Playtime in Germany

Alix Spiegal’s article about the importance of play reminded me so much of my trip to Germany. The fun play I was able to do in Germany is totally different than what I am writing about, even though I am pretty sure there is something extra put in Turkish wine. Anyways….

The first thing I wanted to do after the longest flight I had ever been on, (until the flight home), was unpack, and feel human again. That would have been too easy. Every minute had to be jammed with meetings and moving since we couldn’t be there very long. By “we” I mean me and a group of other Idaho teachers who were part of a work-study trip to study environmental justice. So right off the plane, we took a train to Freiburg, and walked to a park. Still kind of groggy, I wondered why we were there, but after following a path a few minutes in, I discovered the reason. In the middle of this wooded area sat two small trailers and a bunch of kids with a couple adults building a fire, learning knife skills, digging in the dirt, and reading books. I learned that it was a kindergarten in the woods. These are gaining popularity in Germany because the students are not only “school” learning, but “life” learning as well, which meant learning the camp skills necessary to keep the kindergarten going. The students had responsibility and ownership of their school, not just the adults. They were everything they did was outside, all year round! What looked like play was more than that, and I could tell the kids that were there would not want to be at an “inside” school. What if it’s the middle of winter? Put more layers on them. What if a kid accidentally gets hurt, will you get sued? Silly American, Germans don’t have that fear of being sued like you are. They had not ever had that happen, and even laughed at that question.

The school did not have any toys, playground equipment, or anything to keep them occupied. The students were using their imaginations to play with what was around them, sticks, stones, dirt…that’s pretty much it. They were not telling anyone they were bored, or that they wanted something else to play with. They were used to it, and seemed content with what they had. They rarely went inside the trailers, so had time to think of new games, and play old favorites. Students also learn about environmental sustainability by learning to pick up after themselves, the proper way to put out a camp fire and learning to leave the space they were in just as they left it or better. I wondered if this was what all German schools were like. According to the kindergarten in the woods director, they would like them to be.

Visiting one of the high schools in Berlin was different. It was a large, concrete building that I described as “communist style” since it was built during the time of the Berlin Wall. Many of the buildings in East Berlin were like the high school was built. The school planners were able to take advantage of the concrete, though. A large climbing wall was placed in a central wall of the school for students to use during P.E. There was also what can only be described as a pit area to house all the bikes that were used to get to school and home every day. Classrooms also had giant windows that could open that allowed fresh air and sunlight, and huge areas used for group work, as well as computers for students to use without having to fight for time in the library. I learned that the schools in Germany were pretty much all like the one I visited. I was beginning to think the school I taught at was the more “communist style” than this. When we were having a conversation with the principal, he mentioned that one of the English teachers was on maternity leave for the rest of the year, so they were looking for someone to fill her position for that time. I had to hold myself back from running over to him, pulling on the ends of his jacket, and screaming “Me! Me! Me!” I will find myself back there eventually.

After reading this article and everything else Matt has taught us this summer, makes me think that there are other reasons the U.S. is behind in school. The schools I visited in Germany were concerned with the whole child, allowing time to play to learn, and not sitting for hours like zombies in a post-Columbine shut in building that my students were in. Play was used as a learning tool, and their test scores are better than the U.S. The U.S. should learn from Germany, and build schools around what is the best for the students and the teachers that fill the schools, not just test-taking factories.