By Dou in Germancoursebook —

Everyone Appreciates Your Feedback — No One Takes Responsibility

I said that it is not fair to ask an immigrant to write such complaints to BAMF. They asked why. I answered: because of the dependency relations we have with these institutions.

How the Language School Handled My Complaint

This post is part of a series built around a real case: a problematic textbook narrative, the reactions it triggered, and the institutional responses that followed once I decided to complain.

The starting point of this series was not the language school, but the textbook itself — more precisely, the story of “Hamid” and how it frames migration as a matter of gratitude rather than rights, conflict, or structural inequality → Hamid’s Story and the Politics of Gratitude.

After sending a detailed complaint to the publisher, I published their reply and analysed how such narratives are defended, softened, or reframed once they are criticised → Hamid’s Glow-Up and Sloppy Terms: What the Publisher Said.

Alongside this, I reflected more broadly on discrimination and the exhausting question of whether speaking up actually leads anywhere — especially once institutions enter the picture → Discrimination Happens Everywhere: What Support Do States and Societies Really Offer?.

This text follows from all of that. It documents what happened inside the language school once I tried to address the same issues there. While individual teachers were not the main obstacle, the institutional layer proved decisive in how the complaint was handled.

Classroom Reactions to My Critique

The language school where this happened is a public adult education centre, part of a nationwide system funded by local and federal authorities, and a central pillar of adult education and integration policy in Germany.

When we read the text about Hamid, it was with a substitute teacher. To be honest, I don’t remember exactly how I expressed my critique, but I remember that she framed it as an overly optimistic view of Germany. I don’t remember the details either, but she partially accepted my point and tried to conclude with something like:
“Unfortunately, there is no perfect German textbook.”
(There should be a concept for this kind of reaction, similar to bateau in French.)

I remember thinking: if a friend of hers told her that they feel discriminated against, would she reply with something like “yes, but there is no perfect society”? I wish I had asked that — I’m genuinely curious how she would have reacted.

The Main Teacher’s Response

The main teacher was more supportive. She read my email draft and said that it was fair, and that if I preferred, I could wait until we finished the book.

I didn’t want to wait. I know myself: once daily life becomes overwhelming, things get postponed and then forgotten. So I sent the same email I had sent to the publisher to two places within the language school:

  • the school’s Diversity, Integration and Inclusion office
  • my local branch

First Institutional Response (Local Branch)

The first answer came from the local branch (Feb 18, 2025):

Dear Me,
thank you very much for your mail with the detailed information and the well described concerns you are having using the textbook XXX.
Getting feedback regarding the classrooms, the courses and the material used is very helpful for us to evaluate and improve the quality of the courses.

Your mail has been forwarded to the responsible Programmbereich, who will contact you regarding the raised matters.

We wish you a great week and hopefully see you in one of the courses soon again.
Yours sincerely

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Im Auftrag
Ihr Feedback-Team der "Language School"

No answer ever came from “the responsible Programmbereich.”

Second Issue, Same Book (May 22, 2025)

As explained in my previous post, I later noticed another issue in the same textbook and wrote again — this time about the incorrect and politically loaded use of migration-related terms (Hamid’s Glow-Up and Sloppy Terms: What the Publisher Said).

I am writing to follow up on a concern regarding the textbook The Name of the Book B2, which we are currently using in our B2 course at Language School.

On pages XXX–XXX, a reading comprehension task in Lesen Teil 4 addresses the distribution of Sprachförderkoffer in kindergartens with a high percentage of children with a Migrationshintergrund. However, in the related multiple-choice question (number 15), the term Ausländeranteil is presented as an equivalent, which is conceptually incorrect.

As you know, Migrationshintergrund refers to both citizens and non-citizens with a migration background, while Ausländeranteil refers only to non-citizens. Mixing these categories risks conveying factual inaccuracies and perpetuating misleading ideas about identity and migration in Germany. This is particularly problematic in an integration and professional language course context.

I previously wrote to you about another issue in this textbook involving politically problematic narratives. While I appreciate your initial reply, I have not been informed whether any further steps or clarifications were taken regarding that concern. I am including the text of my earlier email below for your reference.

I would be grateful if you could review this new issue with your teaching team and consider addressing it in class or with the publisher if possible.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Best regards,

“Not the Right Contact”

Dear Me,
Thank you for your continued engagement with the course materials and we appreciate your attentiveness to the linguistic and social dimensions of the content.

"Thank you for your continued engagement"; "appreciate your attentiveness" a polite validation, offered in place of responsibility

We would like to kindly inform you that our office is not the appropriate point of contact for the issue.

Once again, responsibility is passed elsewhere. And, notably, this could have been said in response to my first email.

We recommend that you reach out directly to the publisher, or alternatively, contact the school where you are currently taking the course. They will be better positioned to react to the matter.

Thank you again for your engagement and your valuable input.

Kind regards

Asking for Clarification (May 29, 2025)

Dear Diversity, Integration and Inclusion office,
Thank you for your quick reply. I would like to ask why your office is not an appropriate point of contact. Don’t you have any control or responsibility over which course material to choose or avoid? On the other hand, I have already contacted the publisher, but I believe it is important that schools like yours take a position on these kinds of matters with big publishing companies.

Best regards,

Their reply:

Dear Me,

Thank you for your follow-up message.

The Berliner Volkshochschulen operate in a decentralized structure. Each of the twelve district schools is responsible for their course materials and for organizing its programs independently.

I already knew this. The question was — and still is — what the purpose of that central office actually is.

This means that our central office does not have authority over which textbooks are used in specific courses.

Because of this it is best you address the school directly where you are enrolled.

That said, your feedback will not be overlooked from our side and will be addressed in an appropriate context.

A reassuring sentence — with no way of knowing what it actually means in practice.

A Later Conversation at the Language School

On 18 June 2025, I went to the language school to collect my B2 German certificate. I used the opportunity to remind the administrative staff of my first and second emails about the textbook.

They already knew who I was and what I was talking about. I was told to contact the publisher and BAMF (the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, a federal authority that approves integration course frameworks and teaching materials). I pointed out that, in any case, the school had chosen this book.

According to them, BAMF provides five approved textbooks — and apparently they are all more or less the same in terms of discrimination. This was presented as normal. A year later, I started a C1 course with a different book from another publisher, and I did not come across anything that bothered me to that extent. So the idea that all German language textbooks are more or less the same when it comes to discrimination or politically problematic content did not really hold up.

They also said that they would not do anything, and that if I wanted to pursue this, I should do it myself — for such a small thing.

They added that they are activists outside of their work. Such extra and unrelated personal information I tend to interpret as an unconscious sign of guilt. My translation: “I am annoyed that you are making a big issue out of something very small. Your effort is unnecessary and exaggerated — but that does not mean I am a heartless or insensitive person”.

I said that it is not fair to ask an immigrant to write such complaints to BAMF.

They asked why.

I answered: because of the dependency relations we have with these institutions.

Directing complaints upward to a federal migration authority ignores the structural vulnerability of those subjected to integration regimes in the first place.

Conclusion

What emerges from this sequence is not a single failure, but a pattern.
Each actor points to another, decentralization turns into dilution, and responsibility quietly disappears.

The language school normalized a discriminatory course book, redirected critique upward, and ultimately suggested that the affected person should take care of it — alone.

What is framed administratively as structure functions socially as the diffusion of responsibility.

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