[wirrbel]

German here, we also have our fair share of experimentation on children in schools..

From what I have learned while reading about pedagocial reforms, most arguments don't really treat the student body as a diverse set of people, rather they pretend that students are all alike and then present a way of learning that a subset of the students strive with.

This is not about the (long debunke) myth that some people would be visual learners and some would learn better with their sense of smell. No.

What I mean is, some people fare better with lecture-style classroom presentations, some better with individual experimentation. All kids need guidance.

It seems that the reforms that are made are usually a certain pedagocial-model teaming up with monetary or economic interests (cutting costs in education). So in our schools, we saw that Physics teachers were on short supply (they rather earned better money outside of schools). So they mixed all Science subjects in middle school and named it "Natural Phenomena". As a result, the physics is taught by biology teachers who sometimes prepared their lessons with the math teachers of the school because it wasn't their core strength...

[tilolebo]

French living in Germany and married to a primary school teacher here.

Theoretically,differentiated learning is what teachers should use. But as you observed, and like in many other countries such as France, reforms supposedly pedagogical are mostly decided based on economic interests.

On the field, teachers are understaffed and unable to apply the program.

[vimslayer]

I think pretty much everyone agrees with you on that, I haven't seen anyone advocate that students _should_ be treated all alike. It's just that providing individual guidance requires more teachers and thus more money...

And then someone comes in and suggests that we don't need so many new teachers if we "use technology" to help fill the need, like some learning app could be the silver bullet that revolutionizes teaching. Maybe it will some day, but seeing what we've had so far I'm not exactly holding my breath waiting to see that happen.

[WanderPanda]

In Germany the zeitgeist is: equal opportunity = treating all students alike (even ones with special needs). If you are arguing for more individual and specialized education, you are widely considered anti-social and it is suggested that your intend is to build / maintain a small (educational) elite that aspires to enslave all others...

[watwut]

But Germany splits students int different tracks quite soon. There is differentiation when kids are something like 10-12.

[usr1106]

Remember that there is no German school system. Education is subject of state (Länder) law. So there are quite some differences between different parts of Germany. Traditionally, some 30-40 years back you were supposed to know whether you go to university or not at the age of ten.

However, this is no longer really the case. Many prepare for university in theory, but never go there.