Germany, Grundschule Wildau

Follow us:

Email:post@ryenbergetskole.no

THEME-BASED-EDUCATON.EU

RYENBERGET SCHOOL - NORWAY

Grundschule Wildau


One of the largest elementary schools of the Dahme-Spreewald district is located in Wildau, at 90 Fichtestraße. 410 students in 18 class associations were taught here by 23 teachers and teachers.


We are looking forward to visit Grunschule Wildau in the spring of 2020.


www.grundschule-wildau.de

About German school system:

In Germany, schools are a concern for the various German states. This means that there are differences in the school structure around the country, although the main features are the same.


School duty begins the year the child turns six, and lasts from nine to twelve years. During the first four or six years (depending on the state) the pupil attends elementary school (Grundschule). This level is called Primarstufe.

After elementary school there are three main courses the student can take: Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium. All of these are referred to as Secondary Stufe I.


In the main school (Hauptschule), the students first go to school until the ninth or tenth grade. After completing school, the students take the Hauptschulabschluss, and can then continue to a vocational school (Berufsschule). The time at the vocational school is often combined with practice in a company and can be compared with the apprenticeship scheme in Norway. A typical vocational education takes two or three years.

There are 5,358 primary schools in Germany, with a total of 1.1 million students.


A real school (Realschule) is a middle ground between a high school and a vocational school. Here the students advance to tenth grade, when the real school ends with Mittlere Reife. Then the students can take a technical education, or in some cases go to high school (this requires an entrance exam).

Until 1964, the real schools were called middle schools (Mittelschulen).


To enter German universities you need a final exam from a high school (Gymnasium). This exam is called Abitur. Students usually start high school in the fifth grade in Secondary Stage I, and continue after completing 10th grade at the so-called Gymnasiale Oberstufe. They can then take Abitur after the twelfth or thirteenth school year.

Traditionally, there have been three main types of German colleges:

Humanistic colleges (Humanistic colleges), where emphasis is placed on classical languages ​​such as Latin and Greek.


Linguistic colleges (Neusprachliche Gymnasien), where students learn modern languages ​​such as English and French.


Mathematical-natural science colleges (Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Gymnasien), where students immerse themselves in mathematics and science.

Many states also have special forms of colleges, such as music gymnasium (Music gymnasium) and sports gymnasium (Sports gymnasium).

There are 3,139 high schools in Germany. These have a total of 2.32 million students.

About Grundschule Wildau:

Grundschule Wildau is located approximately 40 min. south of Berlin in the state of Brandenburg (2,5 miles). To get there we booked a flight to Berlin and rented a car. We stayed at Seehotel Zeuthen just outside Wildau.

 

Germany is divided into different states where each state has its own curricula. That means there are 17 different framework plans in Germany. Berlin is its own state but shares the same framework plan as Brandenburg.

 

Grundschule Wildau had grades 1 through 6. After 6th grad (elementary school) they must apply for

  • Gymnasium (secondary level 1). – eBB (erweiterte Berufsbildung) – secondary level 2.
  • Hauptschule (secondary stufe 1). – FOR (Fachoberschule) – secondary level 1.
  • Realschule (secondary stufe 1). – AHR (Allgemeine Hochschulreife) – secondary level 1.


The school has approximately 440 students from 1 – 6 grades. They have 2 people in the management, 1 secretary and approximately 27 teachers. 1 and 2 classes were in their own building called “the small building”, while the 3 – 6 classes were in the main building. They had their own Sports hall and their own building for Activity centre with different workshops were the students could sign in to their own request (football, painting, ceramics, etc.). The students had access to sport facilitates and a swimming pool in the city. We participated in sports, mathematics, German, art&crafts, music, flex class and science.


I asked Inspector Kathrin Eberhardt if she meant Europe would have a common framework plan in 10 years? Her answer was: No!

Program “Job Shadow” Mars 3:

  • Meeting with our contact person at Grundschule Wildau to plan the coming “Job Shadow”

 

Program “Job Shadow” Mars 4, Mittwoch:

  • 0800 - 0845: We meet our contact person at Grundschule Wildau.
  • 0850 - 0935: “Job Shadow” in D1 (first grade) in the “small building” We attended mathematics.
  • 1000 – 1045: “Job Shadow” in Sp 1b. (first grade). We attended sport in “sport halle”.
  • 1055 - 1140: “Job Shadow” in 3d. (3 grade).
  • 1200 – 1245: “Job Shadow” in 3d (3 grade). We attended mathematics.
  • Program afternoon: Meeting with all the teachers in Grundschule Wildau
  • 2000: Dinner in Berlin

 

Program “JobShadow” Mars 5:

