Educational practice in Germany between racism and far-right ideologies

Researching educational responses to far-right youth mobilization and ideologies has so far focused mainly on informal education spaces. We thus know little about how and why teachers seek to respond to these issues in their classrooms in formal education. This is despite the fact that far-right mobilization and attitudes are rising in Germany and are having a political impact. In this article I present data from an 18-month ethnographic study in Berlin’s secondary schools, arguing that it is not only important to understand how teachers conceptualize the problem in their student body but also how teachers seek to address these issues. Through this knowledge, we will be able to better understand and systematically respond to far-right ideologies in classrooms.