[Window of World Education]

It is not new for parents to worry about their children's education, especially in East Asian countries. The parents who let their children live under the pressure of homework, tutoring classes and going to school at a very young age are not really willing to be so cruel. The reality is that many parents, even if they do not want their children to work so hard, their children have become particularly strong under the huge competitive pressure of the school. Parents are anxious, and children themselves are anxious. Everyone is afraid of losing and falling behind. Primary education is just a small epitome of it.

In contrast, Germany's international student assessment test scores are good, but primary education is relatively easy. The 2015 PISA showed that among the 72 countries and regions that participated in the test, German students scored higher in reading than Chinese students, and lower in natural science and mathematics than Chinese students. However, if measured by the student input-output ratio (the ratio of the invested learning time to the final learning achievement, that is, learning efficiency), German students' performance is second only to Finland, which ranks first. So why can German parents and primary education be calm and calm?

1. Purpose and orientation of primary education

First, it is related to the purpose and orientation of German primary education.

As an educational stage between kindergarten and middle school, one of the primary tasks of German primary education is to gradually guide children from play learning in kindergarten to systematic learning. In addition to teaching basic cultural skills such as reading, writing and calculation and promoting students' all-round development, the task of German primary education also includes maintaining and caring for "children's curiosity about the world they live in and the fun of learning". For this reason, German primary schools maintain a slow pace of teaching and follow the development of children's cognitive ability step by step.

The teaching of primary schools in Grade One and Grade Two is still characterized by games and interaction, without formal scoring, let alone ranking. At the end of each semester, the teacher will issue a detailed learning development report for each student, pointing out its advantages, progress and areas that need to be strengthened and improved. Teachers only grade students from the third grade (some states start from the second semester of the second grade). Grading is adopted, which usually includes five grades from excellent to unqualified. The results will not be disclosed. Students will not have great pressure to learn and compete.

The academic burden of German primary school students is not heavy. The number of class hours per week gradually increased from 20 class hours in the lower grades to 29 class hours in the upper grades. Because most primary school students (67%) receive half day school education, they do not spend much time in school every day. In addition, most German federal states prohibit primary and secondary schools from arranging homework for students on weekends, statutory holidays and holidays. Although teachers are allowed to leave homework at ordinary times, pupils are usually not allowed to do homework for more than one hour every day. If teachers leave more homework, parents will protest. On the other hand, German teachers' assessment and promotion are not linked to students' academic performance, so teachers have no motivation to give students more learning pressure.

The survey shows that most children (76%) in Germany spend less than one hour doing homework every day. Because the burden of learning is not heavy, German primary school students generally like to go to school. According to the survey report released by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and a Berlin magazine (Geolino) in 2014, nearly 90% of German students aged 6-14 who were surveyed said they liked going to school.

2. Decision making power and educational concept

Secondly, it has something to do with the German parents' right to decide on entering a higher school and their educational concept.

After primary school graduation, German students will enter several different types of secondary schools, such as the main school, practical middle school, comprehensive middle school and liberal arts middle school. Among them, liberal arts and science middle schools are the most prestigious ones, leading directly to universities, while the main middle schools are the least prestigious ones, leading directly to vocational education. The transition from primary school to junior high school is an important transition in the life of German children. Schools and teachers will make suggestions to each student on what kind of middle school to go to, but the final decision is in the hands of German parents. This is called "parents' right to education is higher than school education" in Germany. Although most parents will follow the teacher's advice. However, if parents are willing, they can send their children to the school they want to go to regardless of the teacher's suggestions. With the right to decide whether to enter a higher school, German parents have less incentive to worry. In addition, German parents have different expectations for their children from those in many East Asian countries. Compared with many expectant parents, German parents may just want their children to be good at themselves. They seem to remember the admonition of Ramer Largo, a famous contemporary European professor of pediatrics and child education expert, that "children do not come to this world to meet their parents' expectations", or follow Goethe's advice: if children can grow up according to their own nature, we will have absolute talent. Accordingly, German parents are more likely to choose an education path suitable for their children according to their children's abilities and interests than to shape and transform their children in a high standard and strict way in order to embark on a specific education path, as many eager parents do. This is one reason why German parents can be calm and calm.

Most German parents are not anxious about their children's primary education. According to a survey (2015), most parents in Germany are not worried about their children's graduation. 83% of parents think their children can get the diploma they want. This proportion is even as high as 90% among the parents of students in liberal arts and science schools.

3. Continuity and balance

Thirdly, Germany has no "college entrance examination", and the education system is characterized by continuity and balanced development.

