2022: The German Educational Research Association and its role in dealing with cases of sexualized violence against children and adolescents by pedagogical professionals

The German Educational Research Association (GERA) commissioned the Institute of Conflict Research (IKF) to prepare an expert report on their role in dealing with cases of sexualized violence against children and adolescents by educational professionals. For a long time, this was considered a marginalised topic within the GERA, but since 2010, when cases of abuse at various educational institutions in Germany became public and made waves in the media, as well as in professional discourse, an intensified engagement within the GERA can be recognized. Specifically, the GERA was interested in clarifying "whether and, if so, in what way the GERA as a professional society has contributed to a climate of fading out, (tacit) acceptance and legitimisation of sexualized violence," according to the commission.

The central starting points for the investigation were, on one hand, the incidents of abuse at the reform pedagogically oriented Odenwald School. The school’s headmaster, Gerold Becker (1972-1985), and other teachers were accused of (serious) sexual assaults. On the other hand, the placement of children and adolescents with previously convicted paedophiles by the Berlin Child and Youth Welfare Service in the 1970s, which is associated with the name Helmut Kentler, was investigated. According to the GERA, both cases evoked questions about their responsibility.

The commission included a review of the GERA's handling of sexual/sexualised violence based on the GERA's file holdings, which are stored in the archives of the Library for Research on the History of Education (BBF) in Berlin. The GERA's file holdings relevant to us included: the minutes of board meetings, the boards of sections and commissions, and of general meetings; the records of the GERA board chairpersons; correspondence and records on the preparation and follow-up of congresses, award ceremonies, commissions and workshops; membership lists and files, etc. The basis for the investigation also included the GERA's bulletins as well as existing documentation and scientific analyses of both incidents and of those accused of sexualized violence. The time frame of the investigation extended from the founding of the GERA in 1964 to 2014.

After a thorough study of the relevant literature on the subject, the document analysis was carried out with the aim of clarifying the question of the involvement of the GERA. Furthermore, the “Fachverband’s” (professional association’s) responsibility in dealing with the subject was to be evaluated. On the basis of a timeline, which on the one hand contrasts central socio-political events and discussions in connection with sexuality and (sexual) violence, as well as the discovery of cases of abuse in Germany, and on the other hand the GERA's involvement with the topic, it was analysed how and whether the GERA confronted and acted on the topic of sexualized violence against children and adolescents by pedagogical professionals.

In the report, which was completed in the fall of 2022, an introductory chapter traces the socio-political discourse relevant to our topic from the 1960s onward, before offering two chapters detailing the relationship of Gerold Becker and the GERA, and Helmut Kentler and the GERA, respectively – as far as these could be traced through the DGfE files. We then address the question of the extent to which the GERA can be seen as part of a network of Gerold Becker and Helmut Kentler. In the following chapter, we examine the responsibility and involvement of the Fachgesellschaft with regard to the discussion of sexualized violence by pedagogical professionals, as it can be traced according to the statutes, but also according to the discussions that took place. Finally, we formulated conclusions and recommendations.

The results of the study were presented to the professional public at the GERA's fall conference in November 2023.