Election posters support preserving the Gymnasium in Germany

Today I’m writing my last post for this blog. For two months we’ve been blogging about education in our home countries. I’ve learned a lot about education in other parts of the world, but also about the German system.

When talking about these subjects, I recognize a certain pattern: Often an education system’s performance is only evaluated by looking at the numbers of students who go on to get higher degrees or earn better marks – in other words, those who seem more prepared for the job market. But there is another factor that makes the educational system tremendously valuable to a society. And this factor is related to the discussion with my friend Katharina that I posted: Pre-schools and schools offer a very important opportunity to bring the members of a society closer together. Yet, Germany doesn’t fully seize this opportunity. On the contrary, the three-tiered school tracking system in many German states furthers the division of our society.

While I had contact with children from all across the social spectrum during my time in elementary school, I stayed friends mostly with students who were also able to go on to a Gymnasium after fourth grade (To have a better idea of what I mean, have a look at my overview of the German school system here). Only at 17 did I hang out with my old classmates again. By then, they had finished other kinds of schools known in German as Hauptschulen or Realschulen. These reunions are traditional in our village: Those who are 18 years old organize a festival each summer. In many cities, traditions like this don’t exist anymore, and neighborhoods and social clubs tend to be divided up along class lines. Schools could be one of the few places left to work against our society breaking apart into separate classes because all children have to attend them.

Politicians often neglect this fact. In the state of Rhineland Palatinate they have abandoned the concept of the Hauptschule. There wasn’t a lot of resistance against this reform. The existence of the Gymnasium wasn’t questioned. Many students attending a Gymnasium and their parents regard their school as a symbol of their achievement and status. Yet, these students miss a lot of opportunities for learning how to socialize with other groups of people. They can also lose sight of the realities faced by many people living in their country.

My high school - a gymnasium - offered a rather cloistered environment

It is still understandable that many parents don’t worry about this as long as their children will have better chances in the job market. They think that their children will learn more easily in this protected environment. Research to the contrary is often powerless against such convictions. For this reason, many parents organized demonstrations when the Gymnasium was to be abandoned in Hamburg. And politicians in Germany’s liberal party proclaimed on their posters during the election campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia: “Keep the Gymnasium!”

Can we thus regard the fact that politicians don’t touch the Gymnasium as an election strategy? After all, the most politically active people usually send their children to one. In the socially disadvantaged parts of society, on the other hand, children often don’t make it to a Gymnasium, and there are very few people who would organize any kind of demonstrations or collect signatures or step up in front of a camera to make their point. Additionally, these people vote less often than those with a higher income and a better education.

I would like for committed politicians throughout Germany to no longer regard the Gymnasium as “untouchable” in the future. I also want them to support reforms that will really bring about fair opportunities and stronger cohesion in our society. After all, we have so many more financial resources in Germany than many other countries have. Shouldn’t it be possible to come closer to realizing these goals?

Bild1: FDP-Wahlplakat währen NRW-Wahlkampf

Bild2: Mein Gymnasium bot ein sehr behütetes Umfeld: Es war ein katholisches Mädchengymnasium

We need action on the ground, not high-flying abstractions

As Maria noted in her last entry, she believes the social dialogue in Argentina is heading the wrong way – and it seems that every country faces such points in its development. As I look back on my university years, I agree with her.

Sometimes there is too much talking and not enough real action (I don’t just mean the educational sphere only; it can be noticed in all of Russian economic or political life). With all due respect to the talented and brilliant professors and teachers of previous generations who helped several Russian geniuses (mathematician Grigori Perelman, for example) to reveal their potential, I would like to see changes in educational life. What’s quite interesting is that many of my fellow students feel the same; the demand for a new model is in the air. At the same time, those in charge of social institutions are a bit puzzled about the future – as a result, society moves both forward and backward. It reminds me of a fable where three animals have to make enormous efforts to move a carriage, but the carriage remains stuck in one place because they couldn’t come to an agreement.

Documents for senior year research in linguistics

What do I mean by “backward?” All of the red tape and bureaucracy is one example. It’s especially apparent when students prepare their final year research projects. But those pushing forward are stronger. It makes me glad to hear when people are doing things not for bureaucratic abstractions but for concrete goals, like when friends of mine say they are doing something for particular people (working as a tutor or launching their own projects, for example). That is a lot better than hearing they are working for abstract things like “customers” or “corporations.”

I hope the conference devoted to education – Global Media Forum, which is taking place in Germany this week and where my fellow bloggers are in attendance – will result in significant action (especially with the many participants from other continents in attendance). And I hope it will prompt people or small organizations working in education to promote learning and to encourage others to be not just another face in the crowd but to stand out with their own ideas and goals.

It’s like playing chess where you learn to think ahead in order not to lose. Once you adapt the strategy of chess to real life – you’ll benefit!

The anticipation builds ahead of a panel at the GMF

Wow! I’ve found the Global Media Forum really interesting so far. The first thing that stood out to me was the diversity on display – people from lots of different countries mix at the conference, some in suits, some more casual or in business wear. There are lots of colorful dresses, men from Africa in robes and women in headscarves. The clothing is just an outer signal of how many cultures are represented here. And in the middle of it all are my fellow bloggers and me.

Emmy, Hellgurd, María and I met up for the first time here. But I have the feeling that we’ve known each other for a while now. We’ve given each other insights into our lives and the educational systems in our countries here in the blog, so we’ve gotten to know each other a bit along the way. But it’s a real shame that visa problems prevented our fifth blogger from being here: Pavel was unable to leave Russia.

