Mittwoch-10/17/18-Happy Workin' Man-Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Sculpture made by students at the school.

Wednesday began with another school visit. This time we were able to visit a large vocational school called Max-Bill-Schule.  This school was very unique as it actually offered many different programs in one large school.  Students could take classes in the lower secondary school, intermediate secondary school, traditional vocational model, gymnasium before the Abitur, Welcome classes for immigrants and refugees, and there was even technical college on campus.

As the principal began his presentation he explained that he wasn't comfortable speaking in English before a group of native English speakers.  However, he said just as he needed a translator, the vocational schools operate as a translator for students between high school and life.  The role of the vocational school is to connect the theoretical with the practical.  One of the key goals is for students to make mistakes and learn from them.  This school focused on construction fields and offered everything from bricklaying, concrete work, and scaffolding to architectural draftsman, furniture making, and graphic design.  While there were 25 other schools in Berlin that had a technical focus, none offered the same options as this school.

Each square is the weekly schedule for 1 class within the school.

Having all of these different schools within one campus seemed confusing to me, yet I understood the benefit of allowing students to move from one pathway to the other based on their interests and skills.  The principal told the story of one student who started in the lower secondary school and was unable to pass the exam to move on to the vocational or gymnasium level.  He continued to persevere through the intermediate secondary program, eventually completing his vocational training and, while working in his vocation, was able to eventually pass the Abitur and go on to university for a career change.

When students are in school as part of the vocational program, not only are they learning the theoretical ideas behind their career field, but also career counseling, business management, and entrepreneurship.  Additionally, there is a phrase called "Every word counts" meaning language must be incorporated into every subject.  This reminded me of the phrase in American schools of "reading across the curriculum".

The second year design class.

After the introduction, we visited several classrooms, which was fascinating.  The first class was a group of second year vocational students who were working on furniture design projects for a local museum.  Students were in small groups and were developing furniture ideas as well as marketing and graphic design concepts.  Most students in this class were between 17-23 years old.

Carpentry students sharing a roofing project they completed.

We also visited an upper level carpentry class.  Most of these students were older, mid-twenties, and many of them had passed the Abitur, but decided to pursue vocational training rather than attend university.  As they were learning about complexities of roof joisting, we learned from them about the German custom for carpenters.  When a student has completed their carpenter training and becomes certified, they should take a three year journey traveling around Germany, or all of Europe, working for room and board.  According to tradition, the carpenter should not take any cell phone or electronics and should focus on learning the different regional approaches to carpentry work as well as a bit of self-exploration. They shouldn't earn any money during this time period and, in exchange for their work, should only receive compensation such as lodging and food.  While many students didn't seem interested in this tradition and were more focused on getting a job after finishing school, a surprising number were interested in doing the journey, at least for one year if not for all three.

CAD projects.

Our next class visit was a class where students were learning CAD programs.  This was one of their full days at school and they had six hours to complete a home re-design project.  While it seemed that most of the vocational classes were dominated by boys with a few girls in each class, this class was about 40% female, which we learned is typical for the design aspects.  This class was comprised of students between 16-28.  We also learned about school partnerships that exist with other schools in the EU.  The headmaster saw these as very important for learning how other cultures approach the vocations and different design processes.

Our final class was to a class for new immigrants.  Their German was yet strong enough to attend vocational training, but as part of their Welcome school, they were learning some basic skills so they could begin working and earning money while they assimilated into the German labor market.




We wrapped up with lunch and a closing question/answer period and before we knew it, it was time to pick up our bags and get on the train to head to Hamburg!

Close up of the final goal for the project.

Comfortable train travel 

Even the fraternities are beautiful old buildings.

After a busy morning in Berlin, we headed to the train station to travel by train to Hamburg.  Train travel is so easy and lovely in Europe and it was just a quick two hour trip.  Before we knew it, we had arrived and were walking to our hotel for the next few days. 

Inscription on a church in Hamburg

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and one of the city-states of Germany.  Hamburg has been an important port city along the Elbe River for hundreds of years.  Our hotel was in a beautiful historic area.  We walked around for a bit before having a traditional German dinner.

family style German dinner