Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the education system in the whole of Europe went through some fundamental changes. The changes attracted the attention of the world which closely watched as the education system remodeled year in year out. The most significant changes in education happened in Germany. The changes were effected by many factors, some promoting the modifications while others are limiting the changes. Through many challenges, the education system of Germany evolved to be what it is today.
The history of education in Germany begins with the Prussian era (State University, 2017). The Prussian era had a unique education system. It owes its name to the kingdom of Prussia. This education system was influenced Lutheranism. Martin Luther advocated for free education so that people would be able to read the Bible. The whole of Germany adopted the model enabling free education for religious purposes. Thus religion was one of the subjects taught in the Prussian school system (State University, 2017). The Prussian Kingdom introduced a compulsory eight-year free primary education where learners would learn reading, writing as well as arithmetics. These were considered the basics to prepare learners for the industrialized world. After the Napoleonic wars, teacher training was introduced in the German education system. Teacher training required certification hence raising the standard of teaching. Teacher education led to the establishment of Germany’s first colleges exclusively for training teachers.
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At around 1872, the German Empire started recognizing same gender schools. Thus there were girls’ schools as well as boys’ schools. This period saw the development of different types of secondary schools. The gymnasium was a nine-year, classical high education that entailed the learning of classical Greek, Latin, and any modern language. The real gymnasium lasted for nine years and entailed the study of Latin, modern languages as well as math and science. The Realschule was a six-year education for those without university qualification. The Oberrealschule was the last type of training focusing on languages sciences and mathematics. The four secondary school types didn’t have same prestige, but by the end of the 19 th century they had started acquiring the same status in the society.
The world war one had a significant impact on the German education system. The Weimar Republic made some subtle changes in the education system such as the introduction of a compulsory four-year Grandeschule elementary education. The other four years of primary were left to those who could afford to pay fees (Wotherspoon, 2014).
The Nazi era as orchestrated by Adolf Hitler introduced a conventional education system (Simkin, 2016). Hitler had adamant opinions on the education system and changed it to incorporate Nazism. He altered the subjects taught in school to promote some vices of the Nazism. He changed the education curriculum altogether. Education now included racism, biology and political education. It became compulsory for children in school to learn about racial awareness ( Simkin, 2016). They would be taught about the worth of their races and the national duties of their races. They also learned about the worthy and the unworthy races in the national community. They studied breeding, hereditary diseases and traced their family trees for biological information. They could compare their physical characteristics like the color of their eyes, their hair, and skin color against that of other races. Hitler had two ambitions from his kind of education system. First, he wanted to instill learners with the ideas of race and give them a sense of racial identity. Second, he wanted to prepare citizens for war by filling them with a fanatical devotion to the country (Simkin, 2016).
History taught learners that life was always dominated by the struggle between races and blood was a major contributor to the events of the past. The new education system, therefore, included themes such as sacrifice for a greater good, courage in battle, admiration of a leader and hatred for the Jews. Everything in the school curriculum changed including instructional materials such as textbooks. Some subjects were introduced at the expense of religion. There were racist books such as ‘The Jewish Question in Education’, a manual which taught Germans ways of identifying the Jews basing on the physical appearances. Thus the school system promoted all adverse events of racism in Germany. To that effect, all Jewish teachers were sacked, and any other teacher who did not support the Nazi party lost their job as well.
After the Second World War, the Nazi ideologies were removed from the school curriculum (Wotherspoon, 2014). Each state possessed power over its education system. This made it difficult for children to switch schools when moving from one state to another. Multi-state agreements were therefore made to ensure essential requirements for all public schools. Since the 1990s, the federal government of Germany has allowed some changes in the education system. The changes include bilingual subjects in schools, teachers having freedom to experiment different teaching styles, instructional materials such as computers and creation of school goals which are evaluated regularly.
German and American schools have broad similarities and differences due to their different histories. A significant difference exists in the subjects taught. In the US, students study a core curriculum then customize their education at higher grade levels. The education system also allows them to follow their interests and choose a language to take. The German education has a prescribed curriculum. The learners are told the path they would take in sixth grade. At this time, they are told which high school they would go to. Learners do not have the freedom to pursue their interests. The American education system does not limit learners in the learning of languages but allows them to learn a language due to its application in the modern world. For instance, US learner can learn French and Spanish because they are useful in real world applications. Germans, on the other hand, are limited to learning Greek and Latin both which are disused and are restricted in the modern world.
The school system in Germany also differs from the education system in America in the time spent in school. American schools have more school hours than the German schools. In America school day runs from 8 am in the morning and goes up to as late as 4 pm. In Germany school day ends at 1 pm when students go home for lunch. After lunch they are supposed to stay at home and do homework or engage in whatever activity they wish.
In early Childhood education, Germans are quite strict in enrolling three-year-olds to the kindergarten program (The local, 2015). The US, on the other hand, does not take early childhood education seriously. Only 41 percent of one-year-olds are in an education program in the US compared to 92 percent in Germany (The local, 2015). The class sizes in US and Germany are however almost the same. An average class size in both countries is between 21 and 22 students. The class size allows teachers to give each student maximum attention. In subjects such as science and engineering, Germany has the highest number of graduates compared to the US.
In our current world, an education system ought to be flexible and allow learners to gain knowledge that will enable them to fit into the competitive world. The German education system in some way prepares its students to fit into the society in their country but not in the world. The system does not also allow learners to follow their interests a factor which might lower the productivity of students. This makes the US education system better than the German education system. Nonetheless, each of the education has its advantages and disadvantages.
In the US, for instance, many students go to the university because they have to but not because they want to or even qualify for it. For that reason, the intake level and the graduation level is vastly different as many of students drop out of school. The number of debts people have because of student loans is also high, and the number of college graduates that secure employments after school is low. The German education system, on the other hand, does not force students into university but gives them the type of education they need (Padusniak, 2015). The four types of high school offer education for different kinds and classes of jobs. The first type of high school trains craftsmen such as plumbers and carpenters. The second type trains white collar professionals while the other prepares learners who wish to attend university to become academicians, lawyers, doctors, and the likes. The German education system, therefore, allows most of its graduates to get employment immediately after school.
Though different from each other, each education system has its benefits and drawbacks. Depending on the countries which they are situated in, the school systems can be said to be useful in unique ways. The education system in Germany has undergone significant changes in history just like the US education. Nonetheless, the changes and events in history are what have made the education systems to be what they are today. However, a student attending either of the education systems is lucky to be in one.
References
Padusniak, C. (2015). What the German Education system can teach the American School reform. Retrieved from http://ww.isi.org
The local. (2015). Five ways German schools trump the US and the UK. Retrieved from http://www.thelocal.de
Wotherspoon, C. (2014). Education in Germany before and after the First World War. Retrieved from http://www.centenarynews.com
Simkin, J. (2016). Education in Nazi Germany. Retrieved from http://www.spartacus-educational.com
State University. (2017). Germany- history, and background. Retrieved from http://education.stateuniversity.com
