Gymnasium (school)

For the building intended for indoor sports or exercise, see gym.

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A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education and college preparatoryin some parts of Europe. In most parts of Europe, it constitutes the middle or last tier of secondary education, preparing students to enter college or Vocational schools.

Etymology

The word γυμνάσιον (gymnasion) was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men. The latter meaning of intellectual education persisted in German and other languages, whereas in English the meaning of physical education was pertained in the word gym.

History

File:Haganum-1910.JPG

The Gymnasium Haganum seen from the Zoutmanstraat in Den Haag, The Netherlands, about 1910.

Gymnasium schools originated out of the turmoil from the Protestant Reformation, which helped to dislodge the grip of the Catholic Church on many areas of life, including education, and the new ideals of Humanism. Individual schools that taught and focused more upon rhetoric, grammar, logic, mathematics, astronomy, music, and geometry more than the traditional curriculum of theology began to spring up in the German states. In 1528, the state of Saxony created the first general system of schools which provided for the Gymnasia. It was not long before similarly structured schools began to be established in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, partially due out of the desire to break the stronghold the Catholic Church held on schooling at the time. While these schools flourished for a number of years, the instability of Europe kept the schools from expanding into the current roles until the influence of such prominent thinkers as Johann Gottfried von Herder, Immanuel Kant and Friedrich von Schiller who helped to re-establish the humanist roots of the gymnasium school. The rise in importance of the natural and physical sciences and developments in technology all helped to create a new set of gymnasium schools that focused less on classical education and more on liberal arts and the sciences.

Structure

Gymnasium school in Germany

Usually the students that attend a gymnasium school in Germany are the most academically strong students upon leaving primary school. As such, gymnasium schools helps to prepare students to enter a university, and is the most rigorous and prestigious level of secondary education in Germany. Gymnasia are thus meant for the more academically-minded students, who are sifted out at about the age of 10–13, a system similar to the eleven plus exam formerly used to select grammar school entrants in the United Kingdom. Those students who are not qualified to enter gymnasia attend one of the three other types of German secondary schools: Realschule, Hauptschule or Gesamtschule.

Some gymnasia provide general education, others have a specific focus. (This also differs from country to country.) The three traditional specific branches are:

• humanities education (specializing in Classical languages, such as Latin and Greek)
• modern languages (students are required to study at least three languages)
• mathematical-scientific education

Today, a number of other areas of specialization exist, such as gymnasiums specializing in economics, technology or domestic sciences.

There is also the vocational gymnasium (berufliches Gymnasium, or Fachgymnasium). Students at the vocational Gymnasium spend the most time in class, because these students take subjects such as vocational studies and economics in addition to academic subjects in the regular gymnasium curriculum. These students are expected to "demonstrate a level of commitment similar to that of employees at a large corporation."

The number of years of study at a gymnasium differs from region to region in Germany. It consists of seven years in Berlin and Brandenburg (primary school includes six years in both as opposed to four years in the rest of Germany) and newly eight in Bavaria, Hessen and Baden-Württemberg among others. While in Saxony and Thuringia pupils never were taught more than eight years in Gymnasium (by default), nearly all states are going to provide Abitur after 12 years in primary schools and gymnasium. The Abitur exams which complete the gymnasium education are centrally drafted and controlled (Zentralabitur) in almost all German states.

At the end of their schooling, students usually undergo a cumulative written and oral examination called the Abitur. Successfully passing this exam is one of the admission criteria to enter a German university. Those students who decide to leave gymnasium after 9th grade, usually because they are not satisfactorily completing the coursework at the gymnasium, must complete the leaving examination of the Hauptschule and those who leave after 10th grade must take the leaving examination of the Realschule, the Mittlere Reife. After 10th grade gymnasium students may quit school for at least one year of job education if they do not wish to continue.

Cultural Variants

Europe

Originating out of Germany, gymnasiums can be found in several regions of western Europe, albeit some slight cultural differences.

