![]() What public policies and initiatives have been implemented to reform (or even overcome) an anachronistic education system that exacerbates and perpetuates pre-existing social inequalities?.What private initiatives or public-private partnerships exist to improve chances for transition into levels of higher education?.What channels exist that allow students enrolled in Hauptschule access to opportunities to pursue further education?.What institutional barriers exist within the German education system that hinder upward mobility for students from low-income and first-generation backgrounds?.Our research delves into the institutional roots of this problem and seeks to answer the most pressing questions regarding upward educational mobility within the system: After the release of a 2007 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report on Education in Germany, it was stated that the country had “the least permeable of all school systems (despite being free of charge) in respect to social preconditions,” according to a government official from the Federal Ministry of Collaboration and Economic Development. At the age of ten or twelve, students are separated into certain schools based on perceived intellectual ability. The harsh truth is that it is not just a superficial perception – the stratified school system in Germany is rife with problems and has institutionally failed to integrate the bulk of students from less advantaged backgrounds, be it migrant, low-income, or otherwise.Īt the core of the problem is the system of early tracking which, in Berlin, starts after only four or six years of primary school. They mirror the general perception in German society of the Hauptschule, the lowest part of the three-tiered secondary school system in Germany, often referred to as “the school for leftovers ” (cf. These are but a sampling of answers we received from a poll of university students in Berlin, asked to reveal their educational backgrounds, that of their parents, and their honest reactions to the word Hauptschule. It’s not possible to go to university from a Hauptschule.” The two Germans in the group instinctively look at each other, grinning at the outrageousness of such a possibility: “Oh, no, no. Sitting on a lawn outside the Free University, books stacked on the grass, a group of students-German and international alike-converse in English. After wracking his brain for some kind of “acceptable” answer that would not expose his prejudice, he succumbs to one thought alone: “Violence.” Did you attend a Hauptschule? Without a second thought, she answers bluntly, completely straight-faced, as if there were no fact more obvious in this world: “Students in Hauptschule have no future.”Įyes closed, he can’t help but grimace, failing to hide his discomfort with the question. Leaving the entrance to Humboldt University, she interrupts her casual stroll to grab lunch. ![]() ![]() What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Hauptschule’? ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |