Success in Educational Systems

The world is comprised of many different cultures which involve numerous schooling curriculums where the government designs a specific education system. Each system has its own policy to keep its youths’ minds protected from any harmful or unwanted information which could corrupt generations to come. Many of the methods used in the curriculums are successful in encouraging students to strive to achieve goals, providing students with opportunities to widen their chances of successes in life. School provides students with the information and understandings
needed to interact within society and function in daily life. Without school humanity would not have been capable of evolving as it did for the lack of knowledge could have caused civilizations development to come to a halt. Germany and America are two of the most well known countries that have very distinctive yet effective education systems. Each has its beneficial methods in ensuring the knowledge for its youth.

America’s schooling has been around for many years in which it has proven to be a proficient tool in educating students to the standards the country requires them to learn. America’s schooling is a traditional K-12th grade in which grades are divided in to two-three main categories starting in elementary which is kindergarten through 6th grade. In these first years of school students learn indispensable skills such as basic Math, English and History. Middle school usually consists of 7th-8th grade in which the studies progress into advanced subjects with higher standards. High school is grades 9th -12th in which the subjects become even more
challenging engaging students to think critically. High school teaches various subjects but doesn’t train one for a specific job. Many teachers push their students to do better and strive to go to college. Many minimum wage jobs require people who apply to have graduated from high school. After high school, depending on the student’s grades and mentality, they may choose to go on to college. Many students would like to attend college but do not have the opportunity for the lack of funding or requirement issues. They may be stuck working at a low paying job that they do not enjoy because it was not their true goal. Depending on the individual and the career that is pursued college may take 2-30 years. Although elementary, middle school and high school are by law mandatory to take, college is not.

Germany’s education system gives a lot more chances for successful opportunities giving every student a chance to have the benefit of enjoying their career path. German students start out in primary education in which they learn the basic subjects but, unlike America, Germany’s education system starts out at 1st-8th grade. Through these first years the students get a good idea on what they wish to become in the future. At the end of the 8th grade the student’s take a test which sums up all they have learned thought out their eight years of schooling. All through primary education teachers have very low expectations and don’t really have college bound mentality for their students. After the 8th grade the students have two routes they may choose, if they do not just drop out of school all together, they can go to lower secondary education (high school),program or vocational school a more in depth schooling which trains the students for a specific job. If the students have high goals for themselves they may choose to go to lower secondary education in which they stay in school for another four years receiving a more in depth study on all the general subjects. Teachers have no say in the placing of students in lower secondary education; the choice is all up to the student. More than likely students who go to high school attend higher education (college). If the student didn’t have the motivation to go to college their alternative would be to attend a vocational school which instead of studying general subjects they are taught a specific job which the students choose themselves depending on specific desires and abilities. These alternative high schools are not concerned with the students’ grades; they are more focused on a specific skill that students possess. These vocational schools are basically an internship that takes 3-4 years. At the end of the vocational school the students would be awarded a certificate verifying they are certified and experienced enough to execute the job correctly. The benefits of vocational school are that once students finish their internship they can go straight into working and begin making the same wages as the person whose been doing that job for various years before them. Many of the German students are pleased with their selection of their occupation for the fact that it was not forced on them but rather a choice they made which benefited their life long career.