Rethinking schools: Answers to the 20 most important questions

Switzerland invests billions of francs in education every year - which is actually a huge gift for students, teachers and parents. Instead of rejoicing about this, however, we hear a lot of moaning: about too few teachers, too much stress and pressure, integration, selection, homework and much more.

To find out more about where this dissatisfaction comes from, we asked 21 experts from the education sector 20 questions about schools - the most pressing ones in our opinion. The answers are sometimes surprisingly simple, but often uncomfortably complex.

For example, there are no good arguments in favour of early selection into different performance levels. However, simply allowing all children to learn together for longer brings with it new challenges. Especially as the children will later be expected to work in a society that provides for professions with very different skills. And just because a school abolishes grades does not automatically reduce the stress for children whose parents put pressure on them to perform.

The freedom is there, you just have to dare to use it.

Dani Burg, teacher

If you want to change something in schools, you have to be aware that the framework conditions are set by society. If this is performance- and deficit-orientated, this also flows into the schools. These reflect society on a small scale. But not only that.

More courage from all involved

The school also forms a community of children, teachers and parents. And this community can be shaped on site - to a greater extent than many people think. «The freedom is there, you just have to dare to use it,» says passionate teacher Dani Burg. He reads the curriculum for what it is: a recommendation, nothing more. This gives him plenty of room to let his students decide for themselves which topics interest them («If I don't engage them emotionally, nothing will stick anyway.»).

He covers few topics and repeats a lot. He makes his pupils chop wood and spend the night at school instead of memorising the rivers of Brazil with them. He doesn't do all of this at some public school that has taken up the cause of special learning concepts, but at a normal primary school. He wants to encourage his colleagues to simply be a little more daring («What could possibly happen?»).

Parents can also show courage by accepting their child for who they are - and not seeing them as a project that will only be successful if they make the leap to grammar school. By taking an interest in learning content rather than grades. By building bridges to school and making them want to go, instead of widening the rifts through a lack of loyalty.

And pupils can also show courage if - like a twelve-year-old from the canton of Thurgau - they want to make a campfire in the playground with the whole class. Of course, the teacher may not think much of it. But perhaps she also realises that sitting together around a warm fire and chatting in peace contains a lot of what everyone actually wants from school: a cosy community that, at best, sparks a desire to learn something together.

1. are too many parents making life difficult for teachers today?

For quite a few parents today, their own children are a kind of project. If this goes according to plan, they can adorn themselves with the status symbol of a grammar school, as education researcher Margrit Stamm writes in her dossier «Growing up in a high-performance society. Which school does the child need?».

If the plan doesn't work, they usually side with the child uncritically, according to educationalist Roland Reichenbach. «Instead of showing the all-important loyalty to the school, the parents then complain about the lessons or the teacher.» What's more, parents are primarily focussed on their own child. «This image is usually not necessarily objective. And a teacher has to look after a whole class, not just an individual,» says teacher and school counsellor Sammy Frey.

Even the best support programmes are ineffective if they are not supported by the parents.

Urs Moser, education researcher

A good educational partnership between parents and teachers is needed from the outset to prevent parents from seeing a future for their child at school that fails to capitalise on their child's strengths. This also applies to parents at the other end of the spectrum; those who are unable to provide their children with sufficient support in their development due to a lack of time, financial or emotional resources.

«Even the best support programmes are ineffective if they are not supported by parents,» says education researcher Urs Moser. Parents are therefore never a problem in schools - regardless of whether they are perceived as being too involved or not involved enough - but rather an important part of the solution.

«The fact that this good cooperation between parents and teachers doesn't always exist is due to a lack of communication,» says school counsellor Peter Fratton. It is not uncommon for people to only really get to know each other when there are problems - instead of regularly discussing expectations and needs from the outset.

2 What role do parents play in educational success?

«All share», says primary school teacher Nils Landolt. He continues: «There is no equality of opportunity. I only got my A-levels because I had parents with an affinity for education.» In fact, the proportion of children at grammar schools in Switzerland whose parents also attended grammar school or have a higher education qualification is seventy per cent - and has been for many years.

