Es kann argumentiert werden, dass die Bestimmung des Bildungsweges von Kindern nach der Grundschule ungerecht ist. Die meisten Leute wißen seine Fähigkeiten nicht in der Grundschule. Ein besseres System könnte warten, bis die Kinder älter sind.

Wir glauben jedoch, dass die Schaffung von Gemeinschaftsschulen ein klein Problem hat.  Diese Problem ist mit weniger und weniger Schüler/innen zu der Handwerksschulen gehen.  Es ist gut, dass viele Schüler/innen zu der Gymnasium oder Universität gehen, aber wie auch in den USA, Deutschland hat eine Nachfrage nach Leute mit einer handwerkliche Ausbildung.  Wir denken, dass Handwerksschulen sehr wichtig in Gesellschaft sind, und sie sollen mehr ansprechend zu Schüler/innen werden. Die Universität sollte nicht den Wert einer Person bestimmen. Wir glauben, dass fördernd die Universität vor der Handwerksschulen kontraproduktiv ist.

 

Response:

Our NU partners didn’t quite agree on drug use. Milo thinks that it is not a big problem and that smoking weed at American schools is as common as drinking alcohol. Jacob on the other hand perceives drug use as a problem due to his own school experience. He comes from a rural area where adolescents often started to do drugs out of boredom. From what he experienced, many of the youth used drugs and alcohol as an escape from a lackluster town and arguably depressing weather in the fall and winter months.  For some, it became a dependence, not a “recreational” activity, and resulted in kids skipping class to get high in the forest, while most of the drug use was weed, there was a small number of people that used heavier drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine and mushrooms. In the last 6 years at least 3 people from his town and age group have ended their own lives, with others he knows having tried, with the common trend amongst people is the frequent and excess use of alcohol and drugs. There have also been a few accounts of fatal automobile crashes caused by impaired driving. As far as Jacob is aware, not much is done regarding drug use in schools, it can be banned, but it is hard for teachers to fully control the students. He thinks that drug use is a frequent problem and that it can have severe impacts on one’s future life.

 2. Which languages did you learn and when? What does the school curriculum require?  What is the general attitude towards foreign languages in the USA? (Q 6)

Response:

Foreign language learning does not play an important role in American schools. It is not compulsory to learn a foreign language. If one wants to study a foreign language at university, one has to have learnt a foreign language in secondary school for at least two years. Some fields of education also require students to study a foreign language, but this is often determined by the county or state.

Unfortunately, most Americans don’t consider foreign languages as important and the language courses are not very good either.

 3. Follow-up question for Angelina who went to school in Russia: How many foreign languages do Russian students learn? Do Russians regard foreign languages as important?

Response:

Russian schools have different language programmes; most schools teach English. Angelina attended a linguistic school where she learnt English from year 1 onwards. In year 5, students had to choose a second foreign language. Her school offered German and French, as well as extracurricular activities where they could also learn other languages such as Spanish or Chinese. Many Russians reckon foreign languages as unimportant because most of them are planning to stay and work in Russia.

 4. We were wondering whether differences and inequalities concerning school education referred to the regional education system, or the funding, or the testing culture, or …? Could you explain to us what is meant by this? (Q 7)

Response:

Scholastic standards are usually set by the state. Standardised tests are required by the confederate ministry of education, but they are administered by the states.

For the problem of funding, public schools are funded by Federal and State governments, as well as property (land) taxes.  Since school districts are often aligned with a single community, vast funding disparities arise between wealthy and impoverished neighborhoods. This is a substantial problem in the USA, because there are instances where communities may only be a few kilometers apart, yet there is a vast difference in the quality of education between the schools.

 5. In your history lessons, how much did you learn about the history of Europe and Germany in particular? Was it easy for you to answer question 10?

Response:

American history lessons involve some historic European events, but the main focus is on the history of the USA, African-American history and broad topics such as Roman Empire, Renaissance, and ancient Egypt. Their American history classes are more detailed and what they learn about other countries is often looked at from the American context/perspective. Studying history provides deeper insights into the history of other countries.

Beste Grüße,
Emma und Brendan (Team F)