The Gymnasium ( ) (plural: Gymnasien), in the German education system, is a type of secondary school with a strong emphasis on academic learning, comparable with the British former grammar school system or with prep school in the United States. The student visiting a Gymnasium is called "Gymnasiast" (plural: "Gymnasiasten") Public (state-funded) Gymnasien exist alongside those run by the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, and those established by secular private institutions. Private Gymnasien often charge tuition fees, though many also offer scholarships.

Some Gymnasien are boarding schools, while others run as day schools; they may be co-educational or single-sex, with co-educational schools predominating. Students are admitted at 10 or 13 years of age and are required to have completed four to six years of Grundschule (primary education). In most cases admission is nominally dependent on a letter of recommendation written by a teacher.

Traditionally, a student would attend a Gymnasium for nine years in western Germany, or eight in eastern Germany. Since 2004 there has been a strong political movement to reduce the time spent at the Gymnasium to eight years throughout Germany, dispensing with the traditional ninth grade or Oberprima, which is roughly equivalent to the first year of higher education. Final year students sit the Abitur final exam. Most Gymnasien hold an Alumni meeting at least once a year.

People unfamiliar with the German system sometimes wrongly assume that only those graduating from a Gymnasium are admitted to college in Germany, but this is not true. There are several other ways to earn the Abitur and several other ways to enter college in Germany.

History

The Gymnasium arose out of the humanistic movement of the sixteenth century. The first general school system to incorporate the Gymnasium emerged in Saxony in 1528, with the study of Greek and Latin added to the curriculum later; these languages became the foundation of teaching and study in the Gymnasium, which then offered a nine-year course.

Other methods

In Prussia, the Realgymnasium offered instead a nine-year course including Latin, but not Greek. Prussian Progymnasien and Realprogymnasien provided six- or seven-year courses, and the Oberschulen later offered nine-year courses with neither Greek nor Latin.

Gymnasien for girls

The early twentieth century saw an increase in the number of Lyzeum schools for girls, which offered a six-year course. The rising prominence of girls' Gymnasien was mainly due to the ascendancy of the German feminist movement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, corresponding to the rising demand for women's university education.

Coeducational Gymnasien have become widespread since the 1970s, and today single-sex Gymnasien are rather rare in Germany.

Historical grades of the German Gymnasium

When primary school ended with the fourth grade and pupils left German basic secondary schools (Volksschule/Hauptschule or Realschule) at the end of the ninth or tenth grade, the Gymnasium used special terms for its grades:

Grade	Grade in Gymnasium
Fifth	Sexta
Sixth	Quinta
Seventh	Quarta
Eighth	Untertertia (lower Tertia)
Ninth	Obertertia (higher Tertia)
Tenth	Untersekunda (lower Secunda)
Eleventh	Obersekunda (higher Secunda)
Twelfth	Unterprima (lower Prima)
Thirteenth	Oberprima (higher Prima)

Modern languages

The introduction of French and English as elective languages in the early twentieth century brought about the greatest change to German secondary education since the introduction of the Realschulen in the eighteenth century. Today, German Gymnasien teach English or Latin as a compulsory primary foreign language, while the compulsory second foreign language may be English, French, Latin, Ancient Greek, Spanish or Russian. The German State of Berlin, where secondary education normally begins in the seventh grade, has some specialized Gymnasien beginning with the fifth grade that teach Latin or French as a primary foreign language.

Languages of instruction

Although some specialist Gymnasien have English or French as the language of instruction, most Gymnasien lessons (apart from foreign language courses) are conducted in High German. This is true even in regions where High German is not the prevailing dialect.

Subjects taught

Curricula differ from school to school, but generally include German, mathematics, informatics, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, arts (as well as crafts and design), music,history, social sciences, and several foreign languages.

The schools do not want to produce pure academics, but well-rounded individuals, so physical education and religious education or ethics are compulsory. According to the German constituition church and state are sperated in Germany. Thus while classes in religion or ethics are compulsory in a Gymnasium, the student may choose which specific religion, if any, is studied.

