Review of Lesch, H. & Zierer, K. (2024). Gute Bildung sieht anders aus. Welche Schulen unsere Kinder jetzt brauchen [Good education looks different. What schools our children need now, transl. MS]
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: With their book, the authors aim to stimulate a broad discussion about the current German education system.They argue that Germany is in the midst of an education crisis and that a "revolution in the education system" is necessary.As Harald Lesch is a well-known science journalist, it is not surprising that he and education researcher Klaus Zierer also make highprofile appearances on social media and on television programmes such as the NDR programme "Das Rote Sofa" (The Red Sofa) on 5 February 2025.The authors write in a reader-friendly style, creating a type of text that can be classified as somewhere between scientific and journalistic.Right at the beginning, they refer to an empirically significant correlation between a country's level of education and its economic power and capacity for democracy.(p.8) Anyone interested in positive economic development and a functioning democracy in Germany is likely to be interested in the critical perspectives presented in this book.As it deals primarily with school education, it is aimed in particular at parents, teacher training students, teachers and politicians.At the beginning, the readers' attention is drawn to "times of educational crisis".This is followed by seven chapters that discuss what needs to change in the educational landscape in order to overcome these times of crisis.The chapter headings seem somewhat sensationalist: each heading consists of a term related to the reality of school, followed by a hyphen and the word "different!" to emphasise the urgency of change.The first heading is "Curriculadifferent!", followed by the headings "Teachers", "School", "School system", "Teaching & Learning", "Parents" and "Pupils".In the concluding section, "A new era in education", the authors present the core elements of their vision of an education that prepares pupils as well as possible for life in a rapidly changing world.
Author: Manfred Schewe
Institution: University College Cork
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4415167901
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