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Eva Feußner (CDU), Minister of Education of the State of Saxony-Anhalt: Controversial issue of gender language
Photo: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert / dpa
If the move was to end or even pacify the heated debate about gender language, this hope was in vain: As the "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung" reported on Tuesday, Saxony-Anhalt's Minister of Education Eva Feußner (CDU) has banned the use of gender asterisks and similar spellings in schools. This type of grammar is prohibited in the entire school cosmos, this applies to teaching as well as official correspondence. The echo is not long in coming. The opposition quickly warned of unnecessary conflicts, and resistance is also stirring in a teachers' union.
"The Minister of Education should take this back," said Eva Gerth, chairwoman of the trade union for education and science (GEW) Saxony-Anhalt. School cannot exist independently of society. And in society, there is a dispute about gender-equitable language. "You can have different opinions about that, but it's not a solution to keep quiet about it by banning it," Gerth told SPIEGEL.
The ministry justifies the decision with the recent decision of the Council for German Spelling. He had stated that the grammatical special forms do not correspond to the current official regulations. The Council continued to classify them as special characters and recommended that the official rules be supplemented by a section on special characters, which did not yet exist. In an interview with SPIEGEL, council member Henning Lobin described the decision as progress. The decisions of the Spelling Council had thus made it clear "that the use of gender signs should not simply be considered a spelling error."
The Ministry of Education of Saxony-Anhalt gives teachers leeway on this issue. Here it depends on the overall view of student performance, said a ministry spokesman. In this case, labeling is recommended as part of the correction. A punishment is the consideration of the teacher.
Culture clash without necessity
The Green parliamentary group criticized the decision of Eva Feußner. The Ministry of Education is getting lost in the culture war without need, said the education policy spokeswoman for the parliamentary group, Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz. The decision leads to unnecessary confrontation and division. It is essential that students learn about the use of gender-neutral language at school.
Queer people with different gender identities have also long been part of the reality of everyday school life, among teaching staff, students and also among parents, said GEW state chairwoman Gerth. "For them, gender-neutral language is always an appreciation. It's about making everyone feel at home in our schools.«
What exactly the ban means for teaching practice is still open. In social media, there are questions about whether gendered teaching material, such as that used by the Center for Civic Education, should no longer be used. "That would be a real disaster," says Gerth. However, she interprets the minister's initiative more openly in this respect. "I very much hope that there will be room for gender in the classroom. And then you can discuss a gender asterisk, compromises or alternatives. But I would like students who gender not to be punished by being blamed for their mistakes."
»Warm words, vague announcements«
So far, she has not received any feedback or questions from unsettled school staff, Gerth said. "It's more of a matter of 'What kind of debate is this?' We have a shortage of teachers, we have virtually buried the issue of inclusion in Saxony-Anhalt because there are too few special school staff. We don't talk about equal opportunities and we have a lot of school dropouts. And now they're opening up a secondary theatre of war. The school has completely different concerns.«
Already on Tuesday, the GEW Saxony-Anhalt published a press release warning of miserable education supply. SPIEGEL has received a letter from the Minister of Education to school principals in the state of Saxony-Anhalt this week. "Your dedication and dedication are the cornerstones of our education system," writes Minister Feußner, presenting various measures for the new school year, including the promotion of democracy. One should get into discursive conversation with the students on social and current political topics, hashtag #moderndenken. "There are warm words for the schools, vague announcements and the ban on the gender asterisk," Gerth assesses the letter. "We don't get more money, we don't talk about working hours. These are all questions that are of no interest to the Ministry of Education."
Federal Chancellor Scholz wishes for serenity
The controversial issue of gendering in schools is also shown by the case of a Berlin father who wanted to achieve a ban – and failed before the Berlin Administrative Court. The school administrations had left the teachers free to gender, the court ruled. The gender-neutral communication with parents and pupils is not objectionable, as the language is sufficiently understandable. Political neutrality in the school system is also not violated by this. Gendering is not accompanied by political expression. And: The high school students are "fundamentally expected to be confronted with the views and values of a pluralistic society – despite a possible contradiction to their own convictions."
Federal Chancellor Scholz recently called for conciliation on the subject. In an episode of the podcast "Hotel Matze" at the weekend, he called for a willingness to compromise and more serenity in society. "Well, I, for example, have gotten into the habit of saying 'craftsmen' as often as possible," he said in the podcast. But I think it's okay when others say: 'And then a lot of workers came together'. At the same time, however, I think it's perfectly okay when I meet a master craftswoman and entrepreneur in the east of Brandenburg and introduce herself with: 'I'm a bricklayer'." All of this can be "handled differently in one room and in greater friendship with each other".
jlo/dpa