Common types of Gymnasium

Humanistisches (Humanistic) Gymnasium

Humanistic Gymnasien are usually "old schools" that have a long tradition. Students at that type of school will be able to learn Latin and Acient Greek and sometimes also Old Hebraic. The school will also teach English. Humanistic Gymnasien think that in order to build the future students must understand the past. Teaching will focus on the Classical antiquity and the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

The Neusprachliches Gymnasium

This type of school is less traditional. It teaches at least two modern languages. In most cases the students have the chance to learn Latin as well.

Special types of Gymnasium

The Sportgymnasium and the Skigymnasium

The Sportgymnasium is a school of the Gymnasium-type, usually a boarding school, that has its main focus on sport. The Skigymnasium has a focus on skiing.

The Musikgymnasium

The Musikgymnasium has its focus on music.

The Europäisches Gymnasium

The Europäisches Gymnasium has its focus on languages. It exists in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg In Bavaria students are required to learn three different foreign languages. They start learning their first foreign language in 5th grade, start learning the second in 6th grade and begin learning the third by grade 10 or 11. In Baden-Württemberg students visiting the Europäisches Gymnasium start learning Latin and English while in 5th grade. They pick up their third language by 7th or 8th grade and their fourth foreign language by 10th grade. By 10th grade students will also choose if they want to drop one of the languages they started learning by 5th grade. Later they may also drop another one of the languages. Students are required to keep at least two foreign languages until they graduate and must be fluent in this languages in order to graduate. If they want to, students also can graduate in four foreign languages.

Testing

There are written as well as oral exams. Written exames are essay based. Many German students never do a multiple choice test.

Athletics

Students from all grades are required to take compulsory physical education classes. Most Gymnasien have of sports teams. Sports coverage often includes soccer, badminton, table tennis, rowing and hockey.

Most Gymnasien will offer their students the opportunity to participate in sports related outings. In the summer month they will have the opportunity to enjoy rowing trips, or sailing and in the winter months they may go skiing. Students are not required to participate in that kind of trips, but teachers see them as a good way to build character and leadership skills in young people and encourage them. As a a rule most of these trips come with fees. In case of poorer students the "Förderverein" (Booster club) will pay for them.

Social clubs

Most Gymnasien offer social and academic clubs, such as chess, photography, improv, debating, yearbook, environmentalism, and choir.Some Gymnasien will require students to participate in at least one of those clubs (it's up to the students which one), but in most cases participation is voluntary.

Dress code

Generally, Gymnasien have no school uniforms or official dress codes. Some offer branded shirts, but individual students are allowed to choose whether or not to wear them. Only for specific school events (like the Abiball) are students expected to wear formal dress, usually consisting of dresses for women and blazer and tie for men.

When the students graduate from Gymnasium they receive their Abitur-T-shirt, which will have the the name of the school, the year of graduation and a slogan written on it.

Mentoring

As the new students arrive for a Gymnasium there will be a period of adjustments. Some Gymnasien have mentors that help the new students get settled in. They will show them around the school and introduce them to the other older students. In the case of boarding schools they will also show them the city. The fact that a student is mentored does not mean he is seen as a "students at risk". In fact if there is a mentoring programme all new students are likely to have a mentor.Some schools do have mentors (mostly alumni or parents), who help the graduates chose the college that is right for them and arrange practical training for them.In 2008 a mentoring programme called "Arbeiterkind" ("child of the working classes") was founded that is designed to assist students from working class families with their transistion. In 2009 that organization already had 1000 mentors and 70 local chapters.

The Schulverein or Förderverein

The Schulverein or Förderverein is an organization that is formed to contribute money to the Gymnasium. Members may be parents and alumni as well as philanthropist. They will pay for books for the school library and offer a hand to students from poorer families, giving them the opportunity to participate in field-trips and school outings.

Education of teachers

Gymnasien are the only schools in Germany that require teachers to be university educated. The teachers of primary schools, Hauptschulen, Realschulen and comprehensive schools are often not university graduates, but have qualified at "Pädagogische Hochschulen" ("Teachers' highschools"/"Teachers' college").

Admittance into a Gymnasium

Admittance procedures may vary by Bundesland and Gymnasium. In some cases students may need a certain grade point average in order to apply for Gymnasium. In most cases students applying for a Gymnasium nominally need a "Lehrerempfehlung" (a letter of recommendation written by the form teacher stating that he or she thinks the student will be able to make a successful transistion into that type of school). After four or six years of schooling (depending on the Bundesland) children receive a letter that reports the progress the student made during that time. The letter will cover academic performance, classroom behaviour, personal qualities, leadership abilities and extracurricular activities the student enjoys.