Cognitive abilities are partly inherited genetically. However, early childhood development plays a very large part. Parents who talk to their children a lot and often, read to them, play board games with them, take them to museums or the zoo, send them to sports clubs or let them learn to play a musical instrument give them a great educational advantage - even before they start school.

Parents who support their children well at home make a significant contribution to school quality.

Urs Moser, education researcher

«A study from Germany shows that a child can hardly make up for what it misses out on in terms of early childhood support at school,» says education researcher Melanie Häner-Müller. However, it is to the schools' credit that the differences at least do not become greater from school entry. «If we didn't already select children into different performance levels after six years of school, there would be more time to reduce educational gaps,» says Häner-Müller.

Also important: a realistic view of the future prospects of academics. «They are no longer so promising today,» says Nils Landolt. Fortunately, he believes. «This softens the inequalities a little.» In terms of the children's future income, this means: «Equal opportunities are intact here,» says Melanie Häner-Müller. This is also due to Switzerland's permeable dual education system.

Urs Moser hopes that the positive effects of parental involvement for the school will be more widely recognised. «Parents who support their children well at home make a significant contribution to school quality. It's not just your own child who benefits from a stimulating environment and clear structures at home, but also their classmates and teachers.»

3. can children no longer concentrate sufficiently?

Daniel Hunziker has introduced a forest day every Monday at his own school. The reason: after the weekend, the children were full of impressions and not ready to absorb new things. «The children had been sitting in front of a screen for too long and hadn't done enough physical activity,» says the headteacher. If you talk to teachers, many are familiar with this Monday phenomenon.

Biologically, it can be explained quite quickly: in order for people to be able to concentrate, basic physiological needs must be met. These include: sufficient sleep, a healthy diet to constantly supply the brain with energy, regular exercise because the brain also needs oxygen and because exercise stimulates the formation of new nerve cells.

The school prepares children for a society in which the value of people is based on their achievements.

Philippe Wampfler, secondary school teacher

«What's more, we can't just take in content all the time. Children also need time to withdraw and process things,» says Hunziker. However, this is not usually the case with mobile phone use, where the main focus is on consumption. If children arrive at school in the morning in a state in which their physiological needs are imbalanced, it is difficult for a teacher.

However, even children who are actually able to concentrate well tend to drift off during lessons - because they are over- or underchallenged or their individual learning needs are not being met. Daniel Hunziker has observed that pupils no longer put up with lessons that don't pick them up without resistance. «In the past, the children here were certainly more well-adjusted. The fact that they no longer put up with everything is also part of the development in which we want more self-determined and critical children.»

4 Why do more and more pupils go to school with fear or not at all?

According to a Unicef study, a third of 14 to 19-year-olds in Switzerland are affected by mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. Some of the influencing factors lie with the pupils, others with their parents, others with the school - it is not unusual for different things to come together. No wonder, says teacher Philippe Wampfler. «School prepares children for a society in which people's value is based on their performance. It's stressful for everyone to have to function. That's why it naturally puts a strain on pupils too.»

Lily Houben from the student organisation USO can confirm this. The high school student observes a so-called attitude of failure among many of her peers. The fact that grades and exams primarily highlight deficits automatically creates a fear of not being good enough. «But it should actually be the case that a pupil should have confidence in herself and be allowed to show where her strengths lie,» says Houben.

Dagmar Rösler, President of the Teachers' Association, doesn't want to play down the mental health problems of pupils - but she does want to categorise them correctly. «We also have these figures because we are more sensitised to mental disorders and they are less taboo these days.» This means that if pupils are affected, they are more likely to be approached and supported by school psychologists or teachers than in the past.

5. are pupils judged too strongly on deficits?

ADHD, autism, borderline, dyslexia or dyscalculia are just some of the abnormalities for which children are diagnosed today. It is important to understand why this happens. «The system is such that you need a diagnosis in order to receive help from a specialist such as a special needs teacher,» says Dagmar Rösler.

Some children also need this help because they are in a class where everyone is learning the same thing. And if they learn at their own pace, which is now possible at some schools, they usually still end up writing the same exams. «If the school system assumed that it was normal to be different, some diagnoses would probably not be necessary,» says educational scientist Maja Kern.

Pressure is not created by the grade, but by how it is dealt with.

