How Should Political Issues Be Approached in Schools?

Japan and Germany have developed their approaches to civic and political education in accordance with their respective historical contexts. In Germany, civic education was systematically promoted at the state level after World War II. This included the formulation of the Beutelsbach Consensus, which defines key principles for political education in schools, as well as the establishment of the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb), a public institution tasked with strengthening democracy and civil society through civic education.

In Japan, by contrast, political topics were long approached with caution in school education. However, when the voting age was lowered to 18 in 2016, the importance of civic education was reassessed and gained renewed attention.

At the same time, democracy today faces new challenges: social polarization, political radicalization amplified by social media, the rise of political extremism right-wing populism, and declining trust in political institutions are just a few examples.

This Japanese–German symposium, jointly organized by Vote at Chuo!! and Shiraume Gakuen University, brings together educators and students to explore—based on the experiences of Japan and Germany—which forms of civic education can contribute to strengthening democracy today.

Speakers: Christian Johann (Director, European Academy Berlin), Yuri Kai (Student, Dalton Tokyo Gakuen), Shigeo Kodama (Director, Shiraume Gakuen University), Masato Ohata (Lehrer, Jiyu Gakuen) Gernot Wolfram (Professor, Macromedia University of Applied Sciences)
Commentator: Akiko Kawashima (Associate Professor, Shiraume Gakuen University)
Moderators: Mayuko Horimoto (Department of Education, Toyo University), Tamami Ueno (Student, Chuo University / Vote at Chuo!!)
Organizers: Vote at Chuo!! (Student Association for Civic Education, Chuo University), Shiraume Gakuen University Kodomogaku Kenkyujo