Joachim Broecher Books

The book explores the challenges faced by young people who disengage from traditional education due to a lack of relevance and support. It highlights the struggles of learning groups in overwhelmed daycare and school settings, exacerbated by a shortage of skilled workers. The narrative delves into the alienation experienced by adults in a functionalist work environment, the fragmentation of society, and the increasing social isolation of individuals, often seeking solace in digital parallel worlds as a form of compensation.

This volume explores social developments in Berlin since the 1920s, focusing on urban spaces and cultural scenes through Joachim Broecher's fieldwork inspired by Benjamin's "The Arcades Project." It includes diverse texts that challenge academic boundaries, posing the question of how to explore new territories in pedagogy, society, and culture.

This text is about what happened to a teacher traveling by train with his class to the North Sea island of Sylt, in Germany, where the group intends to spend a week in a school camp. During the journey, various incidents and upsets also involving the other passengers take place that escalate to the uncoupling of a train car. This real episode was used productively for several years in special education university courses, such as inclusive education, for the purpose of storytelling as a pedagogical tool in higher education. Each time, this story had the effect of stimulating the start of a critical scholarly discourse on the inclusive and exclusive forces of society that are manifest in it. There are many indications that just such an emotionally jolting story from real pedagogical life can lead the students to tap into the subject´s complexity. Observations also suggest that examining the story `Incident on a train´ seems to strengthen students´ own pedagogical engagement for more social cohesion and that this story helps them formulate their action-oriented values more clearly.

In the coming years, politics and society should open two previously closed gateways: introducing an unconditional basic income for all to encourage active, entrepreneurial, and socially responsible behavior, and transforming compulsory school attendance into mandatory self-directed education. This approach would enable people to collaborate in purchasing vacant farms or launching urban projects that focus on learning, working, and living differently—sustainably, holistically, and inclusively. Institutionalized childhoods would fade, allowing parents to step away from traditional 9 to 5 jobs, enabling part-time or freelance work that provides time for both personal care and community involvement. Adolescence could transform into a self-determined phase of apprenticeship and exploration through diverse projects. Existing schools would benefit from reduced pressure as adolescents who struggle with traditional curricula seek alternative paths. This shift would foster healthier emotional and social development in children and young people. Vocational schools and universities could implement entrance exams that students prepare for independently. In Germany, tens of thousands of such initiatives could emerge, supported by state oversight to ensure democratic values. The current society of control could evolve into a vibrant civil society of entrepreneurs. This volume documents the initial steps toward this vision on a farmstead in