Based on that letter the Gymnasium will decide if the student is a good fit for their school. Some Gymnasien have informal interviews during which they present their school to the applicant and learn sbout the applicants personality. During the interviews the applicant, his parents and the representative of the Gymnasium, together strive to find out if that Gymnasium is a perfect match for the applicant.

Most Gymnasien do not have written entrance exams.

"Great Equalizer" or "Breeding Ground of Privilege"?

A study revealed that 50% of the students visiting a Gymnasium came from a family from the top-layer of German society. Some people have voiced concerns that Gymnasien serve a minority of privileged children and that talented working-class children do not gain acces to the Gymnasium. There have been calls for the abolition of the Gymnasium in favour of comprehensive schools. Others want the Gymnasien to target more children from poor backgrounds.

Others believe that Gymnasien are "the great equalizer" and have pointed out that state funded and parochial Gymnasien have helped many students rise above their humble beginnings. They also point to the fact that Gymnasien are the only school, where working class students catch up with their middle class peers.

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study revealed that working class children needed better reading abilities than middle-class children to get a letter of recommendation for the Gymnasium. After controlling for reading abilities, odds to be nominated to Gymnasium for upper middle-class children were still 2.63 times better than for working-class children.

Points needed to be nominated for Gymnasium

	Teachers nominating child for Gymnasium	Parents wanting child to attend Gymnasium
Children from upper-middle class backgrounds	537	498
Children from lower-middle class backgrounds	569	559
Children of parents holding pink collar jobs	582	578
Children of self-employed parents	580	556
Children from upper working class backgrounds	592	583
Children from lower working class backgrounds	614	606

ELEMENT-study

German scientist Lehmann did a longitudinal analysis on students performance on standardized test. Students in German school are not tested on standardized tests, but rather write essays in school. Nevertheless Lehmann wanted to know if students performance on those tests would allow to predict if they were admitted to a Gymnasium and if Gymnasium would boost students performance on standardized tests.

Lehmanns findings were:

• Students performance on standardized tests was an effective indicator of admittance to the Gymnasium; after controlling for the performance on that tests class did not play a major role in determinating if a student was admitted to Gymnasium.
• Working class children were not discriminated against; in fact there seemed to be some evidence that after controlling for performance on standardized test Gymnasium seemed to be slightly biased against middle class children and favoured working class children on the one hand and upper class children on the other hand.
• After controlling for test scores girls were somewhat more likely to be admitted to the Gymnasium than boys.
• Few students who did poorly on standardized tests, were admitted to the Gymnasium. However those who were, were able to improve their performance on those tests as the years went by.
• Even after controlling for performance in grade four, those who were admitted to a Gymnasium, outperformed their peers, who were not, at grade six

Study by the University of Mainz

A study by the university of Mainz revealed that of all children living in the city of Wiesebaden 81% of upper-class children, but only 14% percent of working class children, received the Lehrerempfehlung - a letter from their teacher stating that the student would be able to make a successful transistion into the Gymnasium. It also showed that only 76% of working class children, whose grades placed them in top of the class, but 91% of upper-class children in the same situation received a Leherempfehlung.

Do Gymnasien help working class students catch up with their middle class peers?

In 2003 a study revealed that lower class and working class children, attending a comprehensive school lagged behind their better-off peers in terms of mathematic abilities. The same study revealed that working- and lower class children attending a Gymnasium nearly catched up with thier peers attending the same school. However care has to be taken in interpreting that data, because maybe lower and working class children admitted to the Gymnasium were different from other youth from the same class right from the beginning.

Does Gymnasium matter after all?

A study done by Helmut Fend revealed that Gymnasium may not matter as much as everybody thought. According to the study parents social class, not schooling, determinated childrens life trajectories. The study revealed that upper-middle-class children graduating from a Gymnasium later graduated from college and followed their parents into upper-middle-class jobs, but so did upper-middle-class-children graduating from a comprehensive. It also revealed that for every working-class-child graduating from college, there were 12 upper-middle-class children doing the same.

