How school succeeds: The video and the most important statements

What is a good school, what is a good teacher? How can children learn best? «How school succeeds»: Psychologist and learning coach Fabian Grolimund spoke to Nik Niethammer about this topic. Here you can watch a video of the conversation in the Kulturpark and read about the most important points.

A child sets off for kindergarten or school around 2000 times in the morning until they have completed their compulsory schooling. These are 2000 formative days that have a significant impact on the rest of their lives. What should children take away from this time? What does it take for them to look back on their time at school with positive feelings, to be ready for the rest of their lives and to maintain their enthusiasm for learning?
Here you can see the video of the whole conversation between Fabian Grolimund and Nik Niethammer:

The entire event was broadcast live on Facebook.

The most important points summarised:

What is a good school?

  • approx. minute 3: What makes a good school? Fabian Grolimund's son recently completed his first day at school. What kind of school does he want for his son? I want a school for my son where the teachers keep an eye on him, where the class atmosphere is good. I want him to enjoy going there in the morning - without any fears.
  • approx. minute 4: School bashing is useless. We have a great deal of influence on the school system in Switzerland. For example, we were able to vote on the curriculum. We have a lot more room for manoeuvre than Germany, for example, and that's why I'm annoyed by the constant nagging about our school system.
  • approx. minute 27: 10 questions for the school. A good school is a school that asks itself this very question again and again: What is actually a good school? And as is so often the case, the questions are more important than the answers.
You can download the photo as an image file here.
You can download the photo as an image file here.
  • approx. minute 29: Why are public schools so successful? It's mainly the parents who create a good atmosphere, who pull together and have similar interests. It's more difficult for state schools in this area, as the parent body is often much more heterogeneous.

What does a child need to learn?

  • approx. minute 9: Good learning environment. What does a child need to enjoy learning and learn well? Children are primarily concerned with the atmosphere at school. They want to come to a place where they feel safe. And: There is no need to change the system, but the two to three per cent of teachers who are out of place should look for another job, then a big problem would be solved.
  • approx. minute 20: Cooperative learning is more important than individualised learning. Research by John Hattie, among others, has shown that children learn better in groups. This is not always easy for the teacher: they should meet the child where they are individually and at the same time give them the feeling that they are learning in a group.
  • approx. minute 23: School without subjects. Finland wants to abolish all traditional school subjects in 2020 and instead hold phenomenon lessons, i.e. deal with events and topics in an interdisciplinary way. Curriculum 21 in particular offers some scope for trying things out, holding lessons in blocks and dealing with topics in an interdisciplinary way.

Do we still need notes?

  • approx. minute 34: Everyone is actually against grades - why do they still exist? Is there so much resistance from parents? Grades are not a good form of feedback, Fabian Grolimund is clearly against grades. He doesn't think much of traffic light or similar assessment systems as long as they don't change the attitude of wanting to assess a child. (approx. minute 41)
  • approx. minute 36: Good feedback is one of the most important things in a learning process. If a child doesn't know where they stand, they won't make any progress. Grades are not good feedback and often come too late. If a child writes a dictation and receives a grade for it three days later, this is already too far away in time for them to be able to deal with it constructively.
At the beginning of the talk, pianist Michiko Tsuda gave a half-hour piano concert in honour of the Elternsein Foundation,
At the beginning of the talk, pianist Michiko Tsuda gave a half-hour piano concert in honour of the Elternsein Foundation,

Is homework useful?

  • approx. minute 44': Homework should become schoolwork. Parents should not have to tutor at home. Older children, i.e. those who already have good self-control, benefit most from homework. Children who are not able to work well on their own are also harmed by homework.
  • approx. minute 45': Fixed times for homework make sense. As parents, you can talk to the teacher and then agree on fixed times, for example half an hour for a particular subject. If the child has not finished the homework in this time, the teacher should be informed.
  • approx. minute 50': You don't learn to work independently by doing homework. A child who doesn't like to do something or is not good at doing something on their own doesn't learn this through homework either.

What makes a good teacher?

  • ca. 1h35: Was ist eigentlich ein guter Lehrer? Es gibt Antworten aus dem Publikum und Nik Niethammer liest seine persönliche Wunschvorstellung vor: 

«Für mich persönlich ist ein guter Lehrer jemand, der erklärt, begleitet, anregt, führt, für eine Sache brennt. Der sein Handwerk versteht. Der Vorbild ist, ermuntert, tröstet, sich für die Neigungen und Probleme seiner Schülerinnen und Schüler interessiert, etwas erwartet und einfordert, Winderstand aushält, klar kommuniziert, sich um ein entspanntes Verhältnis zu den Eltern seiner Schüler bemüht und seinen Beruf mit Freude und grosser Leidenschaft ausübt.» 

Favourite statement of the evening:

  • approx. minute 52': My children should go to a school that is good enough. It doesn't have to be perfect. Children can thrive even if the conditions are not completely ideal.
"We don't want people to pretend that a revolution is necessary because nothing is supposedly working and the school system is broken. We want to show how teachers and parents can have a positive impact and make a difference." This is how learning experts Fabian Grolimund and Stefanie Rietzler described their concept "How schools succeed" six months ago. Their conclusion in the current dossier: a lot is happening in public schools. And: If parents want to see even more change, they should support their children's teachers. "How schools succeed" - an encouraging dossier. You can order a single issue here.
"We don't want people to pretend that a revolution is necessary because nothing is supposedly working and the school system is broken. We want to show how teachers and parents can have a positive impact and make a difference." This is how learning experts Fabian Grolimund and Stefanie Rietzler described their concept "How schools succeed" six months ago. Their conclusion in the current dossier: a lot is happening in public schools. And: If parents want to see even more change, they should support their children's teachers. "How schools succeed" - an encouraging dossier. You can order a single issue here.

Read more about school:

  • «Mr Minder, why are there so few suitable headteachers?»
    Thomas Minder has been the headmaster of German-speaking Switzerland since 1 August. The man from Thurgau talks about the acute shortage of headteachers, career changers in the teaching profession and his goal of exerting greater influence on politics.
  • School - our enemy?
    Our education system has fallen into disrepute. But the media's school bashing doesn't help the children. How should parents deal with it?
  • Mr Gfeller, how can teachers and parents work better together?
    Many teachers are struggling with the high demands of their profession, are at risk of burnout and are quitting. «Today, it's no longer enough to be an ambitious teacher who loves their job,» says Urs Gfeller from the Bern University of Teacher Education. The teacher talks about the general loss of authority, ideals that are too high and important phrases at the first parents' evening.