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Exactly what challenges does Germany’s education system face in the coming years?
Our school system really has to be set up in such a way that we can focus more on individual achievements and abilities and potential of our children instead of their deficits or faults. We need more encouragement on an individual basis and, therefore, have to leave room for learning and teaching to support this goal. More sensitivity for individuals at school is required, and, ultimately, educational establishments have to offer much more than just the transfer of knowledge: A school must become a habitat which fulfils the requirements for successful learning. We know from scientific research that learning is only successful if it occurs on a social, cognitive, emotional level and can be used to the learner’s advantage. Frontal instruction lessons have proven to be of limited efficacy in teaching this. Too many pupils are leaving school without their school leaving certificate – 80,000 each year. 100,000 are currently waiting for an apprentice training position. More than 20 percent are considered incapable of completing vocational training (PISA 2003).
The scope for permeability exists on paper, but in practice, in statistical terms, it is 15 percent. The number of drop-outs from German secondary schools (grammar schools, secondary modern schools and general secondary schools) is far greater than the number of pupils continuing their education. The trinomial school system does not provide what it requires to provide. Just after grade 4 (when elementary school children are around 10 years old) is far too early a point to reach a decision as to which type of secondary school pupils are to attend. When compared to our European counterparts, you see that this is a tradition which is only adhered to in the German-speaking countries, whereas our neighbours have long abandoned this concept. The fact of the matter is that pupils benefit from it enormously and that they learn together for longer and, most importantly, regardless of age. In Germany this realisation is starting to come through, but we are yet to progress from the stage of realisation to acting and implementation. We need a “new school” which is equitable, fair-minded and high-performing.
Which competences and skills do the adults of tomorrow need to be equipped with to be able to survive in the working world?
To be successful in tomorrow’s world, it is important that today’s children develop personal competences on an emotional, social and cognitive level. That means that they can grow up to be knowledgeable, high-principled adults and, because of their healthy state of mind, are in a position to act responsibly on their own. All too often the teaching of emotional and social competences is neglected and unbalanced level of importance is placed on the cognitive acquisition of knowledge. However, to live in society, empathy and intuition are indispensible for individual needs and those needs of other people. Tomorrow’s adults have to be in a position and be willing to put the time and energy into continuing to learn and developing further.
In a globally networked world, we need multilingualism, familiarity and exposure to modern digital media, and general education combined with good knowledge and skills which can be developed further. The good old distinction between “hard” and “soft” skills is history. On an international level these social, intercultural competences are classed as “hard skills”. They are not any less important than languages and sciences. Hence, it is up to us, as adults, to give our children the opportunity to acquire these skills too.
What role does the Buddy Project play in this context?
The Buddy Project is a program for social and cognitive learning which mainly focuses on children’s abilities and potential; on specific strengths and skills. Children and teenagers should be able to develop their main personal competences in and outside school. Pupils who get involved in the project as buddies, can guide, and be role models for, younger pupils, or can help to resolve conflicts and fights. As a result they learn to resolve conflicts in a non-violent, constructive way and can be there for each other and interact with each other. Another important aspect of the Buddy Project is its contribution to the individual furtherance of pupils on the basis of “pupil for pupil”. A lesson conducted according to the Buddy principle means that pupils can learn together and help each other with the subject matter. Brighter pupils support the less able pupils. The teacher is also a learning tutor in the sense of a coach. At ‘Buddy schools’, age-spanning lessons are often conducted which in turn leads to reciprocal competency-building between older and younger pupils, benefiting both parties. Also, the segregation between the different school forms often fails the buddy system. Secondary school pupils assume the role of learning assistants to look after children from special schools, and practice their reading and writing with them or help them if they are physically disabled. The ‘Buddy principal’ expands further afield, beyond the schoolyard: We know that numerous buddies visit nursing homes and organise computer courses for senior citizens or explain to them how to send a text message on their mobile phone. The Buddy Project has a highly integrative effect as it connects and brings people together and establishes an interpersonal relationship between them.
