Type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Estonia
Real school
(
German
:
Realschule
,
German:
[?e?aːl?uːl?]
) is a type of
secondary school
in
Germany
,
Switzerland
and
Liechtenstein
. It has also existed in
Croatia
(
realna gimnazija
), the
Austrian Empire
, the
German Empire
,
Denmark
and
Norway
(
realskole
),
Sweden
(
realskola
),
Finland
(
reaalikoulu
),
Hungary
(
realiskola
),
Latvia
(
re?lskola
),
Slovenia
(
realka
),
Serbia
(
realna gimnazija/realka
), and the
Russian Empire
(
реальное училище
), including
partitioned Poland
(
szkoła realna
).
Germany
[
edit
]
Situation of the school
[
edit
]
In the German
secondary school
system,
Realschule
is ranked between
Hauptschule
(lowest) and
Gymnasium
(highest). After completing the
Realschule
, good students are allowed to attend a professional Gymnasium or a general-education Gymnasium. They can also attend a
Berufsschule
or do an
apprenticeship
.
In most states of Germany, students start the
Realschule
at the age of ten or eleven and typically finish school at the age of 16?17. In some states,
Realschulen
have recently been replaced by
Oberschulen
or
Sekundarschulen
.
In 2006 1.32 million German students attended a
Realschule
.
At
Realschule
, a student gets an extended education and learns at least one foreign language, usually
English
. In the state of
Baden-Wurttemberg
, after the sixth grade, the student has to choose among
technology
,
home economics
, and a second foreign language, usually
French
. The new subject becomes the student's fifth main subject, after German, maths, science and English; and it is also possible to learn other foreign languages in free workshops.
Other subjects are
geography
,
social sciences
,
economics
,
history
, religious education, and physical education. After the 8th grade a student has to choose between
arts
and
music
.
High school diplomas obtained in
Canada
or the
United States
are usually acknowledged as a
Mittlere Reife
(graduation from a
Realschule
).
[1]
In some cases however students may apply for certain subjects at a university. All students holding an American high school diploma may apply for the
Studienkolleg
, and after successfully graduating from this they may attend a German university.
[2]
Those holding a high school diploma can choose from a wider range of possible major subjects at a German university if they did well on the
SAT
or
ACT
. Those who scored higher than 1300 on the SAT or higher than 28 on the ACT may apply for any subject at a German university.
[1]
Gymnasia and
Realgymnasia
are the classical higher or secondary schools of
Germany
.
Abolition of the
Realschule
in Berlin and Hamburg
[
edit
]
Starting in 2010/2011,
Realschulen
were formally abolished in
Berlin
and merged with
Hauptschulen
and the old
Gesamtschulen
to form a new type of comprehensive school, called
Stadtteilschule
in Hamburg and
Sekundarschule
in Berlin.
[
citation needed
]
Performance of students attending the
Realschule
[
edit
]
According to the PISA examination the students attending a
Realschule
were outperformed by those attending a Gymnasium. However, they did better than those attending a
Hauptschule
or a Gesamtschule school.
Performance on
PISA
(points earned) by social class and type of school
School type
|
"Very low" social class
|
"Low" social class
|
"High" social class
|
"Very high" social class
|
Hauptschule
|
400
|
429
|
436
|
450
|
Gesamtschule
|
438
|
469
|
489
|
515
|
Realschule
|
482
|
504
|
528
|
526
|
Gymnasium
|
578
|
581
|
587
|
602
|
PISA 2003 ? Der Bildungsstand der Jugendlichen in Deutschland ? Ergebnisse des 2. internationalen Vergleiches (
PISA 2003 ? Education level of young people in Germany ? results of the second international comparison
).
[3]
|
Criticism
[
edit
]
The German tripartite system of education has been widely criticized for separating children along class lines at a very early age. For instance, in some German states, a decision is made in the sixth or even the fourth grade about whether a child is to continue in the Gymnasium, the
Realschule
, or the
Hauptschule
. Only the Gymnasium is a
university-preparatory school
, so critics argue that a decision is made as early as the fourth grade about whether a child will be allowed to attend college.
[
citation needed
]
The system is considered so onerous outside Germany that the
OECD
even sent a special envoy
[
citation needed
]
to Germany to condemn current German practice.
[
citation needed
]
Specifically, the Brazilian expert found that German schools separate children according to
social class
, with children of academics and professionals more often being sent on to a Gymnasium, and working-class children being sent to a
Realschule
or a
Hauptschule
.