Urs Moser, education researcher

Dagmar Rösler sees this as a problem that goes far beyond schools. «Our entire society is geared towards looking for deficits and emphasising weaknesses instead of emphasising what is going well.» Headmaster Dieter Rüttimann believes that this deficit-orientated rather than resource-orientated school culture is particularly unfavourable for adolescents. «Their self-efficacy still has to develop, and this is certainly not conducive to that.»

Nevertheless, you don't have to change the entire school system to make a difference, says teacher Dani Burg. He calls the parents of all his pupils twice a year and only tells them good things about their children. «Conversely, I would like parents to ask for positive learning experiences at home instead of grades and to take their children as they are and not force them into their educational vision.»

6 Are grades still up to date?

Grades have been the subject of controversial debate for 50 years. It has long been recognised that they are very arbitrary and subjective, are not conducive to successful learning processes and, at best, enable comparisons within a class. «Despite this, grades are still part of the school curriculum in all German-speaking Swiss cantons and enjoy broad social acceptance because they are easy to understand,» says Urs Moser.

What has intensified the negative view of grades in recent years is the increased heterogeneity in classes. As all pupils continue to write the same tests, the large differences in performance within many classes become clear - which can create pressure among the children. In many places, grades have therefore been replaced by colour scales, smileys or words, especially in the lower classes. Urs Moser doesn't think much of it. «As long as schools continue to fulfil their selection function and social comparison is firmly anchored in our society, especially among parents, such assessments are nothing more than grades in disguise.»

Just one of many sources

So either you reorganise the entire school system so that grades are no longer needed and, at the same time, society moves away from a focus on performance. Or you can do both - and therefore continue to assess performance. Even then, however, grades do not necessarily have to create pressure, says Urs Moser. «This is not created by the grade itself, but by how the grade is handled.» He believes it is an important task for teachers and parents alike to clearly explain to pupils what a grade or other grading scale means - and where its limits lie.

In almost all schools today, grades are only one of many sources that are used in a holistic assessment. In order to support the learning process, children also need meaningful feedback - for example in the form of personal discussions or learning diaries. By showing them their individual progress instead of just their deficits, their motivation is strengthened.

Education expert Rahel Tschopp often hears from teachers that such feedback takes much more time than grades. «That's an organisational question. In the canton of Thurgau, time slots have now been set aside in the timetable for such coaching. The discussions are thus integrated into everyday school life.»

7. are too many exams being written?

The question could also be: Why are there exams in school at all? « Primary school has a selection mandate,» says headmaster Daniel Hunziker. As long as society as a whole is built on preparing children for different professions through different schools, grades and exams are the means to achieve the purpose of selection.

But exams also fulfil other functions. «They are often written when the meaningfulness of the learning content and therefore the motivation to learn something has been lost,» says Hunziker. Tests and grades are then a kind of substitute motivation to motivate pupils to learn.

If the learning objectives are clearly communicated, there is no longer any need for an artificial examination situation.

Philippe Wampfler, secondary school teacher

However, examinations are also there so that teachers and students can see what has been understood from the learning material. «But this certainly doesn't always require a written exam, it can also be done in the form of a project or a presentation, which would make learning less one-sided,» says Lily Houben.

Philippe Wampfler goes one step further: «If the learning objectives are clearly communicated, there is no longer any need for an artificial test situation.» Then the children know what is expected of them and can learn these things. And the teachers would always be able to see whether the requirements are being met. «I would like to see more of this happening at school,» says Wampfler.

8. are Ufzgi merely a control mechanism for parents?

«Parents often want homework to be a window to school,» says LCH President Dagmar Rösler. She does not see this as an argument in favour of homework. «Teachers and parents can also consider other ways of providing this insight, for example through learning diaries.» This would particularly benefit pupils who do not receive any support with their homework at home. «If the tasks are set in such a way that the children cannot solve them on their own, they are often the cause of family conflicts and further increase the performance differences between the children,» says teacher Peter Sutter.

There is also homework, which Lily Houben describes as «pure occupational therapy». As children and young people today spend much more time at school than they used to anyway, teachers should think carefully about what kind of homework is really useful. «I think homework is good, for example, when it's about repeating things in order to store them in long-term memory,» says the secondary school student.

