The Latest at Goethe

The Berlin district of Neukölln is not usually the first place that American tourists go in Germany. Yet a group of teachers who now explored the country as guests of the Federal Government headed for precisely such destinations. This is an on-site report. By Matthias Lehmphul

Apples and pears thrive on trees in the middle of Neukölln, raspberries ripen on bushes. The trees and bushes are part of a garden that isn’t very noticeable at first glance and could be located anywhere. Behind the green lattice fence, three boys laugh bashfully about the approaching adults. The ten-year olds’ mouths are full of gooseberries and they feel they’ve been caught in the act by the visitors. They recognize that the visitors are not from Germany and grin. A tall man in a turquoise coloured trekking jacket also tries some of the prickly garden fruits. Curious, the Neukölln kids ask him where the group comes from. “We’re teachers from the United States,” Bill Gregg replies.

The social studies instructor from Denver is one of 17 American teachers spending their school holidays gaining an up-to-date impression of the pulsating society in the heart of Europe first hand. Gregg and his colleagues feel that the German government, which invited them here, is rewarding them for their previous dedication in the classroom. The 14-day programme of the journey organized by the Goethe-Institut’s visitor programme includes classical concerts, visits to businesses and cycling tours. They discuss subject matter such as the latest debates on education, demographics, immigration and integration with German experts.

At the Comenius-Garten of Neukölln, the teachers meet Henning Vierck, who, with his long white beard and metal-rimmed glasses looks something like Albus Dumbledore from JK Rowling’s fantasy novels. The science historian and educationalist explains the significance of Comenius to his guests. The philosopher developed not only a worldview that was close to nature, but also was the first European intellectual to champion universal schooling. “All learning begins with the senses,” was Comenius’s guiding idea. Slowly but with incisive words, Vierck explains why the garden is so important for the neighbourhood. “It’s not a matter of rules, but of empathy,” says the educator, meaning a feeling of community that comes from the inner being of every person – from the heart in other words – and can create a community across apparently insurmountable obstacles. For example, problems with violent boys from the Kiez, as neighbourhoods are called in Berlin, are discussed personally on the lawn and, in some cases, immediately resolved.

A bit earlier, the teachers learned how difficult life in the community can be during a tour of the Körnerkiez with political scientist Serpil Kücük and sociologist Astrid Tag. The two neighbourhood managers explained that there is mainly a lack of afternoon activities for the approximately 650 children living here. Two thirds of them do not even receive lunch at their schools. German is not the native language of every second child and the teachers are unable to cope with the language difficulties of their pupils. Many middle class families seek a better place to live at the latest when it comes time for their children to begin schooling. Astrid Tag quoted an African proverb: “You need a whole village to raise a child.” Serpil Kücük added, “We need the whole Kiez.”



The teachers ask repeatedly why all Berlin Kieze don’t have neighbourhood management. Why don’t the school directors open up more of their space for non-profit organizations? Social studies teacher Bill Gregg considers the 14-day programme that shows them a number of German cities and regions important for enriching his own work in class. “We’re learning more here than we do from books,” says the teacher. At home, the former rugby player teaches pupils in the sixth and seventh grades.

By now, the three boys from the Comenius-Garten have hopped over the lattice fence. Vierck knows them all by their first names. The garden offers them a kind of freedom that they cannot find in their families and on the Berlin streets, says the passionate garden lover. The doors are always open to them and there are supervised projects in which the kids explore important questions of humanity – such as “What is nothingness?” at eye level with scientists. Yet Vierck does not see his task as social work. “Here, traditional garden architecture meets with social problems.” Two different worlds confront and compliment one another here, Vierck says. The children get to know themselves and nature better and in turn scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science study how to convey and pass on knowledge. Then he gets political: “There are no non-academic social classes.” All children are inherently thirsty for knowledge.

The programme is not a one-way street. “When we talk with one another about education here in Berlin we are also thinking about our own educational system,” says Sylvia Linda Cotter. The primary school teacher has been teaching in the same classroom of a private Catholic school in Columbus, Ohio for 38 years. In the USA Cotter and her colleagues from other states would never have such an opportunity to meet and discuss educational standards with one another. Cotter busily takes notes on her brand-new iPad. The Frankfurt-born American talks about a new project she would like to conduct with German schools, German-American lessons via Skype. Over the past fourteen days, Cotter has been compiling personal contacts for this and solicited support: “It is important for us to network with one another.”