Thorsten uses the internet for his studies

My family members have taken different paths through the German educational system. To offer you more insight, I interviewed my cousins and my brother. In my first interview, I’m speaking to my cousin Thorsten, 26, who went to school in Germany and Canada. He thinks schools should offer a broad-based education to further society’s cohesion.

What are you doing at the moment?

Thorsten: I’m working on my Master thesis in IT Management at a University of Applied Sciences.

How do you finance your studies?

I’m doing a dual program which means I’m working for a company, earning money there, and I’m studying at the same time.

Did you receive your high school diploma in Germany?

No, I got my diploma from Bishops College School, a Canadian boarding school. Before that I had gone to a Gesamtschule in North-Rhine Westphalia. [An overview of the German school system is available here.]

Comparing your experiences from a Canadian boarding school with those from your German Gesamtschule: What aspects should the two countries learn from each other?

Well, when I compare sixth form in Canada to the Abitur in Germany, I think there are two approaches: The German system still tries to give their pupil a very broad education, while the Canadian (Ontario equivalent) system at my school tried to prepare us for university. In Canada, that meant I only had six main subjects which prepared me for a scientific degree at university, while the German system has many more subjects.

So, which system do you prefer?

It really depends on what one wants to achieve: Do you want your pupils to have very broad knowledge and to deepen their understanding in a specific subject at university? Or should the subject area narrow itself at the end of sixth form to prepare for university? I personally believe it’s better to have a very broad knowledge base at the end of your school career and deepen your knowledge in specific subjects at university.

Why do you think so?

Because I think that society can be more united if everybody is able to communicate with one another. Moreover, everybody personally can profit of a better education because you can develop your own opinion.

Have you felt lost out because you went to a sixth form and got a more specialized degree?

No, thanks to today’s technology I was able to acquire a lot of knowledge. If I want to know something, I can Google the basics of a particular subject within minutes.

In Germany, children of parents without a college education have fewer opportunities to receive an Abitur or to study. What should be done against this inequality, in your opinion?

A football game at Thorsten's Canadian school

I think one of the problems is the way the German system divides students very early into three different kinds of schools after elementary school. I believe every school system should leave it open up to the end whether pupils want to do their Abitur, whether they want to study or not. Thus, all children should be taught together at one school which supports children according to their individual strengths, as the school did that I went to in Germany until tenth grade.

Should the Gymnasium be abolished?

No, it can be kept. But what is important is that all children are individually supported, and this is required at all schools. And here the way of teaching becomes important.

How should teachers teach their students?

I think it’s time to completely re-think schooling. This will happen anyways. It’s only a matter of time. Technology opens new opportunities.

What kinds of opportunities do you mean?

For example, means that enable us to learn from any location. By using those, a five-year-old could theoretically already participate in a university course. In particularly, I’m thinking of models of the Khan Academy, which are already used at schools.

What is the Khan Academy?

Speaking broadly, it is an online platform to study. Kids can acquire the theoretical basics of a subject with videos and digital exercises. Afterwards they put it into practice in group works, discussions, and so on. Teachers follow their students’ progress with the help of the platform and see what kind of individual support their students need.

Do you, therefore, see the key to more equality in the smart use of technologies?

Yes – combined with a good mentoring system. The future of education is in Web 2.0, and the country that uses this potential first will be the first to profit from it – first within its society and then in an economic way.

Two fellow activists and I worked at a stand for first-year students

Four years ago, I founded a local chapter of ArbeiterKind.de in Mainz, the city where I studied. The non-profit organization ArbeiterKind.de supports children whose parents didn’t attend university as they pursue college degrees. After I read an article about ArbeiterKind.de, I decided that I definitely had to support the organization for two reasons.

First, in the article Katja Urbatsch, the founder of ArbeiterKind.de, described the typical challenges for children of non-academic families after they finish high school. Many barriers seemed familiar to me: The insecurity about the value of studying certain subjects, like the humanities. A question I struggled with in the beginning was: Wouldn’t it be better to work and earn money immediately after high school? Later, the confusion arising from the task of writing initial academic papers was tough for me.
Statistics quoted in the article and those following in the years to come gave me even more motivation to support ArbeiterKind.de. Results of surveys show that children of parents who didn’t earn college degrees are far less likely to finish their Abitur (the German high school certificate allowing students to enroll in a university). Even those who receive their Abitur decide to study at universities less often than the children of parents with an academic background. Scholarship programs may even aggravate the situation. They support gifted students financially, with seminars and a strong network, and they are co-financed by the German state. But only 30 percent of the students receiving a scholarship from the biggest German foundations have parents without an Abitur. These are just average numbers. In some foundations, there are only 10 to 20 percent! It is just impossible that talent, thirst for knowledge, and intelligence are prevalent at such a higher degree among children of academics than among children of parents who didn’t earn degrees or who have no Abitur.

So, I became angry: Something was going wrong in our educational system. And I saw an opportunity to do something against this inequality by supporting ArbeiterKind.de.

Members of ArbeiterKind.de at a workshop

Many have found their very personal reasons for supporting our organization. ArbeiterKind.de has grown to more than 4,000 members. Moreover, ArbeiterKind.at was founded in Austria last year. To enable high school students to really decide about whether they want to study or not, we give them as much information as possible. Studying is no matter of course for children who are first generation college students in their families. They must justify why they want to study – just as kids of academics have to justify why they don’t want to study if they diverge from their family’s academic tradition.

My friends from ArbeiterKind.de and I go to schools and make presentations about the different possibilities for earning a college degree and financing one’s studies. I also post tips on Facebook daily. Moreover, we participate in fairs and events on education. Last but not least, we offer an online network where we answer questions and give information.

Many people put their minds to ease by pointing out that there aren’t any (or, in Bavaria and Lower Saxony, just low) tuition fees and that we have BaföG (student loans granted by the state). But this isn’t enough. Most importantly, BaföG can’t be regarded as a magic bullet. These loans don’t suffice to ensure equal chances in education. I will write more about BaföG and other support mechanisms at earlier stages in the German educational system in my next blog entry.