9. does selection in schools take place too early?

«Definitely, and at the worst possible time,» say lecturer Dieter Rüttimann and headmaster Nicolas Rüttimann. At the age of twelve, the transfer to another school is just before or in the middle of puberty. In terms of development, this is too early for many pupils - especially for boys, whose development is often two years behind that of girls. This is because it is only during puberty that a person's personality slowly solidifies. Aptitudes and ideas become more stable. The areas of the brain that play a central role in cognitive control, decision-making and self-regulation are only now slowly maturing.

The selection takes place at the most unfavourable time imaginable.

Dieter and Nicolas Rüttimann, Headmaster

All of this means that too much of a child's potential is not properly discovered, nurtured and trained, which has a noticeable impact on the labour market later on. In short: «Empirical evidence shows that selection takes place too early,» says Roland Reichenbach. «But of course, even longer joint learning would not solve all of the school's problems, but would possibly create new ones that would then have to be solved.»

Because schools will and must continue to differentiate, children are simply too different in their abilities and interests. Instead of this happening externally through a change of school, it happens within the school or within a class. How is it possible to continue to support strong children - but also weaker ones, so that they are not labelled as such too early? In short, if selection is to be abolished, it must be clarified what this longer period of learning together should look like so that development opportunities really remain open.

10 What makes a good teacher?

Researchers have been saying for a long time that good teachers are crucial to ensuring that children enjoy going to school and learn well. But when is a teacher good? «Anyone who teaches children has to like them and recognise them as people,» says teacher Felix Christ. What sounds banal actually encompasses the quality of the relationship: an encounter at eye level with patience and perseverance, a view of all children in a class according to their abilities, developments and needs and with regular feedback on their learning progress.

In addition, there are exciting lessons that need to be prepared and followed up, time for dialogue with other teachers and parents as well as regular further training. In short: a lot of tasks, combined with increased heterogeneity among pupils and staff shortages at schools.

«However, as teachers' resources are finite and you also have to look after yourself, it seems to me that one of the most important skills these days is being able to prioritise well and correctly. This is the only way to do justice to as many children as possible, to yourself and to all your needs, tasks and demands,» says teacher Sammy Frey. Sometimes this also means not wanting too much. «Not everything that would be good can be realised. Accepting this and being able to let things go without a guilty conscience is key,» says school psychologist Peter Sonderegger. Career starters in particular need support with this.

But Sammy Frey also often hears from experienced teachers who regret having taken up their profession: "I just can't do everything any more. Teaching in teams would be a way of passing on experience to younger colleagues and spreading the many tasks over several shoulders.

11 Why are there too few teachers?

«As a teacher, you have an enormous amount of freedom. And in no other country do you earn as much in this profession as in Switzerland,» says Nicolas Rüttimann. That actually sounds like a job that should attract many young people - especially as the profession is also highly regarded in society. However, many teachers often don't realise this in their everyday lives. Headlines about educational policy being dictated to, a lack of career opportunities, violence and burnout or long overtime dominate the media coverage - and there is some truth to them.

The demands on teachers have increased, but many structures have remained the same. «We know that teachers are most affected by children with behavioural problems. These always lead directly to dismissals,» says Peter Sonderegger. He would like to see a concept in which the whole school is increasingly responsible for such children, thereby relieving the burden on individual teachers.

One option is to teach in teams. «This promotes the teachers' job satisfaction and improves the children's performance,» says Dieter Rüttimann. Peter Fratton would go one step further and dissolve classes in favour of performance teams, streamline the curriculum to a few pages and save teachers as much bureaucracy as possible «so that they have more time for the children again».

Roland Reichenbach brings another idea into play. «If fewer teachers worked part-time, the staffing gap would look different. But it's precisely this opportunity to combine family and career that makes the profession so popular.»

12. do we need more men in primary schools?

Currently, only around 6 per cent of teachers at primary levels 1 and 2 (kindergarten or the first two years of primary school) are male, compared to around 17 per cent at levels 3 to 8. If more men could be attracted to schools, this would also help with the shortage of teachers.

