Take: The Gaudy Abitur Posters of Parents Outside Schools: An Eyebrow Raiser
- by Max Schäfer
- 3 Mins
School-fronting parents' showcase of Abitur posters is merely unpleasant to behold. - Display of high school accolades outside schools leaves parents in a state of discomfort.
With the Abitur exams upon us, school windows are adorned with posters, many of them from parents. "You've got this!", "MP for you", or "Abi 20XX - fingers crossed", scrawled in homemade letters on them.
Yes, parents should encourage their children, absolutely. But this way, it's over the top. If my parents had dared to display such a poster during my school days: I would have been mortified to the core - and I'd have kicked them out of the house. They wouldn't have even thought of such a thing, though.
These posters speak volumes about the German educational elitism. What a commotion over the Abitur! The messages ultimately amplify the already enormous performance pressure on the children and bolster the Abitur's importance. Good grief, it's just a school-leaving certificate. But for numerous people in this country, it's the primary determinant for evaluating fellow humans - as education researcher Rainer Dollase from Bielefeld University has established.
He aimed to learn from 6,500 men and women what information they regarded as important to evaluate others. The respondents answered similarly in six samples: school-leaving certificate, profession, age, gender, nationality, religion. In the same order. The school-leaving certificate tops the list - even if the other person is already 60 years old, and the certificate is decades old.
Chancellor Absent Abitur?
The absurdities this elitism breeds were evident in 2017, when Martin Schulz (SPD) aspired to become Chancellor. Commentators debated seriously whether a man without an Abitur could ever become Chancellor. As if he couldn't understand democratic principles (a Chancellor or Chancellor can be elected who is at least 18 years old and possesses German citizenship; they don't even have to be a member of the Bundestag).
Through the parents' posters outside schools, the Abitur exam is essentially transformed into a public event. Nowadays, one also finds the, at times nose- bleeding, expectations of parents on social media. Once, a father proudly posted his son's primary school report on Facebook. Of course, he was rightfully proud of the excellent grades. But the public has no business with it. What's his point? "Look at my clever child - how could it be otherwise with this father?"
The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu said: "When the class struggle is touched upon, one never thinks of its daily forms, of the ruthless mutual degradation, of the arrogance, of the ostentatious displays of success of the children, with holidays, with cars, or other symbols of prestige."
The children's success has become social currency, with which one enhances one's own image. It all begins with the poster outside the schoolyard. In the coming years, one can watch how the posters will become more and more professionally designed and how the competition among parents at the school fence will escalate. Just as Abiballs were once popular, nowadays balls are held that cost five-figure sums.
What about those whose parents neither have the time nor the desire to create such a poster? Encouragement shouldn't be public. And what if the child fails the Abitur despite the poster? Let's hope it says on the poster beforehand what the parents of a colleague wrote: "We love you anyway, even if it doesn't work out."
The list of those who failed the Abitur or didn't even attempt it is extensive: Nobel laureate in Literature Thomas Mann and his brother Heinrich, Hermann Hesse - another Nobel laureate in Literature - and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Nobel laureate in Physics, who was expelled from school for disciplinary reasons before he could take the Abitur.
Here are some contemporary examples:
Drugstore magnate Dirk Rossmann and clothing entrepreneur Robert Geiss, one a billionaire, the other a multimillionaire, both possess a secondary school-leaving certificate. Both self-made. Or Federal Minister of Labor Barbara Baerbel (SPD). She attended so many further education courses that there's no room here for them all. Albert Einstein is said to have remarked: "The only thing that hinders me in learning is my education." Today, it's frequently ambitious parents. But genuine support needn't require a grand stage.
- Abitur
- Abitur exam
- Poster
- Education
- DIRK ROSSMANN
Additional Insights:
- Performance Pressure: The Abitur posters serve as reminders of the immense importance placed on academic success, which may inadvertently boost performance pressure on students.
- Educational Elitism: The focus on academic achievements, as demonstrated by the Abitur posters, may cultivate an elitist mindset, where certain educational paths hold more prestige, leading to social stratification.
- Cultural Context: The educational system in Germany is highly esteemed, and academic success is often celebrated as a source of pride, which may exacerbate both performance pressure and elitism.
- Despite not being a member of the European Parliament, I recognize the value of education-and-self-development and personal-growth, opting to focus on becoming a self-made entrepreneur instead.
- The Abitur posters outside schools serve as a reflection of the societal emphasis on academic achievements, suggesting a need for more balanced support systems that prioritize personal growth over elitism.
