Three Days at Bonns Funfte
The heart of our trip to Bonn was our three days at schools across the city. The 24 of us were divided among nine schools, and my partner and I spent our time at Bonns Funfte, a comprehensive secondary school.
A comprehensive school – gesamtschule – differs from other schools in the German system because instead of preparing students for university or training them in a vocation, it strives to combine both. There's a little more to it than that, but things can get complicated pretty quickly. Here's a chart that breaks it down (yeah, it's in German – sorry):
In addition, Bonns Funfte is an inclusive school, which means that it serves students with special needs and learning differences, as well as students who are immigrants. As a result, it tends to have a more diverse student population than many other German secondary schools.
Even though we visited during the last week of the school year and we weren't able to get a clear picture of what a typical school day was really like, there was still a lot to take in. It will probably take me a while to fully process my experiences and find ways that I can apply what I learned. I'll do my best to explain what we did in our time at Bonns Funfte and some of my observations and ruminations.
June 21, 2022
Some views of the school campus. Where are all of the kids? Just like the school we visited previously, Bonns Funfte has a very different "vibe" than most US schools I've seen.
Sandra and I hopped on a street car by ourselves for the first time and made the commute to Bonns Funfte. We arrived on campus before our host teacher, so we found a seating area and immediately noticed how very different this school felt that what we were used to back home. For one, there were no bells announcing the start of the day. Students and staff casually made their way to where they were supposed to be. We found out later that there are over 1,100 students at the school; I had no clue that it was so big because of how mellow it was.
Our host teacher, Eva, found us, brought us up to the teachers' lounge for her building, then took us on a tour around the main parts of the school. Afterward, Sandra and I split up. I went to a year 5/6 class where they were having a potluck-type of breakfast. I hung out with the class and had the chance to socialize with students. There were a lot of fun questions and the kids were especially excited when I told them I was from California. After a break, I gave a short talk about what my school is like and answered their questions.
We met up with Eva back in the lounge, then I went to a 7/8 class. There, students were putting the finishing touches on a small project about happiness (glück); it was essentially an SEL lesson. When everyone was finished, I socialized with a group of several students and we asked each other a rapid series of questions. They were especially interested in food 😋.
The school day ended early – they usually go until 4:00 – so after saying our goodbyes to the classes, we met back up in the lounge to touch base with Eva and some of her colleagues, then hopped on the train for the ride home.
The teacher's lounge and an art project that shows some things are more alike than they are different ("Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked....").
Here are what's swirling around in my head after our first day:
No bells – kids are expected to be where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there
Teachers don't have rooms, the kids do; it's one way that exemplifies how the learning of the students takes precedence over everything else
There are no extracurriculars – no sports, no after-school program, none of that stuff; school is focused on academics
Teachers are assigned a class to be sort of like a homeroom; our host teacher has a group of year 11 students whom she also teaches English
The first question I had from a student in the 5/6 class: "Do you have cheerleaders at your school?"
Kids know about American schools from TV and movies
At Bonns Funfte, years 5/6 and 7/8 are combined, but in year 9 (when academics become more intense), they are only with kids of their same year
The students have an hour-long lunch break (only years 11 and older are allowed to go off campus) and what is basically an hour-long study hall every day
From other Fulbright teachers, I found out that this time schedule is not typical; some schools have no lunch break and release their students at 1:00 or 1:30 every day
Kids come to school in a variety of ways – train, bus, riding bikes, walking, and so on – from all over the city
In the 5/6 class, there were 20 kids and 6 adults. There was the head teacher, two other teachers who work with the class (the arrangement wasn't clear), and three aides, one for a Syrian refugee, one for a Ukrainian refugee, and one for a special education student (my words, not theirs). There were also two students with hearing loss, so one of those other teachers may have been assigned to help them.
The 5/6 kids were very interested in American popular culture. They wanted to know if I watched Stranger Things and Cobra Kai, knew the Kardashians, and watched Tik Tok videos. They were exactly like the middle schoolers I work with at home.
