Things I would change about Germany if I could - Part 4

[NephTheNeph]

First, "the german school system" doesn't exist. The school system and its rules are state legislated and not federal legislated, so there are 16 slightly different german school systems.
Second in my 10th grade one third of us switched from Realschule to Gymnasium and Gesamtschule to make our Abitur. But then again I am not from Bavaria and all we needed was more or less an average grade of 3 [C], quite doable..

[georggemander]

I am a teacher at a Gemeinschaftsschule (similar to the Gesamtschule) and I must say that it's quite flexible. The desicion which exam you take is made more or less in the year before the exam itself. Until then all students attend the same classes and my task as a teacher is to assure that everyone gets its appropriate tasks and grades. Usually my worksheets are handed out in the versions for the three levels (sometimes even more: e.g. for those with a different mother tongue).
It's quite manageable.

[helgaioannidis]

I'm from Bavaria like Feli and the Bavarian school system is one reason why after studying abroad I decided to not raise my children in Bavaria.
My children grow up in Greece and while I'd say that they'd have surely a broader overall knowledge of subjects if they'd have attended a Bavarian Gymnasium, the social aspects for me outweigh this benefit of the Bavarian system broadly. The fact that all children for 9 years go to the same school helps with keeping different socioeconomic groups in touch with each other and allows the kids to only have to think about the question if one they they want to attend university when they are 15 years old.
My nieces and nephews in Bavaria were already stressed out at age 9 about the question if they'd make it into Gymnasium and not making it was felt by them as a complete failure. It's really like the value of a child depends on the school type they attend.

[osleg]

In vielen Bundesländern werden die Klassen erst nach der 6. Klasse aufgeteilt. Es ist möglich wenn man die Noten dafür hat schon ab der 5. Klasse auf's Gymnasium zu gehen aber viele machen das garnicht mehr so. Es gibt genug Gemeinschaftsschulen und Gesamtschulen wie du bereits gesagt hast aber vorallem in den neuen Bundesländern ist es eher verbreitet das nach der 6. Klasse der Verbund aufgelöst wird

[svenmueller]

Unless it changed significantly since I attended i school a few decades ago, I found the American *system* less authoritarian, but the method of teaching felt a lot more authoritarian than in Germany.
A lot of my highschool time (anniversary's only a couple months) was more of a lecture by the teachers while my Gymnasium time in Germany felt a lot more little dialogues between teacher and students. There were a few exceptions on both sides though.

[gabrielesalinas]

I agree. My son won through this system through 8th grade when we moved back to the US. Determining a child’s future in the 4th grade is crazy.

[PurnaRodman]

Wow, I would have really suffered in this system. I got only Bs and Cs through 5th grade . I got my first As in 6th grade and then mostly As in middle school and all As high school.

[abeliever]

Here children can do the transfer test formally known as the 11 plus at age 11. Unfortunately not all schools properly prepare students for these exams. Those who receive an A can attend top grammar schools, providing they meet other individual school criteria. Lots of top schools are oversubscribed, therefore the reason for additional criteria. Other grammar schools accept B1 B2 depending upon demand. They then generally stay at that school until age 18, and take GCSE age 16 and A levels age 18. This doesn't prevent those who don't avail of this system from attending university.

[The_Dudester]

I have had it explained to me that the US school system is set up to find doctors or lawyers. I'm now retired but I tell you confidently that the school system wasted 2 years trying to teach me biology and 5 years trying to teach me algebra/trig/geometry.
The German system is more to my liking, but I agree that grades in 4th grade are too early to make an assessment. 8th grade, I feel, is a much better bellwether to measure interest in academic subjects.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

I am so grateful to have attended a Bavarian gymnasium. If I had to stay with all these bullies from elementary school, I would have probably killed myself. And no, I’m not from an affluent background. I’m from a working class family, like most of my school friends. I feel we all benefited so much from not being forced into a comprehensive school. That’s a very regional thing. In other parts of Germany, comprehensives are the norm. Education is state responsibility, not federal.

[CubeInspector]

It should be after 8th grade. There should be a split. Most people dont need to go to university more things should be vocational school or apprenticeships.

[TH-ludu]

Interesting how gymnasium has different meanings in English, German, and ancient Greek. To quote Wiktionary: "from γυμνός (gumnós, “naked”), because Greek athletes trained naked."

[jann.gottorfgottorf]

This ist Not in everry Bundesland this way! Bavaria is in this topic, as in many others, let's say a little bit on the "conservativ" side😎

[IMCODERED]

Actually agree with 9th being a cut off for those who want to pursue an apprenticeship. Would be great in the US.

[pharaohstiller]

Is it just me or do I always have to express the pretty merge hand-face-wave Everytime I watch her videos.🤩

[marcush]

Hot take:

If you put me into a school based on my 4th grade performance, I would have been forced into an apprenticeship. Instead of blooming in high school and graduating super high in my class.

And I would have preferred that. Bc my college degree put me in debt and gave me a degree that on average pays less than a plumber.

As an example, my degree was in English. Because that's where I performed best in school, and my HS and university both pushed me that way. But English degrees dont pay well.

But my ADHD had me running towards alcohol history. I learned german on my own because it allowed me to read primary historical sources on alcohol history (fun fact, I can read about beer history in german at a technical level. I still cant watch children's shows in german). I became a certified cicerone without training or classes bc I obsessed over it.

My mind was able to take my interests and go full ham at it. It's never been able to take easy, disinteresting things and even remotely perform to par.

An apprenticeship in an area I was interested would have been absolutely perfect.

But I know I'm the weird exception.

[richardlahan]

I'm sure it's way better than the mess we have here in the US. School districts can't retain or hire enough teachers and kids are not learning basics such as reading, English and math skills.

[Testing-]

In the US we call that "tracking" and I believe it is a process that has been abandoned because it "pigeonholes" students.

[ImmortalRimas]

It does sound a little dystopian and for a minute I thought she was gonna say that students that were not so academically successful were made to fight to the death or something!🤣

[rogink]

We still have some grammar schools in the UK which are for academic kids, but most children go to comprehensives which are mixed ability. The irony is that poorer kids would benefit more from grammar school but they tend to be in the more affluent areas