Education researchers agree that the main obstacle to this is the lack of career opportunities, which men are more likely to miss than women. «Anyone who becomes a teacher is a teacher for their entire professional life. Switching to school management is one of the few alternatives,» says Felix Christ.

What matters is not what you know, but what you can do with that knowledge.

Christian Müller, educational entrepreneur

There is also a widespread opinion that the lack of male teachers contributes to the fact that boys do worse at school on average than girls. However, a comprehensive overview study at the Science Centre in Berlin was able to clearly refute this connection.

What was not investigated there: Whether the boys lack male teachers as positive role models or whether these would be important for their emotional development. «Such things are difficult to measure. But for me it is obvious that it would be good for boys to see: Men can also work in educational professions or be caring,» says educationalist Roland Reichenbach. And he wonders: Why is so much being done to get more girls interested in mint subjects - but nothing is being done to encourage boys to take an interest in social subjects?

13 What content does school still need to teach today?

The mobile phone does the navigating, the Thermomix prepares the food, broken clothes are simply thrown away: so nobody has to learn to read maps, cook or sew any more. But did people know that 40 years ago? Will it still be true in 40 years' time? Who knows what knowledge a six-year-old child will need when they finish school?

«Content skills should no longer take centre stage at school today,» says Daniel Hunziker. Especially as you can access all of humanity's knowledge at the click of a button. Nevertheless, 60 to 80 per cent of school time is spent teaching pure factual knowledge, at least according to New Zealand education researcher John Hattie.

Factual knowledge is also what is tested in standard examinations - because it is easy to measure. «However, the decisive factor is not what you know, but what you can do with your knowledge,» says entrepreneur Christian Müller. In order to apply knowledge, you need other skills in addition to specialised knowledge. Daniel Hunziker lists the following: Curiosity, perseverance, communication skills, frustration tolerance.

«The ability to combine theory and practice, a lifelong desire to learn, the ability to work together and resolve conflicts,» says school counsellor Peter Fratton. In this way, relevant information can be found, scrutinised and meaningfully linked and problems can be understood and creatively solved instead of just reproducing answers.

According to the experts, schools need one thing above all else if they are to focus more on promoting such skills: less material in the curriculum. Roland Reichenbach, on the other hand, is a great advocate of factual knowledge and memorisation. «Anyone who knows something about trees or architecture has a completely different perspective on these things and asks different questions.»

14 What is good teaching?

Perhaps the question should also be: What does good teaching want? «It doesn't necessarily have a perfect sequence, but has a lasting effect. If the children have more questions at the end of the lesson than at the beginning, then the lesson was good,» says Christian Müller.

«The decisive factor is not a sophisticated methodology and didactics, but a strong focus on the children's learning processes,» says Dieter Rüttimann. Lessons are therefore good if they are given by a good teacher. This is because a good relationship with their pupils is at the centre of their teaching.

«It's important to me that the topics interest the children, that they recognise a sense of purpose, that they can decide for themselves what and how they want to learn, and that they experience self-efficacy,» says teacher Dani Burg. The children are unlikely to experience the latter if they only fill in worksheets or listen. «But they experience self-efficacy when they organise and carry out their own projects, when they help other classmates or plan an event,» says Burg, giving a few examples.

15 Has the integrative school failed?

In Switzerland, all children - regardless of their individual abilities or support needs - have had the right to attend a mainstream class at primary school for over ten years. The idea behind inclusive schooling is based on the Convention on Human Rights and the Disability Equality Act.

Nobody in the schools is really happy with it. Not because of the idea itself. But because the implementation has not really been successful so far. «The basic structure of the school system is still the same as it was 100 years ago, but the children are becoming more and more diverse. This means that inclusive schools are doomed to failure,» says Christian Müller.

Especially when there is a lack of staff, you have to utilise synergies, form teams and break up class groups.

Rahel Tschopp, school counsellor

The number of children with behavioural problems has reached around 20 percent in many classes in recent years. In addition, there are weak children with special needs, gifted children and children with German as a second language. On the other hand, there is a growing shortage of teachers. As a result, studies have shown that teachers feel enormously burdened by integrative support. «Smaller classes would be great,» says Dagmar Rösler. However, many schools lack the space for this. Which is why she would like to see at least two teachers per class as standard.

