Schools suck

20 Oct, 2023

Recently I visited a friend from school. I was staying there for about a week but I particularly remember one conversation. We were sitting in her small kitchen, a cup of tea each and a clear cold autumn day outside. We were chatting away until I asked if she was missing school and if she would like to go back. After a short silence she told me that looking back school was quit easy and laid back. A lot less responsibilities that now.
But then she went on that like with a lot of things, it probably doesn't seem as bad in hindsight. Both of us graduated school with, although certainly not outstanding, good grades. So if we could go back to school, we wouldn't have any pressure to perform. Also we'd be there voluntarily. I don't know about other countries but at least in Germany you are required by law to visit school up to a certain age. That conversation stuck with me and got me thinking once again about how the German school system is broken.

Disclaimer

If it has not been obvious this is my opinion and is heavily influenced by my own experience. The school system in Germany is federalized so every state has their own system. Some of the points I'll try to make may not apply to every one of them but I think the apply to most.

Altbacken

I think the German school system in many ways is quit old school (pun intended). Sometimes it felt like I was going to school in prussian times, just without a cane. Luckily a lot more has changed since then but not the fundamental structure of a lesson. A teacher standing in front of a group of students, explaining a topic and giving out assignments. Maybe I'm wrong but I think this not really a good way of learning. People learn different things at a different pace with different methods. So you either end up boring some students to death or you end up losing some. In both cases these students try to entertain themselves and a lot of the time interrupt class which only worsens this effect. I remember lessons where we maybe spend a quarter of the time actually learning. Of course humans will be humans and teenagers are even worse but I still think I've got a point here.
So what should we change? Honestly, I'm not an expert. I don't know a lot about education and there are people who are way smarted and well educated than me thinking about this. But I can still spit ball a bit.
I think we should focus education on self-responsibility and let students pick which topic they want to learn about although there should still be a teacher to supervise and guide them. (There a already private schools and schools for students with special needs which do something similar btw). We would need to have a lot more teachers but I think 30 or more students per teacher is too much anyway, even in the current system.

Subjects

I feel like there a some subjects which are just utterly useless. One I particularly don't like is religion. In my opinion it's not the duty of a public school to teach students about Christianity. I know Christianity is not the only major religion in Germany but that's exactly my point. My secondary school had three classes to choose from: protestant, catholic and ethics. Two for Christians and one for everybody else...
'Well there are just way more Christians.' Yes, but trust me. A lot of my fellow students liked the class as much as I did. And yes, you were able to change which class you wanted to take but almost nobody did. That's also kind of the point. You had to take religion or ethics all the way up from third grade (maybe even first). These were state owned schools. I fine with ethics but I think it's wrong to indoctrinate students with religion.
On the other hand there are subjects like music and art which in my opinion are just thought wrong. I feel like especially music was focused way to much on theory and history instead of actually getting the beauty and joy of music across. To be fair I also feel like that depends a lot on the teacher.

Grades

Grades are supposed to give the student feedback on how they are doing. And they do. Maybe a bit to much. In middle school I was especially bad at English and French. We'd write vocabulary tests in both subjects on a regular basis and most of the time I'd get a 4, 5 or a 6 (1 to 4 is pass, 5 and 6 is fail). We usually had to write those tests about a week or two after getting the assignment to learn about 50 words or phrases. Now I know I was lazy. I could not be bothered to study more than once or twice before each test but do you think the bad grades changed that? No, they didn't. They made it only worse. I started questioning why I was studying at all because it felt like it did not make a difference anyway. I remember joking that a 3 was like a 1 to me because I felt like I'd never be better than that anyway.
Still I think I didn't have it that bad. I was doing fine in most other classes and it was only for a very years in secondary school. Others may not have it as easy. Someone struggling with maths and frequently receiving bad grades will probably start questioning themselves. And this does not even scratch the surface of how gender, race and social status play into this. Teachers are still humans after all and their grading is influenced by their preconceptions. So at least if we still have to use grades maybe we should find more objective ways to give them.

Hauptschule, Realschule und Gymnasium

This in very specific to Germany and I think many other countries don't have his. This again is also very depended on which state you live in but in most of them you have four years of primary school. After that you get based on your grades (but also based on the opinion of the teacher) a recommendation for either Hauptschule, Realschule or Gymnasium. The parents or guardians are still free to register their child at what every school they want. These different school have different objectives. Hauptschule and Realschule both try to prepare the students for an apprenticeship. A Gymnasium tries to prepare students for college or university. You can switch between them I believe fairly easily if you decide to (you probably just have to fill out a bunch of paperwork. It's still Germany after all). Even after finishing Hauptschule or Realschule is possible to continue school on a Gymnasium. Though I've heard about students struggling while getting used to new school and the new learning pace.
At first it sounds like a good idea. Let students with different goals focus on what is important for their future. Sadly I think it does more harm than it has advantages. First of all it's way to early. Almost nobody knows what they will end up doing. Hell, when I was nine I did not even know a computer could be used for something different than playing Fritz & Chesster and Minecraft (just in case you have never heard about the second one). So a lot of the time students go to just what ever type of school they are recommended. This is a problem because many receiving a recommendation for Hauptschule or Realschule are from a weak social background. Data[^1] also shows that students from an immigrant background are overrepresented at Hauptschulen and Realschulen.
'But why exactly is this bad?' Well because with type of school you graduate from make a hough difference in your future income[^2] (at least statistically speaking). Furthermore I think we as a society should not split up based on your social status that early. We'll sadly do it soon enough any ways.

A few final words

I think there is a lot wrong with the German education system. There are probably way more points to criticise and improve. But it's not all bad. I have received what I think is a good and especially cheap education through the public school system. It's something I often take for granted but really should not. I also know that some of my criticism is a bit nit picky. Still I think just because it could be way worse we should not stop upon improving what is arguably a very important part of the future of your society. Thanks for reading, feel free to write me your thoughts and have a good day :)