The Transformation of East German Education—A Comparison Between the Federal States of Berlin and Brandenburg

Abstract

United Germany comprises sixteen federal states whose cultural sovereignty in education must in many respects be reconsidered given the new developments of the European Community (EC). At the same time, Eastern Europe is standing at the door with the problems of newly established states. These new countries are looking to Western models of society and education for their guidance, while at the same time hoping for closer economic links with the EC. In the face of these contradictory movements of decentralization and centralization at the same time new possibilities are opening for education as a factor in the development of the economy and society. There is therefore a discernible need already for political action both within the states of the European Community and in relations between West and East.