Socialism With an Un-Beautiful Face. Ideological Infiltration of Primary and Higher Education in the Former German Democratic Republic

Academic Paper from the year 2009 in the subject History Europe - Germany - Postwar Period, Cold War, grade: A, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Curriculum & Instruction), course: C&I 584, language: English, abstract: Alas, as Arnswald (2004) bemoans, today's generation of German students has no recollection any more about this part of German history, two decades after the peaceful revolution in the GDR and the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Students of other countries will have even less memories of images seen on TV, or accounts read in the print media - moreover, they have not lived through these experiences. This justifies the following literature review, which will give evidence of educational inequality during the GDR regime under the Socialist Unity Party (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands; SED). It will be organized in five sub-chapters: 1. the case study of Ute, the "privileged"; 2. a historical overview of the East German school system; 3. the East German School system as viewed by proponents and opponents; 4. the purging of East German schools after the unification (political "soundness"); and 5. the implications for female students after the "Wende" ("Change"; unification).
"We knew what the rewards were.... And we wanted them. The coaches and teachers reminded us every week that we were the Priviligierten. Even if we didn't always feel so 'privileged,' we believed we were the elite". This comes from the mouth of an East German student. Can one be privileged in the educational sector, thus having unique career opportunities that fellow students do not have? The striking case study of an East German athlete, skater Ute, shall shed light on the unethical and politically and ideologically infiltrated practices of the school system of the former German Democratic Republic.

Christina Linda Lyons (born Voss) holds a PhD in English from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, FTSK Germersheim, Germany (2003) and a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2013) and has taught English and English Education for 15 years in the United States. She was a student teacher for a year at Carbondale Community High School, taught for 10 years at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, for a year at John A. Logan College in Carterville, IL, and for nearly four years at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. Her interests include Freemasonry and secret/planned languages, learning disabilities (dyslexia, dysgraphia, etc.), translations, educational philosophy, pedagogy, and music. She was married to the late pianist and composer David Paul Lyons and studied music composition with him as well as with Armando Bayolo, Christopher Walczak, and Phillip Brown at SIUC for several semesters, winning about 22 composition awards and honorable mentions. She also holds two Montessori certificates (Early Childhood and Elementary Education) and is interested in child-centered, constructivist, and hands-on education.