The word for brownies in German is brownies! The ones that the students made me eat were not as sweet as brownies in the US, though.
The students brought their own plates, silverware, and cups for the potluck.
I was wondering if it would come up, and it sure did: one boy asked me about school shootings and if we worried about all of the guns in America. I explained to him that, yes, it was scary, but that we had emergency drills to help us be prepared, but that more importantly I live in a small community, where so many people know each other and keep an eye out for each other. I also explained that we prepare for earthquakes and fires, so he had a follow-up question about whether or not we get hurricanes in California.
The year 7/8 students were just as blasé and cool as my kiddos back home, but after warming up to me they were a lot of fun.
They wanted to know all about American food, especially sugary cereal (which they can only buy at candy stores for a pretty high price) and candy.
The project they were working on was a lot like the end-of-the-year projects many American teachers try to fill time with at the end of the year, and the quality of the work was probably the same (it was hard to tell exactly, though, because I don't speak German).
Some kids were very confident with their English – even more so than some of the teachers
I forgot: when we first entered the school building and went up the stairs, there were several kids doing yoga on the landing area unsupervised. It was another example of kids doing what they were supposed to do when they were supposed to do it without teachers or staff breathing down their necks
Sandra and I on our first day (left), an announcement for Schulfest (right), the sign for the school garden (top, middle), and me checking out some dioramas at Schulfest (bottom, middle).
June 22, 2022
Today was Schulfest, the annual end-of-the-year carnival-type event for students and their families. We didn't have to be at school until 3:30, so I spent some time in the morning visiting the German history museum (read more about it in my next blog entry).
The students had already been setting up the event for at least an hour, so by the time we arrived on campus the event was already hopping. Each class had a booth that they were in charge of. There were games, arts and crafts, demonstrations, and even a nail salon. A DJ played music in the main quad area, there was a bake sale in the cafeteria and beverages for sale outside, student work was on display in different rooms and halls, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
We partook in the festivities, had some snacks and drinks ("limonade" is a German nickname for soda), and were able to learn more about their school from students and teachers.
Some sights from the start of Schulfest
Some of the things I learned:
We met two girls who had just returned from a 10-month exchange program in the US, one in Oregon and one in Oklahoma; they found academics to be easier than in German schools and were amazed by how many animals Americans had
Students are graded on a scale of 1-6, with one being the highest and six the lowest; they can get pluses and minuses, too
The older students have up tp 11 classes (what they call "lessons") that they are graded on, but some classes they only have two or three days a week
Exams in German classes are much more difficult than exams in the US; they do not have multiple-choice questions (something Germans commented on a few times); everything is done in written answers, similar to what many college courses do; some classes offer oral exams
Many teachers do not teach a full schedule, but are part-time; one woman we spoke to is 2/3 time
Teachers' schedules can be flexible; if they do not teach, then they do not need to be on campus during that time
Bonns Funfte has a garden (it's a few blocks away and students were selling some of their produce) and a gymnastics group (they gave a demonstration)
Something caught our notice: the hip-hop music that was being played at one point had some very blatant English curse words, but no one noticed. We asked the teachers about it, and they didn't notice either. They said that music with foul language in German would never be allowed. I guess their knowledge of English was much more on the academic side of things.
Some of the kids who I spoke to yesterday didn't notice me – middle schoolers are middle schoolers, no matter which country you are in!
The mood of the event was fun and celebratory. I wish we had something like this sat my school.
My favorite conversation was with a group of four boys. They asked if I was an American, then they asked if I liked Takis. They also asked if I would send them some.
June 23, 2022
Our third day at Bonns Funfte was an excursion day. Each class planned an outing, so we went with our host teacher and her two co-teachers to Freizeitpark Rheinaue, a large park along the Rhine River. Again, as we noticed when we first arrived on campus two days before, it was sort of a casual start to the day. The students were quietly hanging out in the room while the teachers were going in and out of the room getting things ready. Eva led us to the office so we can say thank you to the headmaster of the school and her class met us in the center of the campus.
