Germany

Reading Instruction in the Primary Grades

Instructional Materials

Textbooks are provided by independent publishers and are designed to correspond to the curriculum of the respective state. Publishing houses produce a range of textbooks, and each school’s teachers’ conference selects textbooks from a regularly updated list. The majority of first grade teachers use a basic reader (Fibel). In later classes, most of the teachers use textbooks containing exercises for German lessons. Teachers can choose from a list of approved textbooks that are consistent with the chosen teaching methods. Also, many teachers use worksheets from published materials or create their own.

Mostly, teachers use basic readers for reading instruction, embracing analytical and synthetic approaches. Words are broken down into syllables and phonemes, the phonemes are attached to characters, and the characters are rejoined into words. In addition to this clearly structured and teacher-focused way of instruction using basic readers, there are more open and learner-focused approaches. According to the concept of reading though writing, for example, children are encouraged from the beginning to write words that are important to them—more or less correctly—using a special phonetic table, the Anlauttabelle (initial sound table).^b Defenders of this concept oppose an explicit reading instruction, as they assume that reading skills are acquired by writing activities. Teachers are supposed to wait for students to start reading by themselves as a consequence of their writing. Findings indicate that children from families with lower socioeconomic status or with an immigrant background are less successful with a learner-focused approach such as this. However, some longitudinal studies comparing course-oriented to more open ways of instruction showed only small effects of instructional methods on students’ reading performance.²⁷

Use of Technology

In primary schools in Germany, 15 percent of schools have on average 1 computer for every 4 students available for instructional purposes, which is significantly below the international average. Nearly 60 percent of computers are located in a central computer room, which could reduce accessibility. In 2011, 12 percent of fourth grade students in Germany used computers for German lessons several times a week, about 13 percent used them once a week, and 10 percent once a month—but 40 percent do not use computers for German lessons. The most frequently reported use of computers for lessons was to look up information and to get aid from learning programs in reading comprehension.²⁸

The national education standards include broad statements regarding information technology and media literacy. Policy documents increasingly emphasize multimedia as a teaching aid, a subject, and a student skill objective. Some states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia, have introduced Media as Sources of Information as a separate content area in the integrated science curriculum at the primary school level.²⁹

Role of Reading Specialists

Principally, classroom teachers are responsible for teaching the initial stages of reading. In some schools, special teachers are available for remedial education, teaching groups of children with difficulties in reading and/or spelling. In Germany, 58 percent of students had teachers who reported having no access to a reading specialist (compared to an international average of 41 percent).³⁰

Second Language Instruction

In Germany, almost 25 percent of fourth grade students have a migration background, which means that at least one parent or the student was born abroad. The difference between states in the proportion of students with a migration background is large: for example, 44 percent in Hamburg but 5 percent in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.³¹ In 2010–2011, 32 percent of primary school students had migration backgrounds.³²

In school, some students have difficulties not only with learning German but also their mother tongue and, as a result, struggle with reading and writing in both languages. All children learn to read and write in German and attend the same schools regardless of their linguistic and cultural backgrounds and whether they have a migration background. If there are 15 or more students of the same non-German language background, schools generally are required to offer instruction in reading and writing of their native language as well. If there are fewer than 15 students, schools can allow for language classes. Newly arrived students with little or no ability in German language are offered preparation courses, which last about two years at most.

Accommodation Policies for Instruction and Testing

Generally speaking, parents of children with disabilities can petition to have their children attend the local school, which will be granted if the particular institution is capable of the necessary special educational and material support and if the premises are suitable. In 2011, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs proposed several recommendations for inclusive education, defining it as the integrated learning opportunities of students with and without disabilities.³³ In October 2013, North Rhine-Westphalia passed the first law in Germany implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which, as of April 2014, gave students with disabilities the right to attend public schools with their peers, with effects of the new legislation expected to be observable starting with the 2014–2015 cohorts.^34,35 Parents of children with disabilities still have the option to send their children to any schools geared to offer additional and more specific support (Foerderschulen). However, in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of primary school students with disabilities participating in inclusive education classrooms at the local primary school, mirrored by a decrease in enrollment at special needs schools.^36,37

Integration

In Germany, victims of political persecution have a constitutional right to asylum.³⁸ In light of recent global and regional political upheaval, as well as the entry of new member states into the European Union, Germany has been the destination of a substantial number of refugees, migrants, and other displaced persons. For example, in 2014 Germany received the most asylum applications in all of Europe (four times as many as in 2011 with 203,000 applications compared to 81,000 in Sweden, the EU state with the second-most applications) and granted asylum to the largest number of applicants (48,000).³⁹ An estimated 33,000 children ages 6 to 11 are newly arrived in Germany.

As an ongoing response, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Reading Foundation have developed a countrywide program called Reading for Refugee Children (Lesestart für Flüchtlingskinder). This program introduces children and their parents to and familiarizes them with reading in German. Further, each child up to 12 years old receives a reading and media kit with books, comics, and games. The Reading Foundation also offers seminars for adults on the topic of reading to refugee children.⁴⁰

In North Rhine-Westphalia, where school-age children with asylum are required to attend school, specialized educational programs are increasingly being offered. These include services not only to help children and youth enter the German education system, such as more than 3,000 integration centers (Integrationstellen) as well as preparation and international courses (Vorbereitungsklassen, Auffangklassen), but also to help teachers and school leaders create pedagogically welcoming spaces.⁴¹