Democracy in School 2025 | Community exchange in Wolfsburg

Prof. Dr. Harald Hantke from the Leuphana University of Lüneburg kicked off the event with a keynote speech on three levels of democracy education: democratic structures in schools, democracy as teaching content and democratic pedagogy.

These three levels were then discussed in World Cafés. The participants were able to share their own experiences in practice, identify problems and develop new ideas together. The focus was on the shared visions of what constitutes democracy in schools: genuine and low-threshold opportunities for participation, lived diversity and a space in which everyone feels comfortable. 

In addition, the participants discussed concrete measures for their everyday school life, such as strengthening student representation, reducing hierarchies or trying out teaching experiments. Ultimately, this also reflected Prof. Dr. Harald Hantke's thesis: “We are not born democrats, but ideally become one through experience. So we have to learn democracy first. And there is no better place for experience than school.” (Here you can find the full Interview.)

We would like to thank all participants for this exchange and look forward to continuing the discussions on this currently important topic. Other interested parties are also dearly invited to attend.