This contribution looks at the school policy positions of the party Alternative for Germany (=AfD), which can be characterised as an extreme right-wing populist party (Nikolai et al. 2024), as it “combines elements of both right-wing populism and the extreme right” (Gawert & Saur, 2024, p. 468, own translation),which is represented in the state parliaments of 14 out of 16 federal states and has a parliamentary group in the Bundestag. School policy is highly relevant for the AfD (Gawert & Saur, 2024, p. 468; Nikolai et al. 2024), as parties can influence decision-making processes in the organisation of schools through their elected representatives in parliaments. According to Beck et al. “education policy can be understood as a vehicle of authoritarian politics” (2024, p. 32, own translation) and right-wing populist actors use education policy to push through their agenda (see also Salajan & Jules 2024, p. 335). The educational development and opportunities of children and young people depend on how the school structure is organised, what access options exist and what teaching contents schools provide (Helbig & Nikolai 2015). School as a “learning and living space” (Kenzhegaliyeva 2023, own translation) and “socialisation instance” (Fend 2009, p. 83, own translation) influences their values. Teaching contents play a central role in the AfD's school policy positions (Nikolai et al. 2024). On the one hand, the AfD hopes to be able to strategically mobilise voters through this, and on the other hand, the AfD can use it to aggressively represent its values and views of humanity (Gawert et al. 2025).

The contribution will therefore focus on the AfD's positions on teaching contents, using the example of Thuringia, Brandenburg and Saxony, where the state parliaments were re-elected in September 2024. In Thuringia, the AfD came out as the strongest party with 32.8% of the vote, while in Saxony (30.6%) and Brandenburg (29.2%) the AfD was the second strongest party. In Thuringia and Brandenburg, the AfD was able to obtain a blocking minority thanks to its election results (more than a third of the seats in the state parliament). Despite its strong performance in the elections, the AfD is not yet represented in any of the governments in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg (as of December 2024), as the other parties represented in the parliaments were able to form state governments without AfD participation.

The analysis also considers the long-term development of the party over several election periods. (from 2014 to 2024). The article is based on the following research question: What positions on teaching contents does the AfD take in the three federal states, how does it justify them and how have they developed over the three election periods?

The dimension of teaching content (Helbig & Nikolai 2015) is used to determine which school policy issues the AfD addresses in its election manifestos, what position it takes on these school policy issues and what patterns of justification they are based on. This dimension is linked to the four heterogeneity dimensions of gender, race, class and disability. These forms of heterogeneity are key challenges for education policy. These can be used to further differentiate the patterns of justification. To explore the current positions of the AfD with regard to teaching contents, but also to take long-term developments into account, the analyses in the article are based on nine election manifestos from the last three state elections in the three eastern German federal states (2014, 2019, 2024) of the AfD state parliamentary groups (AfD BB 2014, 2019 and 2024; AfD SN 2014, 2019 and 2024; AfD TH 2014, 2019 and 2024). The documents are analysed using a qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz and Rädiker (2024). To capture the positions of the AfD, a computer-aided qualitative content analysis is carried out in the article using the MAXQDA analysis software. The categories in the coding sheet are initially determined deductively and then differentiated inductively. When analysing the election programmes, statements are included that can be explicitly assigned to the school system and indicate a clear position (for or against an issue). The naming of the status quo or statements that discredit the positions of other parties without their own preferences or demands are not included in the analyses. In the computer-assisted coding of the AfD's programmatic positions, the corresponding sections of the election programs were coded sequentially. In addition, the entire election program was examined for further relevant content using a keyword search. The significance of the analyses is derived by determining the frequency and distribution of AfD statements in various documents (on the procedure for analysing election programmes, see also Nikolai & Rothe 2013) as well as the creation of summaries and their analysis in relation to the research question. The article uses a combination of frequency analyses and partial interpretative evaluations. In particular, the qualitative work on the text and its summaries allows the reference to heterogeneity dimensions. The election manifestos for all election periods were collected and saved by the researchers. Some of these may no longer be available online, but we are always willing to make them available.

School policy is a central strategic agenda in the AfD's election manifestos, as they hope to influence the values and attitudes of pupils (and therefore future voters), parents and other voters interested in school policy. The AfD advocates the following teaching contents in schools: less sex education and the thematization of diverse lifestyles. It calls for schools to be politically neutral to minimise critical debates about right-wing populist positions. The AfD is pushing the Beutelsbach Consensus to create uncertainty among teachers. The Beutelsbach Consensus, established in 1976, is a framework in German civic education to empower pupils to analyse and form their own informed opinions. For the history lessons, the AfD emphasized a strong focus on “love of one's homeland” and the concentration on the 19th century. The Shoah and National Socialism (1933-1945) are to be given less space in history lessons. If the school policy positions are compared with cultural policy positions, a strong link can be drawn with historical revisionist arguments. Local history and history lessons have a strong nationalistic focus in the AfD's positions. School policy is instrumentalised by the AfD as cultural policy to propagate its nationalist values and and shift social discourse. If the various election manifestos from the last ten years are considered, the AfD has experienced a radicalisation of its school policy positions on teaching contents in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia. For example, a radicalisation can be observed regarding the topics of sex education, diversity of lifestyles, teaching about the homeland, history lessons and political neutrality. According to Höhne, the AfD is pursuing a “normalisation strategy” (Höhne 2024, p. 820, own translation). The AfD's success in this is demonstrated by the fact that election polls and analyses show that the AfD enjoys strong support among young adults (BMFSJ 2024).

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