What is your most influential take away from the school system you grew up in? We all have experiences that have shaped us, both positive and negative. How does that affect how we design schools today? The appreciation of unfamiliar languages and cultures was ingrained in the educational system I grew up in. We were encouraged to be imaginative in play, curious about nature and exploration, and to be tolerant of those with different customs. My upcoming journey to the CAE Conference in Berlin will be both a homecoming to Germany and a new experience, 16 years later, in the differences and similarities between German and American school design, theory and practice.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, my family and I moved about every 2 years to cities in Germany and Austria, however, I lived the longest stretch in Munich, Germany; 6 years - which spanned 5th-11th grade. Because we moved around so much, my parents consistently enrolled me in the International School system, which consisted of students with 55 different nationalities. I benefited from a German educational system, while simultaneously being part of an international community. This exposed me to far more diversity than I might have otherwise had at an American school or a purely German school.
In the 15th Century, Lutheranism had a strong influence on German education, believing all should be able to read the Bible, which evolved into the idea of primary education being free and mandatory regardless of class and affluence during the 18th Century. It was called Volksschule, or Community School. After World War I, testing was established to determine entrance into what type of Secondary School you could attend: preparing you for trade school or University. After World War II, education in East and West German schools differed. In East Germany, depending on exam results you could either continue to Secondary School or take on an apprenticeship, where as in West Germany, Allied powers instituted their own curricula and systems, also eliminating any Nazi ideology taught in school. This meant that school systems varied from region to region. From this point on it seems the basic similarities between American and German instruction methods are far closer than disparate, however my own experience growing up felt quite divergent.
My experience of going to school in Germany was that it was rigorous and regimented. It was lecture based; we raised our hands when we were confident of the answer and were then called on. However, outside of and in between class, we had a lot of freedom, both in Junior, Middle and Senior School. At my K-12 school in Munich, there were no fences - we had free access to the playground, the fields, and the hiking paths in the nature preserve that surrounded the school. The campus was open and connected - we walked outside to get to the various buildings. With that freedom, we were expected to be responsible and behaved. The various grades and age groups interacted on campus throughout the day. Our Elementary, or Junior School, was modern with floor to ceiling glass and was connected to nature. Our Middle School was a restored old castle/ villa called Schloss Buchhof, transformed to house art and science classrooms. I sensed that I was part of a very large community, and although I never fit in as 100% German, I felt a sense of belonging. It seemed like I was part of something significant, conscientious and compassionate.
When I moved to the US for my senior year of high school, just outside of Boston, I attended what I would consider a typical American school: built in the 1950's, an outdated facility with double loaded corridors, where the only social space was the cafeteria. Although the educational environments felt less connected to nature, less flexible and more controlled, a major difference was the teaching style: a very democratic and participatory system where students got called on and were very vocal about wanting to share. Students chatted in class and discussed ideas. After class, social interaction continued in the hallways as we sat against the locker-lined walls. This communal activity wasn't happening outdoors, on the playground or after school like in my German schools, but in and around class! However, the days seemed to go by in a blur, with little connection to the outdoors until the school day was over. Gone was my sense of choice and the structure of the classroom - instead replaced with blurred lines and classroom collaboration.
However, now that I have been involved in the profession for the last 10 years, the ideas we are crafting and the schools we are designing seem to be somewhere in between my own German and American school system experiences. The freedom to explore curiosity and autonomy in our schools is something we often speak of in conferences, with educators, clients, and with fellow architects. In the US, there are many schools and districts adopting a more hands-on approach to learning with a connection to the outdoors, and creating developmentally appropriate environments to support this effort. However, so many restrictions are still imposed; whether code regulations, budgets, safety concerns or the fear of the unknown and untested. Has our American educational system suitably adapted and evolved over time?
Do German schools currently have similar ideas about educational facilities and how are they implementing these ideas while still meeting some of the same concerns and restrictions we have in the US? How widely do various schools within Berlin differ in thinking and practice? Are there still significant differences between East and West? Are spaces designed with flexibility in mind? Do they incorporate the building as a teacher? How is technology used? Is the instruction now much more participatory? Perhaps the teaching and learning methods are very different now than when I experienced them. How is a connection to nature emphasized and how are freedom and autonomy encouraged?
I am looking forward to the CAE Conference highlighting how education in Germany is both different from current US models, and how it has adapted and evolved from my past. What am I going to find and how will it affect me in the future, both in design and memory?
Schloss Buchhof
Junior School
Campus, Munich