Discussion about quotas

Germany's Left Party introduced a discussion concerning affirmative action. According to Stefan Zillich, quotas should be "a possibility" to help working class children who do not do well in school gain access to a Gymnasium. Headmasters of the Gymnasien have objected, saying that this type of policy would "be a disservice" to poor children, and that they would not be able to keep up academically with their classmates. The headmasters have also expressed concerns that children of working-class families would not feel welcome at Gymnasien. Wolfgang Harnischfeger, headmaster of a well-known Berlin Gymnasium, has stated: It can be noticed in children as young as kindergarten-students, that children take after their parents. They emulate their language, their way of dressing, their way of spending their free time. Kids from Neukölln [a poor neighbourhood] would not feel good about themselves if they had to attend a type of school that mainly serves students from social classes different from their own. They will not be able to integrate. Every field-day, every school party will show that".He also said that "this kind of policy would weaken the Gymnasium" and that this would be dangerous because "German society could not afford to do without the excellence the Gymnasium produces". Stefan Zillich has answered to this, saying that "German society afford to have so few adults with a world-class education".

Opinions about the Gymnasium

• The Education and Science Workers’ Union advocates the abolition of Gymnasium schools in favour of comprehensive schools, arguing that, while Gymnasium schools admit middle class students of average ability, working class students are admitted only if they are unusually academically able. The Union believes that Gymnasium schools select not only for academic merit, but for manners, background and social class.
• The Deutscher Lehrerverband (German Teachers' Union) supports Gymnasien; their chairman, Josef Kraus, has claimed that German Gymnasien "ranked among the finest institutions in the world" and should not be abolished. Kraus also rejected claims that the German system was biased against working-class children, arguing that the German system should not be seen as inferior simply because its qualification system is structured differently from that of other countries: "in Finland or the USA nurses are college educated, yet in Germany they do not have to attend a Gymnasium or a college. The Finnish worker's daughter who becomes a nurse is seen as upwardly mobile. The German nurse is just as qualified, but yet she is not seen as upwardly mobile."
• The Left Party called the Gymnasien "an outdated institution" and wants them to be abolished. According to "The Left Party" working class children are as talented as middle class children, yet not atmitted for Gymnasium. The party futhermore holds the opinion that the majority of Germans is opposed to Gymnasien and wants them to be abolished. If Gymnasien will not be abolished "The Left Party" is in favour of affirmative action.
• The Social Democratic Party of Germany wants to abolish Gymnasien in favour of comprehensive schools, but they have been critisized by the media after it turned out that SPD-politicians such as Andrea Ypsilanti send their children too a fancy private Gymnasium
• The Alliance '90/The Greens Party is in favour of abolishing Gymnasiums. Said Renate Künast, that every child should have the possibility to realize his or her potential, but that the German class system was keeping them from doing so. "Students from poor backgrounds attend the Hauptschule, students from middle class backgrounds the Realschule and students, who come from a background of priviledge the Gymnasium. That's a caste-system"
• According to The Christian Democratic Union parents should be able to choose from a variety of schools and Gymnasien should be one of those. Roland Pofalla said wanting to abolish Gymnasien smacks "egalitarism" and that those who want to do this overlook the fact children have different talents and thus different needs. According to Anette Schavan a majority of Germans did not want Gymnasien to be abolished.
• The Free Democratic Party is in favour of the Gymnasium. They said that parents should be able to choose from a number of schools and decide which one was right for their individual child. They also said it should be made easier for students from poor families to attend a private school, the state should pay for that.

See also

• List of schools in Germany
• Grammar schools debate

References

• Matthew Arnold, Higher Schools and Universities in Germany, (second edition, London, 1882)
• Schrader, Erziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre für Gymnasien und Realschulen, (fifth edition, Berlin, 1893)
• Paulsen, German Education, Past and Present, (translated by Lorenz, New York, 1908)
• A. Beier, Die höheren Schulen in Preußen und ihre Lehrer, (Halle, 1909)
• J. F. Brown, The Training of Teachers for Secondary Schools in Germany and the United States, (New York, 1911)

