Learning formats in transition

Ms. Ehrler, from 2015 to 2019 you monitored the redesign of the upper secondary level at ESBZ from a research perspective. How did the project come about?
Ehrler: Upon entering the upper secondary level, students realized that teaching differed significantly from the learning formats used in lower secondary school. There, project-based learning is predominant. The young people wanted to continue learning independently. Together with teachers and parents, they then considered how the upper secondary level could be redesigned accordingly. Within two years, a new upper secondary concept was created—now approved by the Berlin Senate.

The new learning and organizational formats are called pulsars, learning expeditions and life and work skills days. What, for example, lies behind the pulsars?
Randoll: In the pulsars, which provide space for individual learning as well as the deepening of personal interests, students continuously work on interdisciplinary topics that are often characterized by great intensity and complexity. These include, for example, engagement with topics such as “cognitive dissonance” or “body language.” This takes place on a weekly basis and across year groups and subjects. The selection of topics is based on the curriculum and the school’s internal curriculum. The latter refers to the “Sustainable Development Goals” of the United Nations, the 17 goals for sustainable development. The division into separate areas of knowledge is eliminated. Eighty-four percent of students feel that this type of learning enriches their future path in life.

In contrast, what distinguishes learning expeditions as a format?
Ehrler: For the learning expeditions, students have to apply. They are expected to structure their self-chosen topic precisely and ask themselves: How and with whom do I want to learn? With which materials? In which places? And what can I achieve in what amount of time? After one week of learning, they then present the topic, their experiences and their results to their fellow students.

Students can acquire additional abilities and skills in a format designed for two days. What are the so-called life and work skills days about?
Ehrler: Here too, the students choose the topics themselves. For example, they would like to engage with tax returns, BAföG and studying abroad, as well as the global economy or politics for beginners. Conflicts with teachers, dealing with depression, as well as sewing and cooking, are also on the adolescents’ wish lists of topics.

Randoll: Now, of course, one might ask what all this has to do with an academic upper secondary school. But these topics are relevant to life and therefore enormously important for the development of young people.

Ehrler: The decisive factor is how school is understood. Is it about acquiring knowledge for grades or about gaining real life skills? Many young people at ESBZ no longer want to learn just for school. That is why they value the life and work skills days so highly. In this format, they acquire knowledge for successful learning and working beyond their school years. After all, 84 percent of respondents stated that they integrate the topics covered into their everyday lives.

Are the students completely free in their learning, or is there also traditional classroom teaching as in “normal” schools?
Ehrler: The aim is to transform the traditional upper secondary level through a high proportion of pulsars, learning expeditions and life and work skills days. Our surveys showed that, in the students’ view, the new learning formats should be expanded further.

Are the learners intrinsically motivated?
Randoll: Three essential elements for promoting intrinsic motivation are comprehensibility, meaningfulness and self-efficacy, for example through participation in decision-making. This runs through all learning formats at ESBZ and also changes the teacher’s role significantly: the teacher becomes a mentor and coach and, in some cases, even a co-learner. That means the teacher is no longer the only person who passes knowledge on to students. Against this background, a courageous and forward-looking teaching staff forms the basis for the success of such a project.

How good are the academic performances of students at ESBZ compared with other schools with a traditional upper secondary level?
Ehrler: In 2018, the average Abitur grade at ESBZ was 1.89, while the overall average in Berlin was 2.4. So the students perform very well.

What do you hope for the project? Is it possible to transfer it to other schools?
Ehrler: Through our documentation and ESBZ’s presentations on its homepage, it is possible to implement the concept at other schools as well. However, this requires a great deal of rethinking.

Randoll: 90 schools have expressed interest, and some have already implemented the new upper secondary level. It is also interesting that the new learning formats contain many reform-pedagogical elements, such as epoch-based teaching as well as self-directed and practice-oriented learning.

On the academic evaluation: A total of 2,570 students and 293 teachers took part in the study on the new learning formats. After each learning unit, anonymized online questionnaires could be completed. In addition, Petra Ehrler conducted interviews and then prepared a report. At the end, there was a survey of graduates and a teacher survey, which Dr. Jürgen Peters evaluated. All results were incorporated into an overall evaluation, which has now been published by Beltz Juventa Verlag:

Dirk Randoll, Petra Ehrler and Jürgen Peters: Learning with joy – all the way to the Abitur. The new upper secondary concept at Evangelische Schule Berlin Zentrum. Beltz Juventa in the Beltz publishing group: Weinheim and Basel 2020, 246 pages, 29.95 euros. ISBN 978-3-7799-3992-4. More about the publication