The German education system has got a long and own history of culture, political, and social life which were typical for the country for such a long time. Since the establishment of monastic schools and until the present, all-embracing system, education in Germany has passed through remarkable shifts that reflect social development in different periods of time, which also determine the most relevant current needs and priorities.
Early Beginnings: The Monastery and the Cathedral Schools
The historical onset of formal education in the German country goes back to the 6th century AD, when the church created monastic schools. The institutions located in the vicinity of monasteries and cathedrals, where the main customers were the future members of the clergies or the upper classes, were mostly oriented towards defending the Christian faith and theology and keeping its traditions alive. Its curriculum was based on teaching the subjects, such as Latin, rhetoric, and religious studies, in particular.
By the time of Carolingian Renaissance (8th and 9th centuries), the government closely tied education to achievement, and this promoted the establishment of cathedral schools in major cities. Such schools rather than just clerics also included aristocratic or wealthy bourgeo tune sons and daughters.
The Rise of Universities
From 12th and 13th centuries, there has been to emerge a great giant in the education sector with the opening of universities in Germany. Heidelberg University which has its foundation year of 1386 is the oldest German university and also one of the earliest colleges to have survived in Europe.
These first Primes became a center of learning, in which knowledge was disseminated and the intellectual field advanced. Their appeal transcended all the European borders and educated minds from far and wide, thus assisting the progressment of Humanism and Renaissance.
The reformation and their affects
The domestic side effect of the Protestant Reformation, which was disseminated by Martin Luther and took place in Germany in the 16th century, remains the most important factor for the development of the modern education system. Luther insisted on the equal opportunities for everyone and rejected traditional class and gender boxes. He suggested the development of such schools where children would be able to obtain some education, reading, writing, and studying the Bible.
However, consequently, numerous Protestant princes and cities launched public schools (Volksschulen – or people’s schools) which were intended to offer a decent education to the masses. They were the inspirer for the currently used theory of universal learning in Germany.
The Enlightenment Phase and Educational Changes
The 18th century was the time which has become a hallmark of educational reforms in Germany, which has followed the trends of the Enlightenment. The philosophers and educators, such as Herder and Basedow, proposed it in their theories that children should be the ones leading the direction of learning, what not all schools tried to do at those times but instead they focused on more theoretical discipline and rote learning.
During this period, the Prussian government has launched a system of educational reforms, which include creating a public school system that is centrally governed and the uniformizing of the school curriculum. The Prussian model, with its discipline, efficiency and academic rigour, inevitably was leading to transformation to it throughout Germany and other countries in Europe.
The 19th Century: The Modern Era and Schooling.
The 19th century is a period when according to the current educational system in Germany as involving three stages i.e. primary (lower), secondary, and higher education. The whole is explained by the Prussian model that had been adopted by most German states and makes up the basis for the structured system.
The core of the school curriculum, Volksschule, became obligatory for everybody under the age of 14. The primary objectives included reading, writing and arithmetic. Secondary education was represented by different kind of schools, Gymnasien (academics secondary schools), Realschulen (technical secondary schools) and Hauptschulen (general secondary schools), it addressed different educational path and occupational prospects.
The 20th Century: The imperial regime moved towards the integration of the natives in the colonial affairs. Moreover, the state established a fully-fledged educational system, which aimed mainly at achieving the national integration by the end of the civil war.
Since Germany was unified in 1871, policies to make education system standard across the country were either introduced or intensified. While complete change and reconstructions have occurred after World War II yet, still there was a lot of an overhaul and restructuring of the majority of society’s institutions.
Under the Schmidt administration, West Germany maintained the classical system of three levels of education (primary, secondary, and higher) but with reforms to address social inequalities in the way people acquired knowledge. The idea of the comprehensive school (Gesamtschule) was brought in as the counterpart to the traditional secondary schools, with the intention that students, irrespective of their respective backgrounds, get the same chances to get a good education.
The education system in East Germany, particularly in the communist period which was heavily connected with the Soviet ideologies, had a great impact on it. The curriculum was looking for marxism-leninism along with vocational training and formation of skilled labor force that would participate in the surviving planned economy of that time.
The Reunification of the countries is not without difficulties.
The German education system reform, which took place after unification in 1990, was one of the most important endeavors of the newlyfound country. But it was not an easy task to reform the two parallel systems of education from East and West Germany. Harmonization of curricula, teacher training, and educational standards (by them) were also attempted in those years.
By today, the federal structure of German educational system has become defined. The states, each of which has independence over educational policies and administration, is responsible for it. This structural complexity is the reason for modules’ diversity, the proliferation of school types and the educational experimentation that exist in every state.
Despite the extent of divergences which always exist in this system, germany’s education system is still very highly regarded globally being characterized by its academic rigor, vocationnal training and the promotion of critical thinking skills. The educational enterprise, however, does face continuing challenges, e.g., eliminating educational inequalities, integrating immigrant populations, as well as it has to continually adjust to the constantly changing labour market requirements of the 21st century.
As Germany deals with these issues, its education system will inevitably keep altering through the ages, by building up on its exceptional heritage but also incorporating new approaches to guarantee that that next generations are equipped with a distinct high quality of education skills, appropriate for their own prosperous protected existence and integrated within the within the world that is ever changing.