Notes

1. For more information in German see: :de:Humanistisches Gymnasium
2. For more information see: :de:Neusprachliches Gymnasium
3. For more information see: :de:Sportgymnasium
4. For more information see: :de:Musikgymnasium
5. http://did.mat.uni-bayreuth.de/~gmg/info/euro.html Informationen zum Europäischen Gymnasium Typ II
6. Bildungklick.de: ""Europäisches Gymnasium" im Aufwind". http://bildungsklick.de/pm/15913/europaeisches-gymnasium-im-aufwind
7. Arbeiterkind.de
8. Ehmke et al., 2004, In: PISA-Konsortium Deutschland (Hrsg.): PISA 2003 – Der Bildungsstand der Jugendlichen in Deutschland – Ergebnisse des 2. internationalen Vergleiches, Waxmann Verlag, Münster/NewYork, p. 244
9. IGLU 2006 Press conference, retrieved May 27 2008
10. Deutscher Philologenverband. "Erkenntnisse der ELEMENT-Studie vorurteilsfrei zur Kenntnis nehmen!". Pressemeldung. 22. April 2008
11. "Schulwechsel: Reiche Eltern - Freibrief fürs Gymnasium". 12. September 2008. Eltern family.de
12. Ehmke et al., 2004, In: PISA-Konsortium Deutschland (Hrsg.): PISA 2003 – Der Bildungsstand der Jugendlichen in Deutschland – Ergebnisse des 2. internationalen Vergleiches, Münster/NewYork: Waxmann, p. 244
13. Helmut Fend (4. January 2008): "Schwerer Weg nach oben: Das Elternhaus entscheidet über den Bildungserfolg – unabhängig von der Schulform". Die Zeit
14. Jochen Leffers (3. January 2008): "Gesamtschule folgenlos, Bildung wird vererbt". Der Spiegel
15. Susanne Vieth-Entus (29. Dezember 2008): "Sozialquote: Berliner Gymnasien sollen mehr Schüler aus armen Familien aufnehmen". Der Tagesspiegel
16. Martin Klesmann (23. February 2009). "'Kinder aus Neukölln würden sich nicht integrieren lassen' - Ein Politiker und ein Schulleiter streiten über Sozialquoten an Gymnasien". Berliner Zeitung
17. Martin Klesmann (23. February 2009). "'Kinder aus Neukölln würden sich nicht integrieren lassen' - Ein Politiker und ein Schulleiter streiten über Sozialquoten an Gymnasien". Berliner Zeitung
18. Martin Klesmann (23. February 2009). "'Kinder aus Neukölln würden sich nicht integrieren lassen' - Ein Politiker und ein Schulleiter streiten über Sozialquoten an Gymnasien". Berliner Zeitung
19. Marianne Demmer (05.01.2009): "Arbeiterkinder müssen Superschüler sein ... um nach der Grundschule aufs Gymnasium zu gehen". GEW
20. Wetzlar Kurier. 6. Januar 2006. "Einheitsschulen - das falsche Rezept für PISA"
21. Die Linke: "Bessere Bildung für alle. Bildung ist ein Menschenrecht, keine Ware!"
22. Die Linke: "Themen A-Z: Schule"
23. Susanne Vieth-Entus (29. Dezember 2008): "Sozialquote: Berliner Gymnasien sollen mehr Schüler aus armen Familien aufnehmen". Der Tagesspiegel
24. Thomas Zorn (23. January 2008): "Ypsilantis Problem bei der Glaubwürdigkeit: Die hessische SPD-Spitzenkandidatin Ypsilanti schwärmt von finnischen Schulverhältnissen und vom gemeinsamen Lernen der Starken und Schwachen. Doch Theorie und Praxis sind bei ihr zwei Paar Schuhe. Focus
25. Grüne: "Alle Chancen für den Nachwuchs"
26. Roland Pofalla (24 September 2009). "SPD-Bildungspolitik geht am Willen der Bevölkerung vorbei". Berlin. 084/09
27. Anette Schavan (24. September 2009). "SPD-Bildungspolitik hat auf ganzer Linie versagt". Berlin. 085/09.
28. Patrick Meinhardt (24. September 2009) : "Glasklares Bürgervotum gegen linkes Einheitsschulmodell". Presseinformation Nr. 974. FDP
29. "Schulen in staatlicher und freier Trägerschaft". Liberales ABC. FDP