School in transition
It was just a banal truth in 140 characters. Nevertheless, the tweet from a young high school student has triggered a huge discussion about our school system.
On 10 January 2015 at 12:49, Naina K. wrote: «I'm almost 18 and have no idea about taxes, rent or insurance. But I can write a poetry analysis. In 4 languages.»
Apparently, Naina's few words went straight to the heart of many parents and pupils, and the news spread rapidly. 72 hours later, Naina, previously completely unknown, was on Stefan Raab's TV show «TV total» and three million people were watching. Her tweet not only triggered a media tsunami, the waves of which travelled all the way to Switzerland. It was also the catalyst for an emotional debate about what young people still learn at school today. Or not.
Primary schools and the education system are not in an easy position at the moment. In fact, elementary school bashing is quite a trend at the moment. Similar fundamental issues are being discussed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Our school system no longer fulfils today's requirements, it is outdated, dusty, not even the grades are up to date. Critics agree that the school system as we know it in Switzerland and Germany no longer meets the demands of culture and society.
Increasing the level of performance does not mean learning faster, but learning more slowly, more deeply, more intensively and more individually.
Richard David Precht, philosopher
«Today, exams and grades are misused to force children to learn. This demotivates them and they are no longer able to pursue their own interests because of all the stress,» says Remo Largo, Switzerland's best-known paediatrician. Albert Einstein aptly said: «Education is what's left when you've forgotten everything you've memorised.» Remo Largo has a whole catalogue of changes at hand when it comes to primary schools. His demands are radical.
- Improve the relationship between students and teachers
- Encourage pupils' individual learning motivation
- Rethinking the educational mission
- Streamlining the curriculum
- Liberalise the education system
And last but not least, Remo Largo is in favour of free school choice. Author Largo («Lernen geht anders. Bildung und Erziehung vom Kind her denken») is therefore of a similar opinion to German philosopher Richard David Precht. Precht sparked a far-reaching debate in Germany when he published his book «Anna, die Schule und der liebe Gott. The education system's betrayal of our children». In it, he calls for nothing less than an «education revolution».
Since then, a veritable battle has been raging in Germany over the state education system. Although Precht and Largo give different reasons, their criticism is based on similar ideas: both criticise the fact that primary schools are still based on the structure that was invented 150 years ago. In other words: one teacher, one learning objective, one teaching style, but two dozen (or more) pupils. How could that still fit together today? According to the opinion, a lot has changed over the decades. But while many sectors of society are adapting quickly to the new conditions, primary schools are reacting sluggishly or not at all. There is still a monotonous pressure to perform and achieve grades, completely unreflected and not tailored to the needs of the pupils.
Precht's criticism of today's school system is fierce: he speaks of «learning factories that kill creativity» and calls for children to be given back «the joy of learning» first and foremost. «My basic idea is to think of school in terms of children and learning.» However, this was not how schools were designed at the end of the 19th century. «The Prussian-style school did not have the function of teaching children something suitable for children. It was born out of the administration and the authorities and was intended to produce good, state-compliant, well-adjusted citizens,» says Precht, father of four children.
Schools must give up the illusion that they are only responsible for the children's heads and that parents are responsible for the rest.
Jesper Juul, family therapist
Precht's vision really does sound like a mixture of a pony farm and autonomy: in future, pupils should be able to choose the subject matter they want to work on themselves. And they should also be able to decide when they want to take an exam. Grades? Abolish them! School stress? Unnecessary! Frontal teaching, forty-five-minute lessons, standardised classes? From the day before yesterday!
Jesper Juul, a Danish family therapist, calls it «bulimic learning» and says it is widespread in primary schools. When pupils are only allowed to cram material into their short-term memory and then vomit it out again during the exam. Jesper Juul runs a kind of roadshow for learning innovation with his «familiylab.com» platform and is touring Europe with it.
