At the beginning of the 21st century, political education finds itself confronted with a period of upheaval and transition. This situation means that political education is being forced into redefining its tasks and the way it sees itself. Given that this current period of upheaval and transition encompasses a multitude of factors, political education and, indeed, modern societies' entire education systems are faced with new challenges. This page provides a very brief summary of some of the terms associated with social change; terms that are at the centre of the current debate going on in social science and political journalism:

'Information, knowledge and service-orientated society': The industrial age is coming to an end; while the number of jobs in industry has been falling continuously in modern societies for several years, services and in particular activities involving knowledge have been becoming more and more important. To this end, the old industrial model that played such as significant role in influencing school education is fading. Modern schools and compulsory education came about as a direct result of the historical development of industrialization. Indeed, the similarities between the way in which industrial work and school education is organized are striking: Compare if you will the Taylor System and the way in which subjects are taught; mass production and the way in which education marches forwards in step (both in terms of years, grades and also in term of lessons which, apparently so naturally, expect all pupils to learn the same things at the same time); the ridged, time-orientated rhythm of working procedures and the school day; the indifference to the object of the work and the attitude towards the "subject matter" that has to be "gone through"; the faultless product and the clear emphasis on a "right answer"; working for money as the number one priority and learning for grades; the hierarchical and centralized control of working procedures and the running of schools.

The way in which people see school, in the sense of their being a kind of cultural "script" with dictates the way in which "education" is perceived and which creates public expectations of what schooling should be (very much different to the view of educational science and educational subjects) have been irreversibly influenced by this working model: Education as 'teaching subject matter' in a process that is plannable and controllable. (...)

'Media-orientated society': It wasn't until rather late in the day that political education began addressing the "digital revolution" sweeping through the media landscape and public communication systems, defining its tasks with regard to this new situation and sounding out the opportunities offered by digital media for learning. While the IT industry is currently experiencing a sharp downturn (which some have compared with the crisis that faced the railway industry following the speculation and overheating of the market in the 1870s), there can be little doubt that the digital revolution is still in its infancy. The long-term economic, political and cultural consequences of this period of change are difficult to forecast and there are far more questions than there are answers when it comes to tapping the potential offered by digital media for (political) education.

'Pluralization and the post-traditional society': As we reach the end of the industrial age, the social structures and class systems that have strongly influenced the cultural situation and political conflicts since the 19th century are gradually being eaten away. Much more than was ever the case during the industrialized period, a post-traditional society is being created by strong movements towards a society that is more pluralistic and individualistic, in which people are far less likely than a few decades ago to define their personal identity in terms of belonging to the political and cultural class into which they were born and bred (...)

Moreover, the cultural effects of migration also belong to pluralism. However, this can hardly be considered a new area for political education, since it has a remarkable tradition of making migration problems the subject of discussion. Yet for all this, there is a clear lack of concepts and materials with which migrants as a target group can be better addressed by political education. This is something that is desired and essential and something to which political education should attach much more importance, not least following the events of September 11, 2001.

'Europeanization and globalization': Globalization is the term associated with the current debate going on in politics and social sciences and stands for complex processes and the internationalization of economies, cultures and politics. Within these globalization processes, another process called Europeanization has developed in West Europe that has seen the European Union (...) develop into a fourth political decision-making level. While political education remains non-thematic, it is for the most part institutionally and culturally bound to the frame of reference that is the national state. Indeed, it is in a national context that political education has developed into its modern form and a in a national context that it should serve in helping integration. As far as multi-perspectivity and controversiality in political education's analysis of current politics is concerned, understanding this as an opportunity to integrate the political positions of other societies into the debate, especially where this would be expected given the degree of political internationalisation, is more likely to be the exception rather than rule. The culture of political education as a subject has not been internationalized to a great degree; this also applies to teaching politics compared to other scientific subjects.

[Wolfgang Sander, Politische Bildung nach der Jahrtausendwende (Political Education at the Turn of the Millennium). Perspectives and Modernization Tasks, in: Politik und Zeitgeschichte B 45/2002, published by the Federal Centre for Political Education, p. 37-38]