As I mentioned in my last entry, I went to a workshop yesterday that discussed how algorithms influence contemporary education and worldviews. At the podium were Falk Lüke, Mercedes Bunz and Marc Jan Eumann (State Secretary in the Ministry of Federal Affairs, European Affairs and Media of North Rhine-Westphalia). All three had interesting information to present, and the audience had plenty of comments and questions.

I especially liked Bunz’s idea that, with the Internet, we have created an additional public space, but until now, this space has primarily been shaped by economic interests. I think she gets at an interesting point there. Of course there are lots of publicly sponsored content providers on the Internet, but they often play a smaller roll, largely because they don’t offer their own search engines that could provide an alternative to Google. Would it be possible to have a publicly financed search engine? After all, here in Germany we have public broadcasters that offer an alternative to private stations.

But instead of giving the state the task of developing algorithms that deliver search results, I found Eumann’s approach better. Being aware and critical are just as important online as they are in the analog world. Schools could support these values by putting information online that helps people understand power structures and interests better – including those of Google or even of traditional newspaper publishers, for example.

Critical analysis of these topics and of technology in general is very important, which Bunz also discussed, saying that although we continue to conceive of technology as the “other,” it is constantly with us. Conferences like the Global Media Forum are a great way to take up this topic, and the opportunities for international exchange are especially good.

The GMF brings participants from around the world together

The global exchanges taking place here in Bonn are really extraordinary. At a workshop yesterday afternoon, the participants were from India, Malawi, Colombia and North America! Everyone talked about their experiences with free radio programs that are co-produced by lay people. These programs provide important information. Since many people take part in the production process and get to have a say in the programming, the interest in the result is much higher, and listeners find the statements contained therein more trustworthy.

Charles Simbi of Story Workshop Educational Trust presented a “message matrix.” It’s a systematic table in which, for example, one can work out the topics that should come up in radio programming for a given community – and how these topics should be presented. The tool is structured for topics that have social advantages for the community, such as medical help during pregnancy. I think we can learn a lot from practical tips like the message matrix and that we should try to incorporate them into other projects.

Free education has led to more girls visiting schools

At the beginning of 2003, school fees were abolished in Kenya’s public primary and, later, secondary schools. This was implemented under the Free Primary Education (FPE) programs. Parents and Kenyans in general were thrilled. Finally a government that actually works in the interest of its public, they thought. More importantly: this meant access to education for many more who could not afford to pay the school fees. All they had to do was buy a school uniform.
I think this was a good idea. A load had been taken off the parents. A very big plus for FPE is that there was now a higher female enrollment in schools because finally the parents could not say school fees were too high to send their daughters. The government also made an effort to mobilize parents to take advantage of FPE to take their girls to school. Enrollment increased, and people were content.

But as a consequence, there was an influx of students in the public schools. Classrooms were bursting with students. The government seemed to have implemented a very good idea without really thinking it through in detail. Or maybe they did not expect the euphoric Kenyans to send their children to school in such droves.

The numbers grew, but the classrooms did not, and neither did the number of teachers. Imagine a teacher to student ratio of 1:40! The quality of education was absolutely compromised. The teachers were also ill prepared to handle the new mixture of students. Suddenly there were students who had never been to school, sitting in the same class with students who were much more advanced than they were. A case in point is the phenomenal story of the oldest pupil in the world. Upon hearing that primary education was now free, Mr. Kimani Maruge at the age of 84 enrolled himself in primary school, learning together with children as young as 5 years old. Such determination! Mr. Maruge made headlines and was crowned the world’s oldest pupil. A movie was made based on his story. You can watch the trailer here: http://www.thefirstgrader-themovie.com/trailer/

Reforms led to more students for each teacher

Another twist to the FPE program, though, was that more private schools began to mushroom in the country as parents who were concerned about the quality and education their children were receiving – and who had enough money – moved their children to private schools. As a result of the rising demand, these schools became very expensive, almost unaffordable.

There’s another problem: There were many hidden costs that were not classified as school fees but which, in total, cost a hefty amount of money, hampering the efforts made by the government. Was it back to the starting point for the parents, students and teachers?

This led to discussions that the government likely did not anticipate. It raised questions about gaps in Kenyan social classes. When people talked about equal chances at education, they were not referring to the gender issue only, rather also to the issue of social class. And the issues have now shifted away from just access to education to access to quality education.

Despite the discussion, the problems continue. A great idea but poorly implemented!

I’m a teacher of English, though I had never planned to be the one at first! As a student, I had to change my place of residence – and my university. When changing universities in Russia, you can’t always get into the same program you had done before. That’s why I was offered to do economics as my second higher education course and to study foreign languages, earning the qualification to be a teacher. No matter how difficult it is to imagine, sometimes you have to face such odd situations. And the quicker you get used to it, the better! That means that I accepted this variant and projected my future based on it for the coming years.

In Russia, education has 2 sectors: private and state. Both have advantages and drawbacks. In places outside of the capitals, the state school system has just begun to get sufficient monetary support. So I chose the private sector in order to worry less about my financial matters. And, of course, it also has much less red tape!

My fellow students and I in Moscow

So many things happen in the world, and some involve education in our country. We have a great opportunity to witness changes – and to influence them, making things better for pupils and students. That’s why I believe that any helpful contribution is important. The world transforms, and classical schools, libraries and universities – any institutions connected with enlightenment – alter in accord with modern methods. Changes include offering an education by means of online courses or accommodating those going in for a second or third degree while having a family. In Russia, with its rich variety of small nations and cultural diversity, this process is especially promising to look at.

I’m fond of working as a teacher now, but, psychologically, I’m the one who will not be the same over the decades. So I may find another sphere of life to work in – without giving up teaching as long as it interests me and getting useful experience for the future.