Germany does not have the "college entrance examination" as a source of pressure. After primary school, students are diverted. Nearly half of the students have entered the vocational education system after secondary school graduation. There is no such situation as China, where thousands of people have crowded into the college entrance examination. After graduating from primary school, students will enter different types of secondary schools. However, there is continuity between different types of schools: on the one hand, students can transfer between different types of schools according to their academic achievements; on the other hand, the same school will provide the possibility of obtaining different types of graduation certificates for students to choose. Therefore, in the German education system, students' upward or downward flow channels are unblocked. The school is important, but it is not important enough to decide everything. Even if students enter the main middle school after primary school graduation and participate in vocational education, they still have the opportunity and possibility to go to university, and will not enter a dead end.

In addition, German schools are characterized by balanced development. The government will not favor one over the other in the allocation of educational resources for different types of schools and schools within the same type. There are no key schools or classes. Article 72, paragraph 2, of the Basic Law requires states to "create equal living conditions" for residents in the federal territory. No matter where people live, the government has the obligation to provide them with the same infrastructure, educational opportunities and conditions. This kind of balance and continuity allows German parents and students to make more choices according to their abilities and interests.

Germany has developed economy and stable society, which makes it unnecessary to "stand out" in order to live a good life in Germany. Safeguarding education fairness is an explicit requirement of the German Basic Law (Article 3, paragraph 3): "No one shall be discriminated against or given priority to because of his gender, origin, race, language, place of birth, belief, religion or political opinion. No one shall be discriminated against because of disability." In terms of educational choices and decisions, Legislators in German states require schools to respect the needs of students and their parents. For example, the School Law of North Wales stipulates in the second paragraph of Article 1 that "the ability and interest of young people and the wishes of their parents determine the way of students' education. The door of school education is open to every student according to their willingness and ability to learn." The School Law of Germany's Bavarian State (Article 1) It also guarantees that students "have the right to obtain education consistent with their talents, regardless of their family background and economic status", and requires schools to "respect the right of parents to participate in the decision of children's education".

4. Rational social environment

As an economically developed country, German education is free from primary school to university, and the government also provides education subsidies to families in need. Therefore, private families do not have a heavy financial burden on education. The average spending of German children during the whole education period (from primary school to high school graduation) is 20700 euros, which is less than the average annual income of German families in one year (37103 euros). With less investment in family education, parents have less pressure to expect returns, and children have less psychological burden in this regard, so they live a relatively easy life. This, of course, should be attributed to the educational responsibility of the German government. Germany's investment in education (2016) accounted for 6.4% of GDP, with a total amount of EUR 2001 billion. The government has undertaken more than four fifths of the education investment, and in the field of primary and secondary schools, the proportion of the government is as high as 87%. The other fifth is shared by foreign institutions, enterprises, non-profit organizations and families. Therefore, the pressure of German survival and competition is not very great. In addition to the rights guaranteed by law, parents will not transmit the pressure of future life to the educational expectations and requirements of children and even schools.

The calm and calm of primary education also benefited from Germany's rational social environment and public opinion guidance. German society rarely compares with other countries. The national character is pragmatic and progressive, and can calm down to do things. Education is not the focus of the whole society in Germany. There are few educational advertisements in the media to promote after-school tutoring, and few articles to create a tense and competitive atmosphere. The media mostly pass on scientific and healthy parenting concepts to German parents, including criticizing "helicopter parents" who pay too much attention to and protect children and parents who are too picky about children's scores, so that parents know that after-school tutoring and homework can not improve the performance of most children, and let them not act blindly.

It is under the combined effect of the above factors that German parents and primary education can be calm and calm. It is worth noting that this "relaxed" education not only makes German children more psychologically healthy, but also does not make them inferior in knowledge and ability acquisition in the future, nor does it hinder the development of social economy and science and technology. The 2015 PISA showed that among the 72 countries/regions participating in the test, German students scored higher in reading than Chinese students, and lower in natural science and mathematics than Chinese students. However, if measured by the ratio of the learning time invested by students to the final academic performance (i.e. learning efficiency), German students' performance is second only to Finland, ranking first, and far better than Chinese students (ranking 14th from the bottom). As one of the most competitive and innovative countries in the world, German education, although often criticized in its own country, has undoubtedly succeeded in cultivating talents at all levels for socio-economic and scientific and technological development. The experience of Germany shows that easy education can also bring up qualified talents needed by the society and achieve a happy and satisfied life.

(Author: Sun Jin, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Institute of International and Comparative Education, Beijing Normal University)

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