Last term, I was lucky enough to win a place on a teacher training course for German teachers from the UK in Berlin, which was run by the Goethe Institut and funded by the Department for Education. I set off for Berlin on a Sunday morning in November and I don’t think the sun came out from behind the clouds the whole time I was in Berlin, but this did not stop me from having a fantastic time!
The group I met up with in Berlin was made up of 15 German teachers from a range of state schools across the UK; there was even a teacher from Orkney! We spent all day both working on our German language skills and planning lesson sequences in small groups. We also visited a German school outside of Berlin and observed some English lessons. This experience provoked some really interesting (and sometimes heated!) discussions in German about teaching styles and approaches. Our German hosts were adamant that there are too many rules in schools in the UK, whereas my British colleagues and I felt that a more rigorous approach to behaviour leads to better student outcomes!
In the evenings we were able to explore Berlin and we took the opportunity to visit as many of the incredible historic sights the city has to offer as possible. The last time I had been in Berlin was for my 21st birthday in 1999 and the city has changed so much since then. A particular highlight for me was a visit to the Tränenpalast which was used as a departure hall at Freidrichsstraße station for passengers crossing from East to West Berlin. There were many tearful goodbyes in the building hence its name “Palace of Tears”. I was 11 when the Berlin Wall came down and I still remember my mum crying in front of the news on the TV saying “I never thought this would ever happen”. I’ve been really interested in this period of German history ever since and it was incredible to visit key sites which played such a pivotal role in the Cold War, such as Checkpoint Charlie and Bernauer Straße.
All in all, this was an incredible opportunity and one that I won’t forget in a hurry. It was amazing to be in Berlin, working on my German, but also a real privilege to spend so much time discussing teaching and learning with such a dedicated and experienced group of teachers. I came home with a suitcase full of Lebkuchen and a head full of ideas for the Languages department!
- Mrs McGarrick, Curriculum Team Leader for Languages
