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Cellar Scribblings
Penthesilea:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 08, 2021, 10:11:24 pm ---I remember when Oliver started school. He must be at university by now.
--- End quote ---
Nope, not yet. Still one more year of school for him. There are three different school forms in Germany, and the longest one takes 13 years in our federal state. After that he plans to spend a year in Canada before starting university.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Penthesilea on May 09, 2021, 10:31:38 am ---Nope, not yet. Still one more year of school for him. There are three different school forms in Germany, and the longest one takes 13 years in our federal state. After that he plans to spend a year in Canada before starting university.
--- End quote ---
Is this for students intended to go on to a university education?
If he's going to be as close as Canada, he should meet some of those strange people called Brokies that his mother hangs out with on the internet. Unless we frighten him. ;D
Penthesilea:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 09, 2021, 06:17:35 pm ---Is this for students intended to go on to a university education?
--- End quote ---
Yes. If you want to study you have to make your Abitur, which is the graduation from Gymnasium, the higher school level.
The first four years of elementary school is the same for all children. After that they are divided into a lower, a middle and a higher school. Lower school is 5 more years = 9 years of school altogether, middle school is 6 more years (=10 years) and the higher school is nine more years = 13 years altogether.
After 3.5 years of elementary school, each child gets a recommendation for their further school career. In some federal states it's easy to ignore the rec and put your child into whatever school you think might be appropriate, but in some federal states the rec is more or less binding and difficult to go round.
But children can go one school level up later on, when their grades are really good. Or have a try at the next higher level after graduating the previous level.
--- Quote ---If he's going to be as close as Canada, he should meet some of those strange people called Brokies that his mother hangs out with on the internet. Unless we frighten him. ;D[/font][/size]
--- End quote ---
:laugh: Who knows? For now, I just hope pandemic travel restrictions will be history in summer 2022.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Penthesilea on May 10, 2021, 03:45:57 am ---
Yes. If you want to study you have to make your Abitur, which is the graduation from Gymnasium, the higher school level.
The first four years of elementary school is the same for all children. After that they are divided into a lower, a middle and a higher school. Lower school is 5 more years = 9 years of school altogether, middle school is 6 more years (=10 years) and the higher school is nine more years = 13 years altogether.
After 3.5 years of elementary school, each child gets a recommendation for their further school career. In some federal states it's easy to ignore the rec and put your child into whatever school you think might be appropriate, but in some federal states the rec is more or less binding and difficult to go round.
But children can go one school level up later on, when their grades are really good. Or have a try at the next higher level after graduating the previous level.
--- End quote ---
Not to criticize another country's culture, but doesn't that risk reinforcing inequality or depriving potentially talented kids of a chance to develop? 3.5 years into grade school seems pretty young -- are they like 8 or so at that time? Even if by getting good grades they can change tracks, it seems like even labeling a kid as qualifying for one of the lower levels might induce a sense of failure, making some feel there's no point in trying harder to move up.
Do kids who stay in lower-level schools ever go on to high level careers? Do lower school kids ever run big companies or become scientists or political leaders or whatever?
Mind you, the U.S. education is extremely flawed and unequal -- we just pretend it isn't and make the inequalities less obvious. IF we were to set children on one of three levels of school in their elementary years you can be sure it would be racially and socioeconomically unbalanced. As it is, I often read of some successful Black person being told there was no point in trying to do such and such. School funding is inequitable, wealthy families can afford tutors and college coaches so they get into more elite schools.
So now getting into an elite school *seems* more equal than it used to be. I'm sure overt racism is far less a factor at the admissions level.. And students don't need to be rich to pay expensive tuitions; if they're good enough to get accepted but their parents aren't wealthy they can qualify for financial aid. But wealth -- via legacy admissions (the student's parents went to that school), learning opportunities in younger years, families that live in higher-income communities with more money to spend for better public schools ... all of those and more contribute to inequality that's still there but less visible.
Which is why I get annoyed whenever I read a profile of a successful middle-aged person that makes a point of mentioning they went to Harvard or whatever -- as if that proves they were destined for greatness at 18.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on May 10, 2021, 10:29:32 am ---Not to criticize another country's culture, but doesn't that risk reinforcing inequality or depriving potentially talented kids of a chance to develop?
--- End quote ---
My memory may be confused, but I think they do something similar in France.
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