Education and Evacuation: A Comparative Study of Teachers' Roles in Britain and Germany During World War II

Presenter Information

Maegann L. HardisonFollow

Academic Level at Time of Presentation

Senior

Major

History Education

Presentation Format

Oral Presentation

Abstract/Description

This research paper analyzes the various roles of teachers in Britain and Germany during the Second World War. During wartime, teachers played a key role in implementing different political agendas into the lives of the common people. Without teachers in Germany and Britain during World War II the states would not have been able to have had such a strong influence on the children and their families. Due to this German children felt intense patriotism and loyalty to the state and Britain's government was able to use teachers to persuade parents to let their children evacuate.The first section explicitly discusses teachers in Britain with an emphasis on London. Many of these teachers worked to help evacuate students to the countryside due to bombing attacks, and then worked with parents to keep families in contact once the students were evacuated. The second section focuses on teachers and schools in Germany during the war. While there were some evacuations during this time, the main emphasis was on the political infiltration of the schools. Patriotism heavily influenced the curriculum and students' lives began to revolve around the Volk. The final section of this paper compares and contrasts the first two sections and focuses more broadly on the value of teachers.

Start Date

16-11-2018 11:30 AM

Fall Scholars Week 2018 Event

Honors College Senior Theses

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Nov 16th, 11:30 AM

Education and Evacuation: A Comparative Study of Teachers' Roles in Britain and Germany During World War II

This research paper analyzes the various roles of teachers in Britain and Germany during the Second World War. During wartime, teachers played a key role in implementing different political agendas into the lives of the common people. Without teachers in Germany and Britain during World War II the states would not have been able to have had such a strong influence on the children and their families. Due to this German children felt intense patriotism and loyalty to the state and Britain's government was able to use teachers to persuade parents to let their children evacuate.The first section explicitly discusses teachers in Britain with an emphasis on London. Many of these teachers worked to help evacuate students to the countryside due to bombing attacks, and then worked with parents to keep families in contact once the students were evacuated. The second section focuses on teachers and schools in Germany during the war. While there were some evacuations during this time, the main emphasis was on the political infiltration of the schools. Patriotism heavily influenced the curriculum and students' lives began to revolve around the Volk. The final section of this paper compares and contrasts the first two sections and focuses more broadly on the value of teachers.