Juul is also an advocate of Gerald Hüther's theories. «Every child has their own individual learning speed in every subject area,» says neurobiologist Hüther. The fast learners are slowed down with the wrong methods and the slow learners are penalised with poor grades. However, such patterns of disappointment have a suboptimal effect on the brain. Hüther is certain that the «best fertiliser for the brain» is «enthusiasm». Ever since his book «Every child is highly gifted» stormed the bestseller lists two years ago, the success of his views (and his person) has not waned. They also strike a chord with the zeitgeist. Many parents are still convinced that their child is a genius. However, the current «salonability» of leaving no stone unturned at primary school often motivates the wrong people.
The school is not family-friendly. The children need childcare over lunchtime and after school.
Remo Largo, paediatrician
«School must not degenerate into an end in itself, but must benefit children's learning,» says Matthias Gubler, psychologist, lecturer and director of the Unterstrass Institute in Zurich. In this respect, criticism of schools is necessary and also helpful, says the 49-year-old, who lectures at the University of Teacher Education and is considered a humanistic educational visionary in Switzerland. Gubler would like the debate about what schools can, should and may do to be conducted more objectively. «Unfortunately, superficial and sometimes populist analyses create an alarmist mood that I don't think is appropriate.»
School critics such as Richard David Precht and Gerald Hüther are repeatedly accused of sensationalism. The «self-proclaimed brain researcher» does not take science very seriously, writes the German «Zeit» journalist Martin Spiewak, for example. «Freed from the labours of empiricism, Hüther and other critics of education beguile their viewers like the travelling miracle doctors of old with daring diagnoses and suggestions for bizarre cures to save the supposedly terminally ill patient school.» The German news magazine «Der Spiegel» bitterly labelled Richard David Precht the «Richard Clayderman of political science». The theses of the one are as shallow as the piano playing of the other. But despite the gloating of the feuilleton: Precht has written a bestseller with his book. There is more passionate debate about the «school patient» today than ever before.
Apparently, many feel threatened by the fundamental questioning of schools. But why exactly? Because the school system, and with it the entire education system, has always been an important pillar of society. Schools represent the values of a country and society. Criticising them is a balancing act that can only be mastered by those who argue concretely and precisely.
I would like to see a more objective debate about what schools can, should and may do.
Matthias Gubler, psychologist
Remo Largo is trying. In his book «Schülerjahre - Wie Kinder besser lernen», which he published together with journalist Martin Beglinger, he calls for more comprehensive schools with mixed-age classes, for example, in which all children can learn at their own pace and the younger ones can also learn from the older ones. Designed as day schools, where sustainable relationships can develop between teachers and learners. And above all, the school must - very quickly - be freed from the pressure of grades.
So what Largo is demanding for Swiss primary schools and Precht for German ones is nothing less than that schools adapt to changing values. And that it has the courage to reflect on itself so that it can develop.
You don't even have to have a Twitter account.
The best fertiliser for the brain is enthusiasm.
Gerald Hüther, neurobiologist
Where is our school heading? Answers can be found in the study «Primary school 2030. Four scenarios for the future of schools»
The school as a brand
Children receive education credits that can be redeemed at licensed public schools. The schools have different profiles and specialisms. The focus is on promoting individual talent. The school market is internationalised and the quality of the schools is regularly measured in international school rankings. Talent scouts from renowned universities, research institutions and companies look for particularly talented children and provide them with special support.
The school as a holding company
Under pedagogical guidance, sports clubs, local businesses, parents and grandparents participate in the children's education. Wherever possible, learning opportunities are sought in the real world. Learning content is deepened using examples in order to practise methodological skills. The autonomy of local schools remains important.
The social education mission
Many school experiments and reforms of recent decades are being reversed. Schools attach great importance to virtues such as discipline and order. Parents are made much more responsible for their children's schooling and education. Schoolisation (extension of educational support in terms of location and time) is progressing.
The school is on fire
Due to the precarious state of public finances, schools lack various instruments such as remedial teaching and special support. At the same time, the proportion of educationally disadvantaged families is increasing, particularly in urban centres. Schools are supposed to correct undesirable social developments, but are not subsidised to do so. A growing market of private schools is emerging, some of which are religiously coloured.
The complete study is available at www.swissfuture.ch.