According to critics, the system is widely considered within Germany
[4]
to be socially useful in the sense that the upper class is able to reserve the best schools for itself without having to resort to private schools. Finally, no democratic society outside the German-speaking world has tripartite school systems that separate children largely according to background; this finding was the main complaint about Germany in the recent PISA study.
[
citation needed
]
Proponents of the tripartite system consider the arguments brought forward by the critics to be invalid. They point to the fact that not only Gymnasium, but also comprehensive schools and schools serving mature students such as the
Kolleg
or the
Berufsoberschule
offer the possibility for the
Abitur
. Also it is possible to attend college without holding the
Abitur
. They also hold the opinion that state-funded
Realschulen
and Gymnasiums offered many working-class children the possibility to move up the social ladder. Also, proponents of the tripartite system fear the abolishing Gymnasia and
Realschulen
will lead to the growth of a private school sector.
Proponents of the
Realschule
also hold the opinion that it aids students' personality development.
[5]
According to a study those attending a
Realschule
became more altruistic and more likely to care for others over time.
[6]
The "Erweiterte Realschule" and "Realschule Plus"
[
edit
]
The "Erweiterte Realschule" (expanded
Realschule
) is a school that exists in the German State of the
Saarland
. It is not to be confused with the
Realschule
. While the
Realschule
is a
selective school
, the
Erweiterte Realschule
is a school that does not select its students on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. It streams students by perceived ability after 7th grade. The "
Realschule Plus
" is a non-selective school that exists in the State of
Rhineland-Palatinate
. It offers general education classes (that resemble normal
Realschule
classes) as well as remedial classes.
The
Erweiterte Realschule
and the
Realschule Plus
are not the school of first choice for many students and often are attended by students who have been turned down by or have been expelled from other schools.
Austria-Hungary
[
edit
]
The first in the empire was established in Vienna, 1771. Systematically they were founded by Habsburg Monarchy after 1804: e.g. 1811 in
Brno
(German-language), 1815 in
Brody
(
Galicia
), 1817 in
Lviv
and
Trieste
etc.
In the
Czech lands
, in the school year 1917/1918 there existed 43 Czech-language
realka
, namely 30 in Bohemia and 13 in Moravia. There existed also German-language
Realschulen
. After World War I, many
Realschulen
became transformed to
Realgymnasien
.
Realschulen
were abolished in 1948 in Czechoslovakia.
The
Realgymnasium
was a compromise type between the
Realschule
and
Gymnasium
. In the Czech lands,
Realgymnasien
were established between 1862 (the first one in Tabor) and 1913 (the last one in Jilemnice). In the Czech lands, in the school year 1917/1918 there existed 35 Czech-language
Realgymnasien
; namely 24 in Bohemia, 10 in Moravia, and one in Czech Silesia.
In 1908, the
Reformrealgymnasium
was created as a new type of school in Austria-Hungary. Up to 1918, just seven such schools were established, two of them in the Czech lands (1909 Vrchlabi, 1911 Bohumin), both of them German-language.
Norway
[
edit
]
The
realskole
existed in
Norway
between 1935 and 1970. It replaced the former
middelskole
, and was the level between
folkeskole
(primary school) and
gymnasium
. The majority historically left school after
folkeskole
, and the
realskole
was meant as preparation for the
gymnasium
, itself a preparation for university studies. Only a small minority attended
gymnasium
in those times.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
USA
at nymphenburger-schulen.de
- ^
"Home - Universitat Regensburg"
(PDF)
.
www-cgi.uni-regensburg.de
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on July 23, 2011.
- ^
Ehmke; et al. (2004). "PISA 2003 ? Der Bildungsstand der Jugendlichen in Deutschland ? Ergebnisse des 2. internationalen Vergleiches" [PISA 2003 ? Education level of young people in Germany ? results of the second international comparison].
PISA-Konsortium Deutschland (Hrsg.)
(in German). Munster/New York: Waxmann. p. 244.
- ^
Chancengleichheit im dreigliedrigen Schulsystem?: Soziale Benachteiligung auf Grund schulischer Selektion am Beispiel Hauptschule: Amazon.de: Luisa Liebold: Bucher
.
ASIN
3640223802
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
(PDF)
.
www.vo-saar.de
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 16 July 2011
. Retrieved
22 May
2022
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
"Elternverein Nordrhein-Westfalen e. V. - Gesamtschule ungeschminkt - Alarm!"
. Elternverein-nrw.de
. Retrieved
2013-07-22
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Bolton, F. E. (1900),
Secondary School System of Germany
, New York
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Russell, J. E. (1907),
German Higher Schools
, New York
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
External links
[
edit
]
- Texts on Wikisource: