Flat hierarchies and personal responsibility – this is what the Wilhelm von Humboldt Community School in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg relies on. This resulted in a placement in the German School Prize.
Teacher Brit Lautenbach points to a screen. A large tree can be seen on it. On the branches there are many sentences such as “We speak to each other objectively” and “We understand other opinions”. These are rules that the children in grades 7 to 9 at the Wilhelm von Humboldt Community School in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin have given themselves.
The Humboldt Community School today received second place in the German School Prize 2024, endowed with 30,000 euros. School works a little differently here: personal responsibility, teamwork and self-control instead of frontal teaching.
There are no grades until the end of the 8th grade; the students largely work on the material themselves in groups – across all grades, always three grade levels in one room, divided into learning groups. And they themselves have determined which rules apply.
Teaching as a joint project
“You didn’t think about that. You wrote down too many rules – now you have to copy them all down,” says teacher Lautenbach and smiles at the circle of chairs. The children around her nod.
These are more minimally invasive interventions that should come from the teachers. The students should help each other and they largely set their own learning goals. Teachers and students are on first name terms here; the lesson is supposed to be a joint project.
Noam Hentschel from the 9th grade takes part in the discussions. There is feedback on past actions and how students discuss with each other. Recently he has also been getting grades. “You should have grades by the 9th grade,” says Norman. “Now we’re slowly moving towards high school and you need some orientation so that you know where you stand.”
Vida Engler and Noam Hentschel like the school concept.
Everyone helps everyone
13-year-old Vida Engler enjoys learning together. She thinks it’s good that weaker students also receive help from classmates and teachers. “Everyone is accepted for who they are,” she says. “This is then dealt with and then you get the appropriate help.” Often the older ones would help the younger ones. “But sometimes there are younger people who help the older ones.”
The school demands an “individualized assumption of responsibility for one’s own performance.” Headmaster Judith Bauch uses keywords such as “interdisciplinary and project-oriented learning” or a “prepared learning environment”. These are topics that come up again and again in education debates – they seem to work here.
The school was re-established in 2008. Parents were also involved in the concept from the beginning. Principal Bauch says the differences may lie in the fact that the educators are “facing” the students and “listening to the learners about what ideas they have.” The college defines itself as a learning accompaniment.
Responsibility for yourself and others
Bauch sees advantages in her approach that will also benefit her students later: “I believe that the children and young people know their strengths and their weaknesses.” Everyone learned to take responsibility for themselves and others.
The meeting in teacher Lautenbach’s learning group is coming to an end. “We would then have to make the division by Tuesday at the latest as to who is responsible for going across the yard and collecting paper and when,” says teacher Bauch and looks around. There is no argument.