Impressions of the German education system
Well, it’s just about 3 months exactly since I got to Europe. As you all know, my reason for being here is to serve as an English teaching assistant, providing the expertise only a native speaker can provide. Over the course of the past 3 months, I’ve been able to observe the inner workings of a German classroom. I’ve made these observations, and begun to form my own impressions. Here they are.
1) The German school system is unfair
German children are basically put on a track starting with age 10. Most children attend kindergarten, and then go on to Grundschule, the rough equivalent of elementary school, which lasts until the 4th grade. In the 5th grade, students attend one of three kinds of schools: Gymnasium, Realschule or Hauptschule. Students at Gymnasiums are considered to be the cream of the crop. The focus of study is primarily academia, so as to prepare the students for going to university. Realschule is roughly similar to an American vocational school. In addition to the basics, students learn practical skills for a jobs such as electrician, mechanic, and so on. Hauptschulen are the most stigmatized, socially speaking. Hauptschule students tend to be those of foreign birth and who lack German language skills, those with poor academic abilities, and especially those with behavioral problems. For example, a colleague of mine who works at a Hauptschule told me yesterday that a student of his recently was expelled for attacking a teacher.
My point here is that there is little to no room for students to change tracks. Students who fail out of Gymnasien go to either Realschulen or Hauptschulen. Students finish Hauptschule in the 10th grade, at which point they may take a test to enter Gymnasium or Realschule for the last 3 years of schooling, or they may start their careers. Others might go on to an apprenticeship or more vocational training. While it may seem like students are given a fair chance, they are stigmatized by society all along the way. Imagine being a 10-year old child, being placed into a school by way of teacher recommendation and perhaps having little upward social mobility as a result. A child surely cannot comprehend the unfair nature of this system.
2) The style of learning in Germany is completely different from that of the US, and in my view, counter-productive.
My evidence here is anecdotal. In the United States, students in middle and high school receive grades based on several aspects of their performance: attendance, class participation, homework, quizzes, tests, midterms and finals. This is more or less standard in the American education system. All of these except for tests, midterms and finals are nonexistent in Germany. Teachers are actually not allowed to grade homework. Today I learned from one of my mentor-teachers that if he were to give a homework assignment, grade it and factor that into the student’s final grade, he’d get in trouble. I recently gave a simple homework assignment to one of my upper-level English classes. The teacher told me shortly thereafter not to expect all of the students to turn the work in. Most of the students did do the assignment, but as a result I realized how uncommon homework is in Germany. Sure, students might have to read a set number of chapters per night or answer questions from a textbook, but I feel that since they do not receive a grade for this specific aspect of the class, they are generally speaking less motivated to do the work. When students don’t do the work, they fall behind. When they fall behind, they fail. When they fail, society ostracizes them, and there is little to nothing they can do about it.
3) The student-teacher relationship isn’t as private as that in the United States
I’d describe the relationships between students and teachers in the USA as private. Private, in the sense that students’ performance in terms of grades is kept between that student and the teacher. In Germany, teachers willingly state to the whole class who received the best grade on a test, assignment, etc.
Furthermore, I’ve found that the students aren’t afraid to ask the teachers personal questions. This is something I steered clear of doing in the States, yet students in some of my classes have asked teachers if they have significant others, among other personal questions.
4) School spirit is rare, if not nonexistent.
Whereas many aspects of an American high school student’s social life will revolve around the school in one way or another (sports, most notably), Germans spend what seems to be as little time as possible at school. School sports teams are rare (at least in soccer, youth clubs outside of schools are more popular options), schools have no mascots, etc. One exception I’ve found is school band; these are quite popular, as are their performances. School clothing is a brand-new concept. Of course, not every American student is full of school pride (I wasn’t…until I went to Penn State!), but generally speaking, I think the level of school spirit is drastically lower here than in the States.
Okay, so the past few posts were kind of negative. I do see some wonderful aspects of the German education, ones, which I strongly believe the United States education system, could benefit from. Most notably, number 5…
5) The age at which students begin learning languages
Children here start learning foreign languages in the 5th grade. This means that they will have had 8 years of a language by the time they graduate (Gymnasium goes to the 13th grade). By contrast, most American students don’t start learning a foreign language until 7th grade, and it’s often not required that they take the language every year of schooling. It’s been scientifically proven that humans are capable of learning languages more easily up to age 14, so why not start teaching a foreign language early? The practical ability to communicate with non-English speakers goes without saying, but when you learn a language, you also learn a culture, and for these reasons I think it’s a great idea to start teaching foreign languages early.
6) The school day is a lot shorter
An average American school day lasts from about 8AM until 3PM or so. An average German school day lasts from about 8AM until 1 or 1:30PM. If it lasts longer, there is something called Mittagspause, a long break in the middle of the day to allow students to go home for lunch and then return to school. Naturally, the slacker in me says “shorter school days? Yeah!” but when you think logically, it makes sense. It’s not nearly as mentally demanding. Students presumably wouldn’t be as worn out as quickly.
I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things, but I’ll be sure to report them as time goes on.
Tschau!
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