Real school
Real school(German:Realschule,German:[ʁeˈaːlʃuːlə]) is a type ofsecondary schoolinGermany,SwitzerlandandLiechtenstein.It has also existed inCroatia(realna gimnazija), theAustrian Empire,theGerman Empire,DenmarkandNorway(realskole),Sweden(realskola),Finland(reaalikoulu),Hungary(reáliskola),Latvia(reālskola),Slovenia(realka),Serbia(realna gimnazija/realka), and theRussian Empire(реальное училище), includingpartitioned Poland(szkoła realna).
Germany[edit]
Situation of the school[edit]
In the Germansecondary schoolsystem,Realschuleis ranked betweenHauptschule(lowest) andGymnasium(highest). After completing theRealschule,good students are allowed to attend a professional Gymnasium or a general-education Gymnasium. They can also attend aBerufsschuleor do anapprenticeship.
In most states of Germany, students start theRealschuleat the age of ten or eleven and typically finish school at the age of 16–17. In some states,Realschulenhave recently been replaced byOberschulenorSekundarschulen. In 2006 1.32 million German students attended aRealschule.
AtRealschule,a student gets an extended education and learns at least one foreign language, usuallyEnglish.In the state ofBaden-Württemberg,after the sixth grade, the student has to choose amongtechnology,home economics,and a second foreign language, usuallyFrench.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 aregeography,social sciences,economics,history,religious education, and physical education. After the 8th grade a student has to choose betweenartsandmusic.
High school diplomas obtained inCanadaor theUnited Statesare usually acknowledged as aMittlere Reife(graduation from aRealschule).[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 theStudienkolleg,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 theSATorACT.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 andRealgymnasiaare the classical higher or secondary schools ofGermany.
Abolition of theRealschulein Berlin and Hamburg[edit]
Starting in 2010/2011,Realschulenwere formally abolished inBerlinand merged withHauptschulenand the oldGesamtschulento form a new type of comprehensive school, calledStadtteilschulein Hamburg andSekundarschulein Berlin.[citation needed]
Performance of students attending theRealschule[edit]
According to the PISA examination the students attending aRealschulewere outperformed by those attending a Gymnasium. However, they did better than those attending aHauptschuleor a Gesamtschule 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]
 | This article's"criticism" or "controversy" sectionmay compromise the article'sneutrality.(October 2020) |
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, theRealschule,or theHauptschule.Only the Gymnasium is auniversity-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 theOECDeven 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 tosocial class,with children of academics and professionals more often being sent on to a Gymnasium, and working-class children being sent to aRealschuleor aHauptschule.
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 theKollegor theBerufsoberschuleoffer the possibility for theAbitur.Also it is possible to attend college without holding theAbitur.They also hold the opinion that state-fundedRealschulenand Gymnasiums offered many working-class children the possibility to move up the social ladder. Also, proponents of the tripartite system fear that abolishing Gymnasia andRealschulenwould lead to the growth of a private school sector.
Proponents of theRealschulealso hold the opinion that it aids students' personality development.[5]According to a study those attending aRealschulebecame more altruistic and more likely to care for others over time.[6]
The "Erweiterte Realschule" and "Realschule Plus"[edit]
The "Erweiterte Realschule" (expandedRealschule) is a school that exists in the German State of theSaarland.It is not to be confused with theRealschule.While theRealschuleis aselective school,theErweiterte Realschuleis 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 ofRhineland-Palatinate.It offers general education classes (that resemble normalRealschuleclasses) as well as remedial classes. TheErweiterte Realschuleand theRealschule Plusare 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 inBrno(German-language), 1815 inBrody(Galicia), 1817 inLvivandTriesteetc.
In theCzech lands,in the school year 1917/1918 there existed 43 Czech-languagereálka,namely 30 in Bohemia and 13 in Moravia. There existed also German-languageRealschulen.After World War I, manyRealschulenbecame transformed toRealgymnasien.Realschulenwere abolished in 1948 in Czechoslovakia.
TheRealgymnasiumwas a compromise type between theRealschuleandGymnasium.In the Czech lands,Realgymnasienwere established between 1862 (the first one in Tábor) and 1913 (the last one in Jilemnice). In the Czech lands, in the school year 1917/1918 there existed 35 Czech-languageRealgymnasien;namely 24 in Bohemia, 10 in Moravia, and one in Czech Silesia.
In 1908, theReformrealgymnasiumwas 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 Vrchlabí, 1911 Bohumín), both of them German-language.
Norway[edit]
Therealskoleexisted inNorwaybetween 1935 and 1970. It replaced the formermiddelskole,and was the level betweenfolkeskole(primary school) andgymnasium.The majority historically left school afterfolkeskole,and therealskolewas meant as preparation for thegymnasium,itself a preparation for university studies. Only a small minority attendedgymnasiumin those times.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abUSAat nymphenburger-schulen.de
- ^"Home - Universität Regensburg"(PDF).www-cgi.uni-regensburg.de.Archived fromthe 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). Münster/New York: Waxmann. p. 244.
- ^Chancengleichheit im dreigliedrigen Schulsystem?: Soziale Benachteiligung auf Grund schulischer Selektion am Beispiel Hauptschule: Amazon.de: Luisa Liebold: Bücher.ASIN3640223802.
- ^"Archived copy"(PDF).vo-saar.de.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 16 July 2011.Retrieved22 May2022.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"Elternverein Nordrhein-Westfalen e. V. - Gesamtschule ungeschminkt - Alarm!".Elternverein-nrw.de.Retrieved2013-07-22.
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:
- "Realschule".New International Encyclopedia.1905.
- "Realschulen".Encyclopedia Americana.1920.
- "Real schools".Collier's New Encyclopedia.1921.
