Germany Takes On Education Reform (Transcript)
Gerhard Leisenheimer: We enrolled in the "Responsible Schools" pilot program because we are a team of teachers who really want to excel in teaching and pedagogy. And we discovered that certain goals we had could not be achieved by normal methods.
Gerhard Leisenheimer: We have been participating for five years in this pilot school program, "Responsible Schools." And during this pilot program the school has great autonomy and responsibility.
Gerhard Leisenheimer: We simply recognized that you cannot lead a modern school with a lone warrior mentality. It is necessary that teachers get together and work in teams. And so we responded by requiring our teachers to include teamwork as part of their practice.
Angela Christmann: "Although Hilal's weak point is math, she is super good in grammar and she helps other students."
Angela Christmann: In our school we have weekly team meetings. For some time, we've been thinking about how to increase individual support for students, because students have individual strengths and weaknesses.
Angela Christmann: "If a student helps others consistently, we should somehow reward this. And perhaps we should discuss this at the next team meeting."
Gerhard Leisenheimer: These teams have great autonomy and responsibility, and this is where a lot of ideas are initiated. And if a team is satisfied with their work, then they share their ideas with other teams. So that, in time, from a small stone thrown into the water, many ripples are created, and this cooperative structure enables the transfer of innovations to other teams.
Angela Christmann: "So we went to the fifth grade team, and listened to what objectives they had agreed on. They have their place-mat method for four-cornered problem-solving, and they had another wonderful idea. They sign contract agreements with their students."
Angela Christmann: We had the idea to get together individually with each student and their parents, so that the whole thing becomes more formal, and draft a contract so that the students feel their learning is taken seriously.
Angela Christmann: "So Dielei, please tell me what your strengths are, what you can do especially well? What you like to do, what you're really good at?"
Angela Christmann: "English. And what do you like about English, is it just English in general?'
Angela Christmann: Teachers, parents and the student all meet together. We sit down together and discuss the strengths of the student. For example, "I'm super at math, I'm good at English, but in this subject I am not that good." And then we talk to the parent and student, and decide what we can do to support him or her.
Angela Christmann: "This is what I noticed. For instance, in natural sciences, when it comes to texts with foreign words, or special terms, that you sometimes have difficulty understanding them. Perhaps we should think about how to improve this together with your mom?
Gerhard Leisenheimer: This kind of work leads to very high satisfaction. Teachers have the perception that their work is appreciated, their ideas are being implemented. They know that working together is very effective, and they help and support each other. And I think this leads to very high levels of pride and pedagogical development, because they do not work in isolation, but as a team.