  • 0800 - 0845: “Job Shadow” in “Kunstraum” 6c.
  • 0850 – 0935: “Job Shadow” in 5c. We attended Mathematics.
  • 1000 – 1045: “Job Shadow” in Flex class (1-2 grad).
  • 1155 – 1140: «Job Shadow» in Flex class (1-2 grad).
  • 1200 - 1245: “Job Shadow” in 5b.
  • 1300: The host arranged an excursion to a museum in Konigs-Wusterhausen.
  • 2000: Dinner together with teachers from Wildau in Wildau centre
  • 2100: Concert in Grundschule Wildau

 

Program “Job Shadow” Mars 6:

  • 0850 – 0935: “Job Shadow” in 4c. We attended Music.
  • 1000 – 1045: Interview with Kathrin (our host).
  • 1155 – 1140: «Job Shadow» in Flex class (1-2 grad).
  • 1200 - 1245: “Job Shadow” in 6a. We attended music.
  • 1300: Sum up of the “Job Shadow” in Wildau.
  • 2000: Dinner in the city of Berlin.

“In – Depth learning” and interdisciplinary cooperation:                                                                                                               

There are multiple similarities between German and Norwegian curriculum and the mindset around to the content of the curriculum. How the curriculum is implemented and taught in each school will naturally differ internally in both countries. Similar to what we experience in Norway, frequent reforms to the curriculum is considered a challenge. However, in our experience, Grundschule Wildau seemed progressive in meeting these reforms and in their ability to implement reforms in their everyday running of the school.

 

The curriculum in Germany is developed around themes, but aa in Norway the teaching staff found it challenging to find the time to work in depth with a topic. A couple of times each year the school arranged a “theme-week” where the original time-schedule was dissolved in order to work with different topics in stations. The topic was set and designated to each year and the idea was to start “close to home” and then to widen the horizon for the students. First and second grade worked with the topic “Spring” while the third grade treated “Wildau”. In fourth grade to topic was Brandenburg, while the fifth and sixth grade focused on Europe. By arranging these “theme-weeks”, the teaching staff managed to work both in depth and interdisciplinary with starting points in different subjects. This type of specific theme-based teaching is something we wish to bring back with us and implement in our work with “fagfornyelsen”. Perhaps it is possible to systemize local subject curriculum with regard to interdisciplinary topics? This is something we have already started looking at in our school.  

 

Grundschule Wildau was open to different thinking and practices when it came to pedagogical platforms. We did for example observe a lesson where the teacher used pedagogical principles from the Montessori school system in teaching about the photosynthesis. This created enthusiasm with both the pupils and the observing teachers. Being open to alternative pedagogy is an interesting idea and might add important perspectives in how we treat in-depth learning and interdisciplinary cooperation. A clear pedagogical platform may facilitate this.



Class management:                                                                                                                                                                                       

In generally we experienced great respect towards the teachers.


We saw how the students came into the class and politely greeted the teacher first. Then they were taking a seat and started the activity the teacher presented. An example was from 2 class where they worked on the money system. The teacher walked around and touched one of the students on his shoulder. Then the student walked around and touched the others on their shoulders one by one. This was the student's signal to get up, walk in front of the classroom, and sit quietly in a circle and wait for the others. When everyone had sat down, the teacher presented the task which was a game where they practiced money-exchange activities. It was good atmosphere and quiet working environment.


We asked the teachers what they would do if there were troubles in the group. We received in response that there were generally little problems. If this would occur, the teachers tried to talk with them or with the hole class (Klassenrat). When there were bigger problems, the teachers contacted the parents and after this the principal had to give some help. 




Flex class:                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Teachers from the “small house” explained for us how they were practising teaching in "flex class". In this class there were students from 1st and 2nd grade together. This was a common working class where the students worked individually in their own progress. Most students spent 2 years completing 1st and 2nd grade. Some needed less and some needed more time. Then they could progress after 1 class, or spend another year after 2 class. Many lessons were together and some introducing lessons on new subjects were divided in smaller age divided groups. 




ICT:                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

We rarely encountered the use of ICT as a methodical tool in the classroom. There was an ICT room in the main building which was divided between the classes for education in the world, PowerPoint etc. But in general, the students worked most analogously. The positive effects we saw were that little time was spent on ICT technical problems. It was also an effect that all students had to write by hand and developed a nice handwriting.

Sum-up:                                                                                                                                                                                                              

It was very exciting to experience 3 days at Grundschule Wildau. We were very well received by the hosts and got to experience many different classes during our stay. We got a good insight into several of our topics in Germany and we widened our perspectives. Experiencing the teaching situation in practice in another country gives us many new impressions and ideas regarding our own practice. All this we want to bring back to our own organization and it will be taken into consideration when we design future practice and educational work.


The hosts also took responsibility for us outside of teaching with a joint dinner, concert, lunch and museum visit in the city. We would like to thank our hosts for welcoming us and creating a detailed and versatile program for these 3 days. We also hope we can continue to have contact and exchange experience in our new international network. Many thanks to our new partners in Wildau, Kathrin Eberhardt and principal Susanne Blischke.