What differences are there between German schools and English schools?

Answer 1

• German schools don't wear school uniforms whereas almost all English schools do.
• Although this is changing in certain states nowadays, German schools traditionally finished soon after or around lunchtime whereas English schools typically finish at around 3.30 although many private schools may not finish until around 5.30.
• More often than not German pupils will have a classroom set aside just for their class (7a) whereas in many English secondary schools (yr.7-11/13, Kl.5-13) teachers are assigned their own classrooms and the pupils walk from one to another.
• Foreign languages (especially English and very often Latin as well) are considered to be alot more important amongst pupils and teachers alike in German schools, whilst between just 1/4 and 1/3 of British schools have compulsory foreign language lessons.
• In Germany they also have a three-tier school system in which the most academically able of students are put in the 'Gymnasium' and carry on their school career until they are 19 (in many states soon-to-be 18) after doing 'Abitur' (A-Levels) and the less able are put into either 'Haupt- or Realschule' and normally finish school at 16. In England, by comparison, formal education is compulsory up until the age of 16 when you finish your GCSEs, after which the pupil is given the choice as to what would be the best for his/ her future (often leading to a further years of qualifications like BTECs and A-Levels or apprentiships).
• Although there is a large number of boarding and private schools in England (which enjoy great popularity), German private schools are very uncommon and often have a specific purpose (learning/ behavioral problems or, more often, if the child did not gotten the grades to get into the state Gymnasium, but the parents have the money for a better or longer education and the other two alternatives.

Answer 2

It really depends on what kinds of schools you are discussing in both countries (But particularly more noticably in England, since you will notice that England is far more class-conscious and schools also tend to differ hugely depending on area and local government).

The generalized, main and most obvious differences are as follows:

• German schools don't wear school uniforms whereas almost all English schools do.
• Although this is changing in certain states nowadays, German schools traditionally finished soon after or around lunchtime whereas English schools typically finish at around 3.30 although many private schools may not finish until around 5.30.
• More often than not German pupils will have a classroom set aside just for their class (7a) whereas in many English secondary schools (yr.7-11/13, Kl.5-13) teachers are assigned their own classrooms and the pupils walk from one to another.
• Foreign languages (especially English and very often Latin as well) are considered to be alot more important amongst pupils and teachers alike in German schools, whilst between just 1/4 and 1/3 of British schools have compulsory foreign language lessons.
• In Germany they also have a three-tier school system in which the most academically able of students are put in the 'Gymnasium' and carry on their school career until they are 19 (in many states soon-to-be 18) after doing 'Abitur' (A-Levels) and the less able are put into either 'Haupt- or Realschule' and normally finish school at 16. In England, by comparison, formal education is compulsory up until the age of 16 when you finish your GCSEs, after which the pupil is given the choice as to what would be the best for his/ her future (often leading to a further years of qualifications like BTECs and A-Levels or apprentiships).
• Although there is a large number of boarding and private schools in England (which enjoy great popularity), German private schools are very uncommon and often have a specific purpose (learning/ behavioral problems or, more often, if the child did not gotten the grades to get into the state Gymnasium, but the parents have the money for a better or longer education and the other two alternatives.

I'm sure there are a few more and if you could tell me the types of schools your comparison is reaching in both countries I could probably tell you more. (Eng.: area, state, private etc. Ger.: Bundesland, Gymnasium, Hauptschule, Realschule)

Answer 3

When getting to know the English Educational System, we can realize that there are several differences with ours. The most noticeable one is the timetable. It is common knowledge that in Spain, we have different timings than in the rest of Europe, so it is not surprising that the children's timetables are also different. Students in Spain go to school from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with 3 hours in the middle for lunch. On the contrary, in the UK, they attend to school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with just one hour and a half for lunch, and they don't even go home for this, they have lunch at school (their own meal or the school's one). They do the same amount of hours but divided differently and, for what we have seen this concentrated timetable is very good for children as they do not have time to get bored or tired and the playtime is short but long enough for them to play and take some spare time.

