Here is a message from Dr. Tobias Zahn, bio-chemistry in Pforzheim, Germany. He did his doctoral thesis work at a research institute in Colorado and we spent time together snowshoeing in the Rocky Mountains.
Here is a message from Dr. Tobias Zahn, bio-chemistry in Pforzheim, Germany. He did his doctoral thesis work at a research institute in Colorado and we spent time together snowshoeing in the Rocky Mountains.
A very interesting article and it closely mirrors my own experiences in school (my brother and I were lucky, my sister less so) and more so with our kids nowadays. Unfortunately, while the majority of teachers in Germany obtain a university degree, 'schooling' or 'Pädagogik' plays a very minor role, and my impression is that way too many teachers have the described dulling effect on children. Interestingly, I find that a brief encounter during enrolment or at a teacher-parent meeting (there's usually one evening at the start of the new school year and the teachers introduce themselves to a class' parents) suffices that you can tell which category a teacher belongs to. It's unfortunate that there's no process in place to sort teachers along those categories and allow only the, how shall I say, 'nourishing' ones to teach.
I have friends in Baden-Wurttemburg and Swabia. I enjoy visiting them in Karlsruhe, Sindelfingen, and Böblingen (but I've never visited Pforzheim). But I got lost trying to visit the Fernsehturm in Stuttgart for its famous Kirschtorte, and haven't tried again. I have a friend in Heimersheim near Alzey in Rheinland-Pfalz who is a retired "gymnasium" (high school) math teacher, whose hobby is transcribing old handwritten civil registry records of birth, marriage, death, etc. into his spreadsheet. He's been a very valuable help in my genealogy research. I am utterly unable to read "Sutterlin" script. He found my great-great-great grandfather's 1813 marriage license in Sprendlingen -- all in eminently-readable French script because Napoleon had arrived and enforced detailed record keeping, about which Germans became obsessed.
Agreed! We need teachers who are 'nourishing' or nurturing, as was my first-grade teacher, but not the ones my sister and brother had.
My time in the Realschule-Dormagen (Mittelschule) was after summer break in 1962 till the start of summer break in 1964. Those were my 8th and 9th grade years. My principal teachers--five men--were all WWII Wehrmacht veterans. I'm pretty sure my homeroom teacher had been an officer. They were all enthusiastic about teaching us and were always well-prepared. We also had not a single problem with classroom discipline. :)
Yes, our six years in Germany in the 1960s and six years in Switzerland in the 1980s were rich with personnal experiences and different from experiences in our native USA.. It helped to speak the local dialect of high German and high German. Then they become friends much quicker. I was there for military service, graduate studies and consultant to several Swiss nuclear power plants.
Here is a message from Dr. Tobias Zahn, bio-chemistry in Pforzheim, Germany. He did his doctoral thesis work at a research institute in Colorado and we spent time together snowshoeing in the Rocky Mountains.
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A very interesting article and it closely mirrors my own experiences in school (my brother and I were lucky, my sister less so) and more so with our kids nowadays. Unfortunately, while the majority of teachers in Germany obtain a university degree, 'schooling' or 'Pädagogik' plays a very minor role, and my impression is that way too many teachers have the described dulling effect on children. Interestingly, I find that a brief encounter during enrolment or at a teacher-parent meeting (there's usually one evening at the start of the new school year and the teachers introduce themselves to a class' parents) suffices that you can tell which category a teacher belongs to. It's unfortunate that there's no process in place to sort teachers along those categories and allow only the, how shall I say, 'nourishing' ones to teach.
Kudos to good teachers everywhere!
Cheers,
Tobias Zahn
Pforzheim, Germany
I have friends in Baden-Wurttemburg and Swabia. I enjoy visiting them in Karlsruhe, Sindelfingen, and Böblingen (but I've never visited Pforzheim). But I got lost trying to visit the Fernsehturm in Stuttgart for its famous Kirschtorte, and haven't tried again. I have a friend in Heimersheim near Alzey in Rheinland-Pfalz who is a retired "gymnasium" (high school) math teacher, whose hobby is transcribing old handwritten civil registry records of birth, marriage, death, etc. into his spreadsheet. He's been a very valuable help in my genealogy research. I am utterly unable to read "Sutterlin" script. He found my great-great-great grandfather's 1813 marriage license in Sprendlingen -- all in eminently-readable French script because Napoleon had arrived and enforced detailed record keeping, about which Germans became obsessed.
Agreed! We need teachers who are 'nourishing' or nurturing, as was my first-grade teacher, but not the ones my sister and brother had.
My time in the Realschule-Dormagen (Mittelschule) was after summer break in 1962 till the start of summer break in 1964. Those were my 8th and 9th grade years. My principal teachers--five men--were all WWII Wehrmacht veterans. I'm pretty sure my homeroom teacher had been an officer. They were all enthusiastic about teaching us and were always well-prepared. We also had not a single problem with classroom discipline. :)
Yes, our six years in Germany in the 1960s and six years in Switzerland in the 1980s were rich with personnal experiences and different from experiences in our native USA.. It helped to speak the local dialect of high German and high German. Then they become friends much quicker. I was there for military service, graduate studies and consultant to several Swiss nuclear power plants.