Civil defence pedagogies and narratives of democracy: disaster education in Germany

Abstract

Abstract'Disaster education' is a fledgling area of study in lifelong education. Many countries educate their populations for disasters, to mitigate potential damage and loss of life, as well as contribute to national security. In this paper, which draws on interview data from the German Federal Office for Civil Defence and Disaster Assistance and the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, archival research, analysis of websites and promotional materials as well as relevant academic literature, I examine disaster education and preparedness for national emergencies in Germany. I argue that it is not generally extended to the general public, rather confined to trained experts, decentralised, localised and exclusive. Theorising disaster education as a 'civil defence pedagogy ' (Preston, 2008), a type of public pedagogy, which contributes to shaping narratives of national identity, I argue that it is unlikely that Germany will develop a more inclusive, universal, formalised, nor high-profile campaign in disaster education in the foreseeable future. This, I suggest, is due to narratives of the German democratic nation state as secure, federal, peaceful and unified, which originated at the founding of West Germany in 1949, and continue to shape contemporary political narratives.

Komunikasi kebencanaan Radio Bunut sebagai radio komunitas di Sukabumi

“…Sebuah riset menyebutkan fase bencana menjadi tiga tahap, tahap pre-event, event, dan post-event (Spialek & Houston, 2018 pencegahan bencana berupa pemberian materi kebencanaan bagi pasien dan masyarakat sekitar. Preston menulis, "Disaster education exists to save 'lives' and allow for the continuation of 'society'' (Chadderton, 2015). Edukasi bencana perlu diberikan oleh semua pihak untuk memberikan pemahaman mengenai bencana yang akan terjadi atau malah berpotensi terjadi di masyarakat.…”

Disaster preparedness, adaptive politics and lifelong learning: a case of Japan

“…Drawing on international case studies, they identify navigation, organisation and reframing as broad types of community learning in a disaster. These studies focus on communities' learning processes after disasters, while others discuss 'pedagogies of preparedness' in both formal and informal settings (Chadderton, 2015a;Preston et al, 2011). What this article aims to do is to delve into the politics of lifelong and lifewide disaster preparedness, drawing on the case of Japan.…”

Situating preparedness education within public pedagogy

“…An absence of disaster education in Germany is an unusual example of a pedagogy for the public. Chadderton (2015a) argues that one of the major reasons for the German state not promoting disaster education derives from Germany's war history -the state has to portray itself as 'a functioning democracy' , which successfully provides the citizens with safety. This is the 'lesson' given to the citizens -but by not offering public disaster education.…”

“…Preston's in-depth interrogation has illuminated the transformative nature of preparedness pedagogies, although with a restricted utilisation of the term, 'public pedagogy' . Drawing on Preston (2008), Chadderton (2015a) conceptualises 'civil defence' (one of the synonyms of preparedness) in discussing disaster education in Germany. She discusses the two dimensions of disaster education: lifelong education and public pedagogy.…”

“…The leading scholar is Preston, whose sole-authored theoretical contributions (2008,2010,2012,2015), as well as co-authored pieces (2011,2014) have focused on empirical findings. The paper also interrogates other developments that connect disaster education to public pedagogy (Chadderton 2015a(Chadderton , 2015bKitagawa, forthcoming). It should be noted that there is a rich body of literature available on preparedness 'curricula' (e.g.…”