taz: Mr. Dobrovych, after Hamas’ attack on Israel there were conflicts in German schoolyards. There were also conflicts at the Osnabrück Three Religion Schoolwhere you teach?
Vyacheslav Dobrovych: No, we have not had any conflicts related to the Middle East conflict. It’s like this: Parents who send their children to a three-religious school are clear from the start where their children will be taught. These are people who are interested in their children growing up in a pluralistic environment. In addition, children of primary school age are usually just a mouthpiece for their parents anyway.
taz: What does that mean?
Dobrovych: Should any incidents occur on the part of the children, In my opinion, this would always be traced back to the parental home. But I think that parents who send their children to a three-religion school are fundamentally more open to other religions, otherwise they would not have chosen such a school.
taz: After October 7th there were discussions about whether and how the Middle East conflict should be discussed in schools. How did you deal with this at your school?
Dobrovych: We once had a conversation among the teachers: We all agreed that we don’t want conflicts from the Middle East to have an impact on our everyday school life in Osnabrück.
taz: But you didn’t discuss the topic in class?
Dobrovych: I don’t know what it was like in other lessons, but I didn’t discuss the topic in class myself. I teach elementary school students. In my opinion, children will learn about the suffering in the world soon enough. I prefer to focus on teaching content, crafts, and teaching the kids about the holidays and the letters.
My goal is to enable families who have had their identity taken away from them so that their children can learn about their religion in an authentic way, in its full beauty and first hand.
taz: What can other schools learn from the three-religion school?
Dobrovych: To deal sensitively with the circumstances of other religions. For example, our school has food that is kosher. In other schools’ cafeterias there may be dishes that children of certain religions are not allowed to eat. I believe, that other schools don’t always think for everyone.
taz: The three-religion school wants to teach children acceptance of non-religious classmates. However, the children’s religious identities are also intended to be strengthened through separate Islamic, Jewish and Christian religious education. How does that fit together?
“One school – three religions, opportunity – new territory – challenge” with panel discussion, January 20th, 4:30 p.m., Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Zentralbegäude, room C40.601
Dobrovych: I think that fits together very well, because when you are secure in your own religious identity, you ideally also treat other religions more respectfully. Precisely because one’s own faith is sacred, one is more willing to understand and respect the fact that other people also have something similar in their lives – in the form of a different religion.
taz: What do you think? from an interreligious teaching model?
Dobrovych: From a Jewish perspective, I wouldn’t welcome that. Here in Germany, many Jews come from contexts in which their religion was taken away from them, such as the Soviet Union. My goal is to enable families who have had their identity taken away from them so that their children can learn about their religion in an authentic way, in its full beauty and first hand. This is not possible with interreligious lessons, especially not if the teacher does not know Judaism from the inside but only from books.