First of all, it is very hard to find these individuals because they have grown so accustomed to the American way that they blend in very well with American students. It's not like you can go up to just any individual and as "Are you from another country?" I remembered my friend from my Creative Writing course last semester, David Steinfeld.
David couldn't tell me much about the universities in Germany because he did not go to school there long enough to be enrolled in one of the higher educational facilities. However he was able to enlighten me on the differences between the cliques as well as the differences n popularity amongst German and American high schools.
"Spending an exchange year at an American high school was a bit different....we did have cliques at my school. However, I wouldn't say it was those stereotypical cliques you see at American high schools and in American teen movies, you know, the jocks, the nerds, the princesses etc. Also, popularity wasn't so much a big deal in my school whereas it seems to be an important aspect of American high schools," he said.
Also, David told me a lot about the different kind of education systems in Germany. the majority of Germany's school system is run by the triparty system. this is how it works: all the kids go to the same school in elementary school. however, after the fourth year, depending on how well the kid is doing, it will be sent to one of the three types of secondary schools. there is one which is called "the hauptschule, that school is for those who didn't do well in school, didn't care about school or did not show an appropriate level of intelligence. then we have another school that is called "realschule" that is more for those kids who were average in elementary school, grades were okay and they go to a school, that school also prepares them for technical professions i would say. then we have the school called "gymnasium" where those students go who did well in school and show an appropriate level of intelligence. in comparison to the other two schools, the students at the gymnasium go to school til they the 13th or 12th grade, the other two schools only go up to the 10th grade, after that the students are done. anyway, the gymnasium is also the school where you get a diploma called "the abitur" which qualifies to attend a university,” he wrote to me.
All in all, Steinfeld gave me a lot of information, almost too much to include in this one blog post. It was incredibly interesting to hear about the different kinds of schooling, catered to different needs of each student, were available in Germany. In the United States, we try to group kids all together hoping they will learn from each other. We also do this because it would almost be social suicide if we distinguished students by their grades, or amount of interest in school. We can learn a lot from the exchange students about their culture, as well as the educational systems that most of us will not get to experience in our lifetime. I am glad that I was able to talk with my friend David and receive an immense amount of information about Germany’s educational system.
David couldn't tell me much about the universities in Germany because he did not go to school there long enough to be enrolled in one of the higher educational facilities. However he was able to enlighten me on the differences between the cliques as well as the differences n popularity amongst German and American high schools.
"Spending an exchange year at an American high school was a bit different....we did have cliques at my school. However, I wouldn't say it was those stereotypical cliques you see at American high schools and in American teen movies, you know, the jocks, the nerds, the princesses etc. Also, popularity wasn't so much a big deal in my school whereas it seems to be an important aspect of American high schools," he said.
Also, David told me a lot about the different kind of education systems in Germany. the majority of Germany's school system is run by the triparty system. this is how it works: all the kids go to the same school in elementary school. however, after the fourth year, depending on how well the kid is doing, it will be sent to one of the three types of secondary schools. there is one which is called "the hauptschule, that school is for those who didn't do well in school, didn't care about school or did not show an appropriate level of intelligence. then we have another school that is called "realschule" that is more for those kids who were average in elementary school, grades were okay and they go to a school, that school also prepares them for technical professions i would say. then we have the school called "gymnasium" where those students go who did well in school and show an appropriate level of intelligence. in comparison to the other two schools, the students at the gymnasium go to school til they the 13th or 12th grade, the other two schools only go up to the 10th grade, after that the students are done. anyway, the gymnasium is also the school where you get a diploma called "the abitur" which qualifies to attend a university,” he wrote to me.
All in all, Steinfeld gave me a lot of information, almost too much to include in this one blog post. It was incredibly interesting to hear about the different kinds of schooling, catered to different needs of each student, were available in Germany. In the United States, we try to group kids all together hoping they will learn from each other. We also do this because it would almost be social suicide if we distinguished students by their grades, or amount of interest in school. We can learn a lot from the exchange students about their culture, as well as the educational systems that most of us will not get to experience in our lifetime. I am glad that I was able to talk with my friend David and receive an immense amount of information about Germany’s educational system.
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