2023 4-COD: Session 6 by STOSKIENE RITA

Michaela und Anne

2023-03-12 17:52:22 UTC

Today we met with a teacher who teaches as a local in Guadeloupe. He explained to us in detail the French school system and the specifics of how it is implemented locally. For example, there is a lot of emphasis on students learning about their national Guateloup identity and maintaining their traditions. Everyone is very proud of their culture, their language and their music.
In further conversation, we also discussed the possibility of future cooperation.
In the run-up to this meeting, we already had the opportunity to visit a school together with him.

Maija

2023-03-12 17:59:57 UTC

I think it's wonderful how well Germany takes care of the teachers. The system with 16 different rules sounded very complicated and harmful for the pupils.

It would have been nice to visit a local school and see how they do thing in here. It would be also lovely to hear about polish school system.

Sari

2023-03-12 18:08:07 UTC

We talked with our German colleagues about our school systems. I learned that Germany has 16 different curriculums, because every county has their own. Government doesn’t control the education, the counties decide their own curriculums and lesson plans.
That is totally different in Finland: we have only one national curriculum and all schools have to follow it. But on the other hand the national curriculum is quite flexible: it doesn’t exactly say what to teach, it just says what themes to teach and what the children need to learn. What I mean is that the national curriculum doesn’t say “on 7th grade history you have to teach about world war 1”, but it says “on high school students have to learn about the world wars”. So the cities decide themselves, when and how students learn about the world wars.
I would love to talk about the Polish school system as well.
In Finland the inclusion of special needs students is used as a method to save money. They are put in normal classrooms without any help or assistance, and the teachers are left quite alone. The law is that the support and assistance should follow the student in the normal classroom, but that is never the case.
Immigrant and refugee children are instantly part of the school system. In Finland we have a preparatory education program, in which immigrant children under 16 have to attend. They learn Finnish and about our education system. Unfortunately the length of the preparatory education is predefined to last only a year, and some of the students won’t learn Finnish within this time. Students won’t get any more time in the preparatory class, no matter their skill level in Finnish.

Maria

2023-03-12 20:55:45 UTC

Requirements towards students of the Polish school are too high compared to the requirements of students of European schools

Eliza

2023-03-12 21:06:26 UTC

In relation to the inquiry of our Finnish colleagues about the Polish education system, in Poland, as in Finland, there is one core curriculum valid in a given country, all children, parents and students consider the core curriculum too overloaded. Pupils have to study many subjects, have many hours in the week, are overtired and overburdened. Expectations towards students are very high, but this is not consistent with what students can actually do and what skills they have, because they often do not know what to choose and what is more important to them. Matura exam in Poland takes place at the basic and extended level, so extended subjects are often difficult for young people.

Wioletta

2023-03-12 21:09:16 UTC

Today's important reflection - what educational system we are in and what we would like to be in. Education opens opportunities for students, shapes their lives, therefore teachers should be trained and developed.

Paulina

2023-03-12 21:13:31 UTC

The education system in France seems to be pleasant. It is interesting that primary school students have free Wednesdays, and students generally also have more holidays during the school year. The Polish education system requires transformation at every level, taking into account both the basis of education, the overloaded core curriculum, forms of teaching as well as support and remuneration of teachers.

Judith

2023-03-13 00:31:01 UTC

I really liked the double page that summarizes the French education system. It sums up what I think about the French school system and how I experienced it myself when I had the opportunity to go to school in France in 2003. I found and still find it significant that the schools are sealed off like a prison. The gates are only opened at certain entry and exit times. If you want to get in or out in between, you have to wait or need a very good excuse (or an emergency) for the doors to be opened.

The site says school in France isn't designed for students to feel comfortable there - or even have fun. I very much hope that this view will now also be seen as outdated in French conservative circles. In Germany, since the 2010s, we have been expanding schools as places to learn and live. Students need to feel comfortable in their environment for learning to be possible. To ignore this science-based fact would be like to spit at the feet of equal opportunity. In a multicultural society like that of Germany and, above all, that of France, it is essential for the preservation of peace and intercultural communication to perceive school as a meeting place and to act accordingly.