3 ms·

Huh, I went to school in Germany and can relate pretty well with them.

jamal-kumar 3y ago
From what I understand, German school is even more demanding in terms of how they drive you to do well or lose benefits. I can only imagine the stress of things like getting demoted from Gymnasium [1] after not performing well enough due to life stresses during a critical developmental phase in life, or not making Abitur [2] qualifications and not getting that free post secondary. Well at least they aren't shooting each other I guess [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(Germany) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(Germany) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abitur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abitur
jazzyjackson 3y ago
According to John Taylor Gatto, american schools are modeled after prussian military academies of the late 19th century - down to the bells dividing the day into periods. - compulsory - segregated by age - passive lecturing - strict rules and deference to authority - standardized, inflexible curriculum
- jamal-kumar 3y ago
  He's a really good author, and I think anyone interested in this subject should definitely read him. [1] However I think that the American and German school systems definitely diverge in that they haven't defunded, devauled and destroyed the German system to a point where it's questionable why it even exists in its current form still. [1] https://www.naturalchild.org/articles/guest/john_gatto.html https://www.naturalchild.org/articles/guest/john_gatto.html
  - mschuster91 3y ago
    Oh we do have defunded our system as well - particularly the buildings are rotting. Estimates are 45 billion dollars [1], and that's just to catch up with deferred maintenance and upkeep work, not to create new school buildings to match the increased demand or new staff. Education is one of the easiest things for politicians to "save money" by cutting budgets and the consequences usually take 15-20 years to appear, at which time the responsible politicians are long gone and can't be held accountable. [1] https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/bildung/investitionsrueckstand-an-schulen-kfw-sieht-weiterhin-milliardenluecke-bei-schulsanierungen-a-721dc495-cb3b-4b4b-b654-1cec1e6c75b2 https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/bildung/investitionsruecksta...
    - jamal-kumar 3y ago
      You should have seen the one I went to. There was warning stickers on all the walls not to disturb them because they were filled with asbestos and it represented an enormous mesothelioma hazard if you like, knocked into them hard enough and breathed
  - karaterobot 3y ago
    The U.S. spends more per child on education than Germany, and a lot more than almost any other country. Luxembourg spends more than everybody, then comes Norway, Austria, and Iceland, who spend a bit more than the U.S., but they are all well above the global average. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cmd/education-expenditures-by-country https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cmd/education-exp... Whatever complaints we may have about the U.S. education system, they cannot be explained by a lack of funding.

From what I understand, German school is even more demanding in terms of how they drive you to do well or lose benefits. I can only imagine the stress of things like getting demoted from Gymnasium [1] after not performing well enough due to life stresses during a critical developmental phase in life, or not making Abitur [2] qualifications and not getting that free post secondary. Well at least they aren't shooting each other I guess [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(Germany) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(Germany) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abitur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abitur

jazzyjackson 3y ago

According to John Taylor Gatto, american schools are modeled after prussian military academies of the late 19th century - down to the bells dividing the day into periods. - compulsory - segregated by age - passive lecturing - strict rules and deference to authority - standardized, inflexible curriculum

jamal-kumar 3y ago
He's a really good author, and I think anyone interested in this subject should definitely read him. [1] However I think that the American and German school systems definitely diverge in that they haven't defunded, devauled and destroyed the German system to a point where it's questionable why it even exists in its current form still. [1] https://www.naturalchild.org/articles/guest/john_gatto.html https://www.naturalchild.org/articles/guest/john_gatto.html
- mschuster91 3y ago
  Oh we do have defunded our system as well - particularly the buildings are rotting. Estimates are 45 billion dollars [1], and that's just to catch up with deferred maintenance and upkeep work, not to create new school buildings to match the increased demand or new staff. Education is one of the easiest things for politicians to "save money" by cutting budgets and the consequences usually take 15-20 years to appear, at which time the responsible politicians are long gone and can't be held accountable. [1] https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/bildung/investitionsrueckstand-an-schulen-kfw-sieht-weiterhin-milliardenluecke-bei-schulsanierungen-a-721dc495-cb3b-4b4b-b654-1cec1e6c75b2 https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/bildung/investitionsruecksta...
  - jamal-kumar 3y ago
    You should have seen the one I went to. There was warning stickers on all the walls not to disturb them because they were filled with asbestos and it represented an enormous mesothelioma hazard if you like, knocked into them hard enough and breathed
- karaterobot 3y ago
  The U.S. spends more per child on education than Germany, and a lot more than almost any other country. Luxembourg spends more than everybody, then comes Norway, Austria, and Iceland, who spend a bit more than the U.S., but they are all well above the global average. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cmd/education-expenditures-by-country https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cmd/education-exp... Whatever complaints we may have about the U.S. education system, they cannot be explained by a lack of funding.