandate, which is prominently featured in the constitution.
Things have already moved in this direction during the pandemic.
And the signs continue to grow.
Furthermore, it is unreasonable for us artists, who do not have the duty to monitor this, to constantly have to speak out against it.
It is incredibly difficult to have to deal with a state that has to guarantee the financing of the arts and yet acts so subversively in this way.
So there is a fundamental attitude behind the current development in primary schools?
Yes, of course.
Exactly the opposite of the current development would be correct: I think that the so-called creative subjects need to be strengthened.
However, education in our state has long been moving more and more in the direction of imparting skills at the expense of creativity.
Skills in regular subjects, such as learning mathematical or grammatical rules, are undoubtedly important.
But they must be accompanied by artistic subjects in order to strengthen the creative output of the population.
Also to continually question and further develop the regular subjects.
And if you don't teach young children to express themselves openly and creatively, it becomes even more difficult afterwards.
Are the minister's recent statements just a calming pill?
I see this as an attempt to take the wind out of the sails of the fairly unanimous and horrified protests.
But I don't see it as a real reversal, and that's exactly what needs to happen.
Not just a return to the status quo ante, but a real improvement in cultural education - and not a watering down.
If the total number of hours is not to be increased, where would one have to cut?
It hurts your heart to say that you have to approach English as a subject.
But I think I understand that the teachers at secondary schools say that they have to start again with this language in the fifth grade anyway.
In this respect, the effect of English lessons in primary schools cannot be estimated as high.
The second thing is that the availability of films in English and other international media has created something that did not exist when we were young.
Namely, an almost automatic familiarization with this language, as has long been the case in other countries such as Denmark or the Netherlands, where, for example, films are almost not dubbed.
So I would tackle English.
And definitely also religion.
In a country that is not secular like France, but is secular, there is too little separation between religion and state.
This has become extremely evident during the pandemic.
The churches were spared, while the theaters, concert halls and museums were closed.
Religion, but that is my personal opinion, needs to be reconsidered in terms of its usefulness as a subject.
It is a cardinal error, indeed an original sin, not to teach philosophy.
From a historical perspective, this embodies one of Germany's strongest historical moments.
By the way, I also think that the overall number of hours in primary schools should be increased, as this is also the case in other European countries.
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You are a father yourself. How did you experience your children's music lessons?
I actually observed that these lessons were unpredictable.
Some teachers can do that, he was great at that.
Others ignored it completely.
And something like that shouldn't happen at all.
Competence, especially in music lessons, is so difficult to achieve.
Specialist teachers would therefore also have to take over this task in primary school.
Is it perhaps putting too much on the primary schools? Because they have to replace what parents can no longer and do not want to convey? So the school as a repair facility?
No, I see it exactly the opposite.
I think that schools in particular must provide as much education and mediation as possible of truly cultural content that has been accumulating in Europe for thousands of years and is becoming more and more interesting instead of obsolete.
And not just because of the ability to mediate, because many parents may not be able to do that, but also because of the abundance.
And unfortunately, schools have done less and less of this in recent decades.
It's not just about having an inkling of artistic possibilities, but also about understanding them through knowledge of a certain wealth of works of art - only school can do something like that!
As far as I'm concerned, for example, with regard to my brother, who is six years older than me, I have already noticed that schools are starting to slow down in this direction.
Now there is massive criticism of Bavaria's school plans. Are you optimistic that decision-makers will change their minds?
I am deeply pessimistic.
Because I find the almost shameless attempts of the Bavarian state government for decades to characterize culture as something obsolete, as “icing on the cake” to be devastating.
This may all be an expression of a personal feeling, but a politician cannot be guided by that.
But rather that he continues to pursue and fulfill the cultural mandate as formulated in the Bavarian constitution.
You once said that such an attitude is precisely the result of an education system that needs to be criticized.
Yes.
And I believe that the first generation of politicians who come from this education system are now taking action.
But once again: Their own horizon, which I of course do not presume to criticize, must not determine the horizon of what a school has to achieve.
It is no wonder that the competence of teachers is also decreasing.
This is due, among other things, to the university teaching in the field of humanities.
It too is being increasingly undermined.
Now Germany is only in the Pisa midfield. Where does that come from?
I can not judge over this.
But at least you're not at the bottom.
Germany doesn't always have to be first.
The country is great in many things, and that includes culture.
You can't reveal that.
Under Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber there was this attitude that we always had to be at the forefront and have the youngest students.
This has led to disastrous results.
The G12 in high schools was a total failure.
Whatever was broken had to be repaired at great expense, including financial expense.
We can't afford things like that.
It's like tearing down a church.
You can't just rebuild it - it'll be over.
The conservative parties in particular, who always insist on tradition, have to be aware that we live from this cultural heritage.
That is the content of our life.
Otherwise we will become like the USA under Trump.
The interview was conducted by Markus Thiel.