Education is important. That’s what everyone says. And Switzerland is putting a price on this asset: the federal government, cantons and municipalities spent 41.3 billion francs on educational purposes in 2021, almost twice as much as in 2000. At that time it was 22.1 billion. We afford the most expensive education system in the world. For good reason: education is vital for our interior country.
Interest in ineffective surface features
Switzerland is investing a lot. And yet Dagmar Rösler, the top teacher in Switzerland, always demands only one thing for every problem in everyday school life: “More money! More resources!” The additive in finance! This call comes from her lips like a prayer wheel. For years. At the same time, as the Central President of Swiss Teachers (LCH), she constantly advocates for further and sometimes radical structural reforms – together with Thomas Minder, the President of the Association of School Principals Switzerland (VSLCH).
Both equate education with their reform – as if structural innovations could solve all problems. They operate at the macro level, an area that is not essential to the success of the lesson; Both surface features are important, external appearances. It is structural reforms that they are pushing, such as abolishing grades and eliminating homework, breaking up classes or eliminating selection.
Promote comprehension learning and reading
The exponents of LCH and VSLCH are primarily concerned with structural issues at the macro level. But this is cosmetic and has little to do with the processes of thinking, understanding and ability. The depth characteristics of the learning processes are educationally effective. We know this from teaching research. But we hardly hear anything about it from either of them. Research results from educational science have long suggested that we should (re)reflect on the core of school, on teaching that is effective in learning. It is the paths to knowledge, the learning paths of thinking and understanding and penetrating something that would be important.
But how do these processes of understanding and applying knowledge and skills come about? How do cognitive processes arise, how do insights and contextual knowledge arise? What form of teaching promotes understanding learning? And the so important “understanding reading”? The teachers’ associations should be interested in this! They would have to zoom in! And consistently. But we hardly hear anything about it.
Learning processes: systematically built and structured
From learning psychology we know the phases of the classic learning process. Learning is always about problem-driven development of new knowledge and skills through recognition and understanding – for example, the challenging ten-number transition. These are complex processes, as is working through consolidating and strengthening: retaining. Join in practicing and repeating and recalling and applying what has been learned in different situations.
The learning researcher and Bern university professor Hans Aebli coined the acronym PADÜA for this: pproblems Abuild, Dartillery work, Üben, Aapply.[1] These are all systematic, structured and guided learning processes. Aebli combines them with five different media – including speaking, reading and writing – and the corresponding specialist learning content. This is where the secret of good learning lies.