In Austria, the gymnasium consist of eight years. The usual combination is English, French and Latin, sometimes French can be swapped with another foreign language (like Spanish, Italian or Russian) or a more technical subject like Engineering drawing or further hours of biology, physics or chemistry. Latin is almost obligatory, since it is a requirement for several studies in Austria.

Schiller Gymnasium in Bautzen, Germany.

Scandinavia has many different types of gymnasium schools. Denmark has a 3 year (sometimes 4 depending upon if the student is involved with music or athletic programs) school that is more like a prep school or the first years of college than high school. Everyone is eligible to go to a high school, but you have to be deemed competent to get into a gymnasium. Danish gymnasia are also available in an intensive 2 year program leading to the Højere Forberedelseseksamen ("Higher Preparatory Exam"). In Sweden, the gymnasium consist of three years, starting at age 16 after nine years of primary school. Both primary school and gymnasium are totally free of charge and financed by taxes. Finish students can enter a gymnasium school after 9 years of primary school, starting usually at age 15 or 16, and after passing the Matriculation Examination.

In the Netherlands the gymnasium consists of six years in which pupils study the same subjects as their German counterparts, with the addition of compulsory Ancient Greek, Latin and "KCV," history of the Ancient Greek and Roman culture and literature.

In Italy originally the Ginnasio indicated a typology of five-year junior high school (age 11 to 16) and preparing to the three year Liceo Classico (age 16 to 19), a high school focusing on classical studies and humanities. After the school reform that unificated the junior high school system, the term Ginnasio stayed to indicate the first two year of Liceo Classico, now five years long. An Italian high school student who enrolls in Liceo Classico follows this study path: Quarta Ginnasio (gymnasium fourth year, age 14), Quinta Ginnasio (gymnasium fifth year, age 15), Prima Liceo (Liceo first year, age 16), Seconda Liceo (Liceo second year) and Terza Liceo (Liceo third). Some believe this still has some sense, since the two-year Ginnasio has a very different set of mind from the Liceo. Ginnasio students spend almost all their classes studying Greek and Latin grammar, putting the bases for Liceo "higher" and more complete set of studies, such as Greek and Latin literature, Philosophy and History. Furthermore, Liceo includes some scientific subjects, which are completely absent in Ginnasio.(

In Eastern Europe, there are gymnasia located in such countries as the Czech Republic, which can start its students anywhere from between the ages of 10 and 15. The age one enters Czech gymnasia determines how long one attends the school. Most students graduate by the age of 19. In Greece, gymnasium schools start students at age 12 after 6 years of Elementary School. Compulsory for all children, gymnasium school is followed by the non-mandatory Lyceum (ages 15-18) for students with academic aspirations, or the Technical Vocational Educational School (TEE) for students who prefer vocational training.

There are also similar schools in such countries as Hungary, the Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Russia although each determine their own structure and curriculum.

Non-European Gymnasia

There are several gymnasium like schools in countries outside of Europe. In South America, Argentina has the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, which students attend for 6 years. There is another gymnasium in Tucuman, 8 years. Brazil Humboldt Schule of São Paulo is a German School in São Paulo. There are more Gymnasiums in the country and some of them receive recurses from German Government.

In Israel, five schools termed "gymnasium" located in Tel Aviv, Rishon LeZion, Jerusalem and Haifa.

South Africa has 5 year style gymnasium schools, starting at age 13/14, after completing 7 years of primary school.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Chang, Ping-huang. Transformation of Vocational Secondary Schools. A Study of the Vocational Gymnasium in Germany. Barbara Budrich Publishers, 2004. ISBN 978-3938094990
• Foraker, William C. The Educational Structure of the German School System Contemporary Research in the United States, Germany, and Japan on Five Education Issues. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
• Führ, C. Schools and Institutions of Higher Education in the Federal Republic of Germany (1st ed., T. Nevill, Trans.). Bonn: Inter Nationes, 1989.
• Milotich, Mark F. The Role of School in German Adolescents' Lives The Educational System in Germany : Case Study Findings, June 1999. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
• Russell, James E. German Higher Schools - The History, Organisation And Methods of Secondary Education in Germany. Kiefer Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1406708349

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