We walked several blocks to a train station (two students road their bikes), then rode the train for a couple of stops to reach the park. The entire way I was able to talk to students about their school experience and their plans for the future. At the park there were several other groups of students of all ages from different schools across the city, so we grabbed a spot in the shade and, basically, talked for the next two-and-a-half hours. The time we spent talking with students was one of the highlights of my time in Bonn.
Here's today's bullet point list:
Many of the kids we hung out with today academics-oriented; they are excited about their upcoming summer vacation (or rather, "holiday"), but they are expecting a tough school year ahead
All of the kids we talked to are focused on going to university
Universities in Germany specialize in different subject areas; you go to the school that has the subject you want a degree in. In the US we have a prestige-based system.
Each major has an average GPA that high school students need to have. For example, according to one of the students, a medical degree requires an average of a high school GPA of 1.3. So if you want to be a doctor, you need a 1.3 GPA. Then you go to one of the universities that offers a medical degree.
The students will be getting their grades on the last day of school
A few of the girls were very concerned about their grades in gym class. They felt that their teacher mistreats them. In fact, they actually made formal complaints against the teacher for being sexist, but they feel like nothing has been done. Side note: I found out a few days later that it is in fact very difficult for teachers to be disciplined; they instantly have tenure and school administrators have very little power to discipline faculty members.
The students have 11 lessons that they'll be graded on, but they choose four of them to take exams in. These exams are difficult and make up half of their grade in that subject. The other half is a combination of classwork and homework.
The four classes that they choose to have exams in are connected to their future studies; they could switch what they want to study, but it is difficult to do so
We asked them about their upcoming summer plans and all of them sounded so fancy to our American ears. We had to remind ourselves that a trip to Spain or Denmark for them is actually a lot closer than for us to go to many parts of the US.
They have a six-week summer break.
There were a lot of questions about the extracurriculars that we have at American schools. They were curious about sports and clubs and wanted to know all about school dances like homecoming a prom. These things just don't exist in German schools.
At the same time that the students were just like kids we know back home – take any one of them and put the in an American high school and they'd do amazingly – they also had much more autonomy and what seemed like maturity or self-assuredness that many high school kids we know. That's part of the payoff of deciding the academic track that kids will be on when they are as young as nine or 10.
We asked a group of girls, two of whom are Muslim, about racism at school. They seemed to understand what we meant because they were aware of current events in the US, but for the most part, it wasn't about race as much as national origin or religious faith. They did feel that one of their teachers – the aforementioned gym teacher – discriminated against them, but it was not necessarily tied to the color of their skin. We wanted to explore their understanding more deeply, but we got sidetracked and didn't get a chance to return to it.
The kids at their school start to do internships when they are in year seven. They only have to do 40 hours during the second half of the school year, but the girls we talked to all discussed how important it was to them, even if the work wasn't really that hard or connected to what they are currently interested in.
Some of the kids had jobs outside of school, but they are only legally allowed to work for a limited number of hours.
I learned earlier in the week that kids can't be fully licensed to drive until they are 18 but can buy alcohol when they are 16 (but the alcohol content must be under a certain percentage).
We talked about a whole variety of other topics, too, such as curse words, using phones at school, and what they want to study when they get older.
Eva had a gift for us – it was gummi bear-themed – and we had some baked goods and coffee for a snack. Our time at the park flew by.
When it was time to go, the students all just kind of dissipated – they were expected to get themselves home. Along with our host teacher and the few kids who remained, we meandered our way back to the train station and kept our conversations going. When our train arrived, we said our goodbyes to Eva and promised to keep in touch. Then, with the two kids who were going in the same direction that we were, we made our way back to downtown Bonn. The train ride was very crowded and very hot, so we got off early and went on the hunt for gelato. It was a great way to spend the morning.
Like I mentioned earlier, it will take me a while to fully process and apply my experiences at the school, but I look forward to finding ways to bring what I learned back to my school.
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