Americain Education Essay, Research Paper

Binomische Formeln” vs. “Derivative”

German state and American private education

I am a German exchange student who lives at the moment at an American private school in Connecticut. It is a new and exciting experience for me, and I have noticed that the school in Germany and the USA is very different. The institutions itself are different and I think to compare them is very interesting. The German public schools are institutions where the students only go until afternoon while the American school is the center of a student’s life. American schools have everything teenagers need: sports fields, gymnasium, weight room, TV, billiard, computer, and even a hockey rink. My school in Germany has only a gymnasium and very good computers that can be compared to the American schools, but they are paid by the parents, not by the state. In general schools in Germany only have a little equipment for class, and there are a lot cases where something is missing because the state hasn’t enough money. The school here has everything you need and you feel as it is your second home, which is what it is supposed to be.

Why do so many other Germans and I do this exchange for one year? I think it’s because American private schools are better than German public schools for the reasons that you learn more, have more fun and your personality changes. Do German students learn less and is the better education the reason that America is the strongest nation in the World?

My school in Germany is not very friendly looking because it is only used as a teaching place and the students don’t live there. The classrooms are the same size, but there are more students. The public schools have 30 students in each class and 14 subjects a week. Here in America we mostly have five students in each class, and that is one of the reasons why you learn more over here. It is easier for a teacher to teach the subjects more quickly because only 5 students have to learn it instead of 30, some of whom don’t want to learn. Most subjects are also more difficult than in Germany. Calculus in the United States for example is no comparison to math in Germany. In my home country we have to learn formulas like the “Binomische Formeln” by heart and use them afterwards. Here the students are more academically challenged. They have to find out the formulas independently and understand them. The most popular formula in Calculus is the derivative. That the challenge is much bigger helps every student to do the best possible, but the subjects in general are also more difficult. The homework also helps you to stand on your own feet, because you have to organize the “study evenings” yourself and the homework is much more. In Germany we only have 1.5 hours of homework and a lot of free time everyday. The free time makes the school not the most important thing of a teenager’s life.

You have to work much harder in American private schools, but you also have more fun because the atmosphere is friendlier. You know almost all students from your school and the teachers are friendlier. The schools here compared to the German schools are pretty small. In Germany we have an average of 2500 students per school and the amount here is only 350. That is the reason for the class size, which helps the teacher to concentrate on every student and is able to get to know the student very well. He does not only know the student’s grade and his name like in Germany; he knows about his character, problems, hobbies, sport skills etc. and he cares about you. I am at school all day and so I also spend the pleasure time here and not like in Germany outside school. The school here is the center of the students and the school sport helps you to relax and have fun with your classmates. American school would seem much stricter at first for my German friends, but actually it is the opposite. In America it is not as bad as in Germany, if you come to late to class. The teachers seem more friendly here, if you don’t do your homework and if you don` t understand something.

The schooldays in Germany are very monotonous; in the morning the teacher comes in, we have no assembly or something like that, he unpacks his things and asks what the homework was; he collects it or starts talking about it, and finally he carries on to talk about a new subject. The teachers don’t care who learns something; they only want the students to be quiet and act like they are paying attention. Teachers aren’t very friendly if you don’t have your homework and sometimes they blame you in front of the whole class. Most of the teachers act like that; they are selfish, come too late to class and the students get their tests back after more than two weeks, but there are also quite a few who take their job very seriously. The reason for the behavior of these bad teachers is that they can’t be thrown out by the state, except if they would do something real bad to a student.

Because the school is the main thing of an American student it also changes his personality. The students learn how to work and are helped every time they need help, from everybody who is around him. School in Germany is only a thing where different students go to and after school they go home and meet other friends. Here it is different; you have you friends at school and live with them together in not much space. You have to learn to get along with everybody, and this makes you more tolerant. The students in private boarding schools are away from home and the school challenges them a lot, so everybody has the same “problems”. On every campus there is a spirit for the school. You feel like a member of a society and know that almost every student will support you if you have problems; even the teachers, who would not care about your problems in Germany.

I like the American system best, but I think the German one also offers a good education for teenagers. The country does not pay American private schools, but the student’s parents pay them, so the schools have to offer a lot to attract to them. When a school offers a lot, the parents are willing to pay a high price for the education and preparation for college of their children. I think if you consider that, then you realize that the German schools are very well equipped and the education is for free. Here you have more work and it is a projection of real life with a lot of work, little sleep etc.. German schools only teach the students the subjects, but not how to work and survive in the real business world. I think the reason that America is one of the strongest nations of the world has other reasons like population and size, but most people here in the higher positions were educated by private schools. Private schools actually influence the American society a lot. This would not be possible in Germany because everybody receives the same education and that is also a very good thing because nobody is disadvantaged.