High marks, new curricula and more autonomy for schools: The school of the future is being controversially discussed by experts in Saxony. This is the conclusion drawn by Minister of Education Christian Piwarz (CDU) on Thursday during the evaluation of five regional conferences on the "Saxony 2030 Education State" project. From June to November, practitioners discussed 218 recommendations for action from experts. Some were met with great approval, while others were met with much less enthusiasm.
Great approval for numerous recommendations for action
Suggestions for student participation in the design of lessons, concepts for self-organized learning and a revision and review of curricula in terms of relevance and skills acquisition were met with great approval. There was also a clear vote in favor of the recommendation to give schools more responsibility and to improve vocational orientation courses in all general education schools. The proposal to align lessons and everyday school life more closely with children's and young people's biorhythms in future was also the subject of controversial discussion.
There was also a clash of views on the topic of head marks and grading. Head grades are much more subjective than other grades and have little influence on children's development. Opponents of head grades explained that people are assessed much more fairly with target agreements than with numerical values on a 5-point scale.
In contrast, it was repeatedly pointed out that head grades could be an important criterion in application procedures for training or jobs, for example. "You should keep and preserve what is tried and tested. But things should also be accepted in order to obtain greater meaningfulness," said Piwarz.
Some proposals were rejected by the experts
The recommendation to grant school vacations instead of school vacations in the future, where families with children can take vacations regardless of fixed dates, was met with great rejection. Piwarz did not want to dismiss controversial proposals out of hand. He said that some things might have to be tested for their suitability. The results of the consultations will now be incorporated into a strategy paper in the spring.
No ban on artificial intelligence
A general ban on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is also not planned for the school of the future. Piwarz said that schools are already dealing with this today. By engaging with AI, pupils could also be encouraged to take a critical look at sources. "What surrounds young people every day and what they use in their private lives will also be used in schools. So schools have to deal with it." An AI ban would be nonsensical and "modern machine storming".
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