A value with deep roots

The kids go out on vacation without pending stuff. Nevertheless, the Kindergarten students of The German School of Medellin, go out “worried”. They have been taking care of their orchard, and, as there are vacations coming up, they have spoken to the school´s gardeners so that they can water their plants. It is in this innocent petition that a key factor of our formative process appears, and that is autonomy.

Even in the school´s mission, vision and visionary sentences, autonomy can be perceived as a productive proposal, and thus, university professors acknowledge a critical thinking and appropriate response to challenges in our alumni.

Autonomy is part of our DNA. Thus, we strategically plan our future because, even though our academic and institutional results are excellent, even those related to the German and Colombian governments, we are constantly asking ourselves what can be done and how, in order to improve them.

Thus, we cultivate autonomy in each one of the institutional activities, because we are certain that its deep roots shall stop hard winds from taking away that value from us and that we can go out on vacation, relaxed, this product will not wither during the days we are out of school because it is a life-lesson.

This is what the School Directors tell us:

“Since day one, they acquire autonomy because we give them time to listen to them, value their arguments and invite them to search for possible solutions. We allow them to learn from their mistakes and thus, autonomy is found in actions such as group meetings, workstations, choosing their games, and projects to be developed with their teachers, dress and undress by themselves, in the kitchen, the orchard, in the games and at the moment of eating.” Anne Krüger – Kindergarten

“We incorporate training in differentiation. The idea of understanding and assuming that there are different learning styles and rhythms, and for the students to gradually develop autonomy because in class they can explore different routes to achieve the same goal. And during the journey, they learn self-correction, teamwork, and knowledge validation among peers”. Paula Álvarez – Grundschule

“The emphasis in our school is learning strategies and techniques to handle conflicts among themselves without the need of an adult. As mediators, hey learn to live together, to take care of themselves, to solve small daily-life problems, and to understand that the world is not necessarily as the want or imagine it. This learning is reinforced in the trip to Germany in KLASSE 6and the trip to “Isla Fuerte” in KLASSE 8.” Óscar Ceballos – Mittelstufe

“The Project that contributes the most in the formation of autonomous beings is the exchange trip in KLASSE 10 to Germany, where they stay between six months and one year. There, they must face on their own, without their parents, challenges, responsibilities, time and conflict management, coping with a different new culture and the compliance with stricter social norms. They open their minds to the world there.” Laleh Assadipour – Oberstufe