Then, when we enter a classroom, we can easily see that the rate of children per class is higher than in Spain; there are 30 students per class. Nevertheless, this is not supposed to be a problem, as there are more adults per class too. There is always one teacher per class, who is the one who designs the learning planning and thinks of the activities that are going to be done in the classroom, decides the timing and how things are going to be done. Moreover, there is always a teacher assistant (TA) too, who follows the teacher instructions. They can also give opinions and help make decisions, as they work with the children as well and are aware of their learning processes. Their job is also to organize and arrange the classroom stuff. Furthermore, if there is any child with a statement that suggests that he or she needs individual attention, this student would have a learning assistant (LA) in the class the time set for the statement. This way, we can see that there are at least always two adults per class and, if needed, as many learning assistants as children with special needs. For this reason, even though there are 30 students per class, the rate is 15 students per adult at least.

In our opinion, this is very helpful for teachers and also for children. Because of this help teachers have from teacher and learning assistants, there is the possibility of using student-centred methodologies and a more quite accurate assessment. This way, teachers know better each child, which learning strategies they use and where they need to work harder to make each of them reach their higher potential. In other words, it is better for children because they receive a more appropriate learning according to their needs.

Referring to those student-centred methodologies, there is a huge presence of different activities and materials ready for students to learn that surround the classroom and a "ready to learn environment". Every piece of wall is covered with something students can observe, touch, experiment, smell or listen to and create knowledge without almost noticing but enjoying. As you can imagine, those different resources are thoroughly thought to benefit all students learning styles, making sure everyone can learn in the way that best suits them.

Moreover, when it's "carpet time" and the teacher is leading the lesson, she or he is always looking for students' interaction, so it does not suppose a unidirectional transmission of information but the contrary; the children interventions are used to come up to some conclusions and teacher's job is to guide those interventions to come up to the real knowledge. This is something that seems to be changing in Spain but is still on the way, especially in "old" schools with a large tradition and practice, where teacher-centred methodologies have been carried out for lots of years.

As for the assessment, this was something that also surprised us because it is a real formative assessment; where not just the final outputs are assessed but the whole process and the children's learning processes. For instance, when a child makes a drawing, usually there is a teacher or teacher assistant that sits next to this kid and asks questions about it, such as; what is this? Why have you colored the nose in green? How many legs does it have? Is it living or non-living? etc.

Another thing that proves that the methodologies used are student-centred is that children are able to choose the activities they want to do and they can spend as many time as need with it and then change if they want to. All the activities that are carried out at the same time have a common objective, so children are working on a concrete topic but in different ways. It is worth to say that students have also compulsory activities, lead by a teacher o TA which are going to be assessed in order to know where the next sessions should be focused on or if they are learning significantly. This is also, an example of formative assessment.

Furthermore, within all this process, we should mention that teacher-student interaction is quite different here, in Spain, and in England. From our point of view, we have a more direct way of explaining, praising or simply talk to children. It is surprising how they talk to them and it is difficult to explain but, teachers make children feel comfortable with their words, rarely did they say "no" to children, giving them self-confidence and making them aware that mistakes also matter. Because of this, we thing that children are more polite in there because they understand the teachers care about them and treat them in a good way, they should return this back and act the same way.

Referring to good manners, it is important to note that even though students are treated in a good way and with good words this does not mean that they can behave however they want or act silly. On the contrary, they are much more disciplined than older children in Spain. How can this be possible? In our opinion, children are aware of the importance of behaving in a good way so teachers are always showing them how to do it, but making requests nicely helps them to follow the instructions and not feeling they are being commanded. This language and kind of communication make them more able to be receptive.

Finally, we would like to mention the fact that it seems that teachers have more facilities when talking of planning and assessing the course as, for example, they have specific days when day should go to school but do not interact with students but stay reunited to plan the next sessions and assess how the past has gone. Here in Spain, we do have some time to do meetings at lunch time but we think it is quite more useful to have a day to talk about all the whole more in deep rather than in small meetings. It is true that Spanish teachers can modify lessons from another day to the other if they consider it necessary in that day by day meetings but English teachers do so without spending this time in this, they are continuously talking with their colleagues to make sure everything is working as planned and make quick decisions to change if necessary.

Answer 4

British schools mostly only go to school on weekdays but in some German schools they go in the morning on saturdays aswell.

Answer 5

Spanish schools start earlier in the morning and finish earlier to avoid the hottest part of the day.