(Interview)

Read along:

What’s your most effective practice to punish pupils?

Difficult question. It depends on the pupil. It depends on what she/ he has done. If she/he hasn’t done her/his homework, I would ask her/him to do his homework and then give her/him some extra work. If she/he has beaten a pupil I would (I wouldn’t beat her/ him) try to discuss the problem with her/him, why she/he did it and what consequences it could have and if it was a very bad thing I would report to the headmaster. I don’t very often have to punish pupils.

What was your funniest moment as a teacher/ on an exchange?

There is always a lot of fun on school trips. There are many funny moments when pupils make language mistakes and suddenly there is another funny meaning. There are a lot of funny moments but I don’t have one very, very funny moment.

Is there anything you would change at this school?

Yes, there are quite a lot of things I want to change. I think the classrooms are much too small. I think pupils should have more room. There should be room in the back of the class where you can sit in a circle. Moreover, there should be enough room so you can form groups easily to do group work. Additionally, we should do more project work and we should work together in the different subjects. Pupils should be more active and they should do more things themselves. I think our teachers talk too much and pupils just sit and listen, therefor there should be more active work.

What was your worst subject as a pupil?

I didn’t like German very much because we always had to write too much as homework. We had to write  long interpretations  of poems and storiesm, which I hated. I hated to write long essays too.

What do you think about school uniforms?

I think at our school clothing is not really a problem. I think there might be schools with a lot of peer pressure where you have to wear the right brand. I have the impression that boys pay more attention to which brand they wear, whereas girls buy what they like. Don’t you think so? In this case, uniforms could possibly be a good thing. I don’t think that in Germany we will ever introduce school uniforms, because Germans have bad memories about dress codes in a dark chapter of our history.

Which experiences do you have with exchange programmes?

Very good experiences. I think exchange programmes are a very positive thing for pupils. Firstly, you have fun and  secondly, you get to know different cultures – despite the possiblities of the internet. Through the internet  you don’t really get to know the other country.  I think is a very good thing and to be able to practice your language and to see why you have learned the language.

How do pupils  like the exchange programme with France?

I think most of the pupils like it very much. There are always some who are homesick. It’s always difficult to find a matching partner for 40 French and 40 German pupils. And then it sometimes doesn’t work out because they don’t get along with each other. As a consequence, the pupils’ memories are not that good. But for about 80% of the pupils the exchanges are a very positive experience. Unfortunately, not many pupils continue writing to each other after the exchange.  But if there are  some of each exchange, who stay in touch, the exchange was successful.

How long can pupils stay in this school?

When you have an exchange with a group, they stay for a week or so. Well, we have different programmes. Some of the pupils stay for three months only. But now we even have a French girl staying  for 6 months, that’s the programme Voltaire. And then the German girl also goes to France for six things months.  Some even stay for a year.

Does the exchange pupil have to speak German?

It helps, I think… we already had pupils who didn’t speak a word of German and who learned rather quickly to speak German.

Why do pupils take part in an exchange programmes?

I think they want to gain new experiences and they want to learn the language. I think that is very important for their future to spend a year abroad. I think that’s a good qualification for their job later on. It’s always good to have joined an exchange.Some of them perhaps just find it interesting to see something new. But I think most of them really want to learn something. I think foreign languages are very important.