School without lessons – new learning: “Lessons are the beginning of all evil”

Lively activity in the schoolyard, groups of laughing girls, boys standing in a circle: the Alemannic school in Wutöschingen, Germany, seems completely normal at first glance. As soon as the bell rings, students do not rush to their classrooms and wait in awe for their teachers. They sit in groups on the floor, in comfortable seats or quietly type on their tablets at the workplace. Because the frontal doctrine that is so common in our country does not exist there.

Can a school function without lessons?
The “Krone” was able to get an idea of ​​the unique way of learning at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce on site: students work through the material independently, the teachers are only available at all times to answer questions. Depending on their progress, the children decide when a “learning package” is checked. Weekly individual coaching sessions help to develop individual strengths – because this is exactly what the emphasis is on.

‘Teaching is the beginning of all evil. You have to give the children time to do something useful. In the long term, we can only make progress if we educate generations who can take responsibility from an early age,” says school director Stefan Ruppaner about his visions. In close cooperation with the Wutöschingen community, Ruppaner managed to achieve this – extremely successfully: the Alemannic school performs above average in a national comparison.

Something that would also be desirable in Austria: “The PISA results should be a wake-up call for us to critically question our school system. The community managed to turn a hotspot school that was on the verge of closure into an internationally acclaimed model project. It is impressive how the children here are motivated to learn independently and are encouraged to be creative and responsible – and at the same time perform well above average in comparison tests,” says Vice President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce Amelie Groß.

“A vision for society as a whole” also in Austria
We already have a similar project: the learning community of education expert Andreas Salcher. What has already been implemented in three Austrian communities – a start. “The concept is not an isolated school reform project, but rather a vision for society as a whole,” Salcher describes. The aim is that learning not only takes place at school, but also that companies, politicians and clubs are involved.

Something that the German Alemannic School already actively practices: biology lessons take place on farms there and they learn about politics in the town hall. Extracurricular activities, such as competitive sports, will be credited to the corresponding grades. “The will to learn and to perform are not a contradiction, on the contrary!”, WKO vice-chairman Groß demands. And Wutöschingen shows how it’s done.