The «me and my class» mindset is no longer up to date

Rahel Tschopp believes that the «me and my class» mindset at schools is no longer appropriate in order to do justice to the increased heterogeneity and all the associated challenges. «Especially when there is a lack of staff, you have to support each other, utilise synergies, form teams and break up class groups,» says Tschopp. She would like to see more courage from teachers to tackle such things at their schools - instead of waiting for the big reform from politicians. «Schools and teachers have much more room for manoeuvre here than they think,» says Rahel Tschopp.

Headteacher Daniel Hunziker sees kindergartens as a great role model for effective learning in very heterogeneous, mixed-age groups. «Integration works better here than at primary school level because the standardised environment in which the children can move is simply larger.»

These children would then go to a school where there is much less room for individual differences. «However, integration doesn't just mean that the children have to adapt, but also that the school has to adapt,» says Hunziker and recommends: «It's not the kindergarten that should become more school-like, but rather the school should take the kindergarten as a model.»

16 Is homeschooling a good development?

According to the Conference of Cantonal Directors of Education, more than 4,000 children and young people in Switzerland are being taught at home - more than twice as many as six years ago. According to the experts, this is a logical response to the growing dissatisfaction with the state school system. «And for those who can't afford a public school, homeschooling is the only alternative and therefore an understandable trend,» says Nils Landolt.

Children who go to school have to learn to fit into a community other than their family. This is an important developmental task.

Peter Sonderegger, school psychologist

If it's purely about education, many pupils are certainly doing well with it. «Homeschooling is mostly done by parents from higher educational backgrounds,» says teacher Felix Christ. They often organise themselves into small learning groups, and in many cantons it is also mandatory that the person teaching has a recognised teaching diploma.

However, school is more than just English, maths or physics. «Children who go to school have to prove themselves outside the home. They have to deal with other children from different backgrounds. They have to learn to fit into a community other than their family,» says Peter Sonderegger. This is not easy, but it is a very important developmental task.

17. do we need a free choice of school?

Primary schools are financed by the state and children are allocated according to where they live. If parents or children do not want this, there are public schools as an alternative. However, their education costs are borne by the parents - which restricts the free choice of school. If the money did not go directly to the schools, but to the parents as a per capita lump sum per child, they would have more freedom of choice.

The idea has been rumoured around Switzerland for many years, but has also met with a great deal of resistance. The fear is that primary schools could be bled dry - as the last places where children from different backgrounds and educational backgrounds learn together.

Even if schools did not impart knowledge, we still need their social function.

Roland Reichenbach, educational scientist

«Schools have an important social mission. Even if they didn't impart any knowledge, we still need their social function,» says educational scientist Roland Reichenbach. However, studies from countries with free school choice also show that if state schools are good, pupils stay there because parents are happy to choose the nearest school.

Headmaster Nicolas Rüttimann is in favour of the idea of free choice of school: All schools, both private and public, would have to do more to attract pupils by offering attractive educational programmes and high-quality teaching. And as the financial resources depend on the number of pupils, schools would use the money in a more targeted way.

Daniel Hunziker also emphasises the benefits of more competition in the education system: «In the best-case scenario, this would lead to schools defining a clear profile, selecting the right teachers and then attracting pupils whose needs match this profile.»

According to Nils Landolt, opinions in society on what schools should be like are currently diametrically opposed. «If we could agree to disagree, we would make faster progress because everyone would have a choice and no one would be forced into the same happiness.»

18 What does a school building look like in which children feel comfortable?

Back in the 1960s, the Italian educationalist Loris Malaguzzi coined the phrase «space as a third pedagogue», which, alongside classmates and teachers, plays a decisive role in whether children can learn well. Because rooms always create an atmosphere. This can be a feeling of security or unease, fear or safety. A room can be inviting or forbidding, calming or stimulating. It can promote - or hinder - different forms of teaching such as individual and group learning, concentrated work or lively discussions.

Pupils will increasingly ask themselves why they should learn something that AI can do better than them.

Beat Döbeli Honegger, computer science didactician

«A school should be planned in such a way that different forms of learning and socialising are possible in the rooms,» says Dani Burg. Like many other experts who attribute great importance to classrooms for good learning, he is a fan of learning landscapes. «We don't need a lot of rooms that all look the same if they are used for different activities such as painting, concentrated work or research,» says Rahel Tschopp.

