No grades, no timetable: Berlin school turns teaching upside down

OrbitalDawn

OrbitalDawn

Ulysses Everett McGill
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
47,646
Reaction score
9,319
Location
Aboard the Nostalgia For Infinity
Pupils choose their own subjects and motivate themselves, an approach some say should be rolled out across Germany

Anton Oberländer is a persuasive speaker. Last year, when he and a group of friends were short of cash for a camping trip to Cornwall, he managed to talk Germany’s national rail operator into handing them some free tickets. So impressed was the management with his chutzpah that they invited him back to give a motivational speech to 200 of their employees.

Anton, it should be pointed out, is 14 years old.

The Berlin teenager’s self-confidence is largely the product of a unique educational institution that has turned the conventions of traditional teaching radically upside down. At Oberländer’s school, there are no grades until students turn 15, no timetables, no lecture-style instructions. The pupils themselves decide which subjects they want to study for each lesson and when they want to take an exam.

The school’s syllabus reads like any helicopter parents’ nightmare. Set subjects are limited to maths, German, English and social studies, supplemented by more abstract courses such as “responsibility” or “challenge”. For “challenge”, students aged 12 to 14 are each given €150 (£115) and sent on an adventure they have to plan entirely by themselves. Some go kayaking, others work on a farm. Anton went trekking along England’s south coast.

The philosophy behind these innovations is simple: as the requirements of the labour market are changing, and smartphones and the internet are transforming the ways in which young people process information, headteacher Margret Rasfeld argues, the most important skill a school can pass down to its students is the ability to motivate themselves.
Click to expand...
 
I would have liked something as simple as getting to school on a Monday morning and having everyone go to the sports field and shout as loud as they can - just something to make us smile and wake up. Instead we sat in a boring assembly, listened to some boring guy talking and sang a stupid song. The system was absolutely clueless, tho there were a few gem teachers scattered throughout. A revolution is much needed.
 
“In education, you can only create change from the bottom – if the orders come from the top, schools will resist. Ministries are like giant oil tankers: it takes a long time to turn them around. What we need is lots of little speedboats to show you can do things differently.”
Click to expand...

Ja, well, in that case,- ours hit a rock, it only has a skeleton crew, its leaking fuel and some parts are on fire
 
the most important skill a school can pass down to its students is the ability to motivate themselves.
Click to expand...

I call bull****.

I'd rather have one person who is able to think intelligently but requires motivational input to get the best of them, than 100 highly motivated retards.

Self motivation is something that can be looked at and improved in schooling. I'd even call it an important factor to consider, but to call it the most important skill/ability is flat out stupid.
 
Hmm, interesting. I would say some kids are creative and innovative and can deal with that. Though I don't think it should be free for all. They need to learn that there will be discipline, dancing to someones elses tune etc. Great to spark some creativity and innovation. But not all the time. Some will do stuff, others will sit and smoke all day.
 
East Asia must be looking at the western education system and the direction that it's going in, and thinking:

wwqQt.gif
 
Last edited:
Greylor said:
I call bull****.

I'd rather have one person who is able to think intelligently but requires motivational input to get the best of them, than 100 highly motivated retards.

Self motivation is something that can be looked at and improved in schooling. I'd even call it an important factor to consider, but to call it the most important skill/ability is flat out stupid.
Click to expand...


And soon hundreds of confident illiterates will be running around Germany, stupid but confident. Wait, we already have that in South Africa... :p
 
What do they do when the child decides to study nothing and take no exams?
 
Nice idea, a bit left field though,
Would have loved this growing up,

Only issue is how would you measure yourself?
It's not as easy to measure your performance if you don't have any yardstick.
 
CorrieDeBeer said:
I know right!!!???
Click to expand...

Yeah, one of the dumbest generalizations I have ever heard. I grew up/still live in a German speaking community here, the ones that are directly from Germany usually let their kids do/have whatever they want. (not all, just a large percentage)
I assume it's like that for a lot of "western" families as they are having less and less time for their kids.
 
I have heard similar things from people that went to the Deutche Schule (?) in Pretoria. (Pardon the spelling)
 
CorrieDeBeer said:
I have heard similar things from people that went to the Deutche Schule (?) in Pretoria. (Pardon the spelling)
Click to expand...

Deutsche*, nearly right ;)
Not sure, the exchange students we took in from Pretoria were really nice when the inter-schools were going on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X