Kindergarten Students
Throughout history, education in Germany has influenced education throughout the world. Kindergarten, a German invention, has guided theories and practices of early childhood education. Despite its early influence, however, the University system in Germany has struggled to integrate with the credit-based Bachelor's and Master's degree system used almost universally in the world.
Origins
The movement to educate the masses began with Martin Luther (1483-1546), who advocated schooling so that everyone would be able to read, study and understand the Bible. With the help of the Lutheran denomination, this goal of education spread in Germany.
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) built the foundation of many of today's pedagogy theories and approaches to teaching all over the world. It was his theories that inspired Friedrich Froebel (1772-1852) to invent the first kindergarten, now a staple in worldwide educational systems.
Standards
The Kingdom of Prussia led the practice of free and mandatory primary education in Europe and the world. Its eight-year course of reading, writing, arithmetic, ethics and duty was called "Volksschule."
State certification and standards for teachers were implemented in 1810. The Abitur, a final examination taken at the end of one's school, began in 1788 and implemented in all Prussian secondary schools by 1812. By 1871, the Abitur was used in all the German states.
Types
The formation of the German Empire in 1871 helped centralize education. When World War I ended, the Weimar Republic developed a free elementary school, called the Grundschule. After four years at Grundschule, students could pay a small fee to attend middle school, or Mittelschule.
Four types of secondary schools developed. While all were considered equal, the Gymnasium was the most respected, leading to university study. The Realgymnasium also led to university study, but with a greater focus on science and mathematics. A Realschule was only six years, and trained students for industrial, office, and technical jobs. An Oberrealschule skipped the classical languages and focused on modern languages, science and mathematics.
Degrees
The Abitur is composed of written and oral examination, taken at the end of Gymnasium study and used for entrance into university. In the 1960s, only 10 percent of students went to university; by the turn of the twenty-first century, more than 30 percent of student go to college.
While college led to a diploma called a Diplom or Magister, the Bologna agreement has encouraged integration into the international system of credits leading to a Bachelor or Master degree since 2001.
Alternatives
German culture has a history of respecting craftspeople. Even in the 1950s, only 20 percent of students undertook more than seven or eight years of study. Instead of secondary school, they undertook a private apprenticeship to a master craftsmen or, as they are called today, an "Ausbilder." While this is not a traditional education in a school, it is an education leading to high skill in a craft.