19 What are the potentials and challenges of AI in schools?

«Won't children forget basic maths skills?» This was the biggest concern when calculators were introduced in schools in the 1980s. Maths teachers are still around today, as is mental arithmetic. Digital expert Tobias Röhl takes a similar view of artificial intelligence (AI). «You shouldn't overestimate it and see it as a panacea to make schools better. But AI belongs in schools.» Firstly, because it has great potential to improve teaching. «It has become much easier to create texts and tasks that cater to the individual needs of pupils,» says Röhl.

Rahel Tschopp sees many advantages, particularly in foreign language lessons. «It makes sense if I can use the ChatGPT software to discuss the topic I'm working on in NMG (nature, people, society) orally in English.» For teachers, AI ideally takes over time-consuming routine tasks. «I can use AI when preparing lessons, for example, or when writing an invitation to a parents' evening,» says Tobias Röhl. This in turn frees up time for more important tasks, above all for building relationships with pupils.

AI will not replace teachers

A statement by Stefan Wolter, Director of the Swiss Coordination Centre for Educational Research, in an interview with the Tamedia newspapers shows that AI has long since arrived in schools: In secondary school, around one in three young people use programmes such as ChatGPT every week for school tasks in class or at home.

«AI will not replace teachers, but will make their importance for good education even more important,» Tobias Röhl is convinced. This is because AI makes mistakes, harbours risks and raises many data protection issues. «School is a good place to teach children how to use it responsibly,» Röhl continues. However, he also emphasises that teachers need support in incorporating AI into their own lessons in a responsible and didactically beneficial way. «Further training, but also new teaching materials and online resources can help here,» he says.

The discussion about banning mobile phones in schools is actually superfluous.

Dagmar Rösler, teacher

IT didactics expert Beat Döbeli Honegger believes it is essential that teachers experiment with the systems themselves. «They should then also discuss these experiences with their colleagues and the school management,» says Döbeli Honegger. He sees a major challenge in keeping pupils' motivation to learn high. «They will increasingly ask themselves why they should learn something that the machine can do faster and better than them.» A key task for teachers will be to find good answers to these questions - just as was the case with the calculator or the advent of the internet.

20. do Swiss schools need a ban on mobile phones?

France and Italy have had it for a long time, and more and more countries have followed suit, most recently Belgium and Latvia: we are talking about a state-regulated, uniform ban on private mobile phones in schools. In Switzerland, educational sovereignty lies with the cantons, which is why there are no standardised national regulations.

«The discussion about this is actually superfluous,» says Dagmar Rösler. She doesn't know of any school that hasn't long since found a way of dealing with mobile phones - so that they are not used for private purposes during lessons and usually also during breaks. This is because we know from both studies and the practical experience of teachers that digital devices have an extremely high stimulus density, harbour great potential for addiction, distract from lessons even when switched off, prevent pupils from communicating with each other during breaks and open up additional avenues for bullying.

«We have to protect children and young people from this. But a simple ban in schools won't solve these problems,» says primary school teacher Nils Landolt. Just because the devices are left at home doesn't mean that pupils have learnt to use them responsibly and thoughtfully. «The role model function of adults also plays a major role. How they use their smartphone has a strong influence on children's behaviour,» says Dagmar Rösler.

Book tips for further reading

Leonard Sommer: When school gives you ideas. 100 creative minds rethink learning. Vahlen 2023, 448 pages, approx. 67 francs.

Nicola Schmidt: Artgerecht. The other book for schoolchildren. Kösel 2024, 320 pages. approx. 25 francs.

Oskar Jenni (ed.): Childhood. A reassurance. Kein & Aber 2024, 256 pages, approx. 25 francs.

Bob Blume: Why still learn? What school should look like in times of AI, crises and social injustice. Mosaik 2024, 302 pages, approx. 25 francs.

Stefan Ruppaner, Anke Willers: This could set a precedent. How a committed pedagogue is revolutionising our education system. Rowohlt paperback 2025, 240 pages, approx. 23 francs.