PUBLIC&INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Education & Society

Mrs. Monika Schmidt, Principal of German School Seoul International

Education that cultivates individual abilities and talents for the future global citizens

The German School Seoul International has curriculums for kindergarten aging from K-12 grade students which are the children of German or descendents of German heritage. We have interviewed Mrs. Monika Schmidt, the principal of the school to hear about philosophy and goal of education, curriculum and administration methods.
Editor Hyun Ji-hae | Photograph Kim Seung-hwan

he German School Seoul International, fou r-storage Spanish building is located in Hanman-dong, near the when students and parents have left the school. Mrs. Schmidt came to the school about 6 years ago as an administration supervisor and in her office, we asked about the goal of education and she first started to introduce about the faculty. With only a few exceptions, our teaching faculty consists of teachers with a Germanspeaking education background. To guarantee the highest level of education offerings, our teachers must have a university degree in education. Also, our teaching faculty includes English and Korean native speakers to provide an internationalized German education program. As well as their German colleagues, non-German speaking teachers also have university degrees in their respective fields of teaching, guaranteeing the highest level of education quality. The German school Seoul International was founded by the initiative of German expats working in Seoul in the 60s and 70s. Lacking a school for their children, the school was started more than 35 years ago in a private home for only a hand full of children. Soon thereafter, these parents reached out to the German government for support and ever since, the school has grown and has been supported by the German government.

embassy street and it is a school with 200 students, 28 teachers, 3 staffs, and the principal, Schmidt whom are equipped with passion and knowledge to provide the best education. We arrived to the school around 3 p.m. and we asked Mrs. Schmidt to see if we can take some photos of the students before the interview. She agreed so we went out to the playground. There were about 20 parents, waiting for their children. When we asked them to take a picture with the principal, they showed us a big smile, shining like the sunshine on the playground. Both students and parents seemed very happy. After the photo shoot, there was only the sunshine on the playground after 30 minutes

132 FORCA Journal

April 2012

133

various values through learning multi-languages in the globalized society. Our philosophy is best described in our mission statement: Our school is a German and English-speaking international school. Our students receive an excellent multilingual and international education and acquire forward-looking competencies based on German and European educational values and traditions. We ensure that our students are well prepared for their role as responsible citizens in a global community. Main pillars of the schools education offering are a commitment to
Main pillars of the German schools education of fering are a commitment to excellence, a holistic education approach, good teaching facilities and cultural exchange with the Korean host country.

excellence, a holistic education approach, good teaching facilities and cultural exchange with the Korean host country. German government evaluates 140 German schools around the world each year to assist with excellent educational opportunities and to provide peace and prosperity for the German citizen and the second German generation abroad. Mrs. Schmidt was proud to say that the school was certified as one of the best German schools around the world. In 2011 we received the seal of being an excellent German foreign school from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs after having passed an extensive on-site quality control conducted by an independent body of inspectors. We are proud that our education goals and our dedication to provide excellent education were approved and certified by the German government.

The operating costs of the schools are covered through school fees and support from the German government. Thanks to the support from the government, the school fees are significantly lower than most international schools in Seoul. Nowadays, the German school International Seoul offers an education program from kindergarten to high school. Mrs. Schmidt explained about the school that provides 12 grades educational program and the student body of the school, which are the children of German parents who live in Korea. We accept children as young as 2 years old in our kindergarten. In total our school offers 3 kindergarten groups for different age groups and a 12-grade school system including elementary, middle and high school. In total round about 200 children attend our school of which about 35 attend the kindergarten.

About The German School Seoul International

The German School Seoul International is, according to Korean laws, a non-profit organization with a school license from the Ministry of Education. The school is run by its parents and they also receive support from the German government. This support ranges from direct financial support to the provision of teachers and staff. Furthermore, the school is integrated in a global network of more than 140 German foreign schools. This network is overseen by the German-based Central Agency for Schools Abroad, a sub-division of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in the German government. The schools management team is the School Board which consists of parents, an administrative team, the school principal and the team of teachers with functional roles.

Growing as the responsible global citizens who pursue German educational values and traditions
We asked Mrs. Schmidt about schools philosophy and purpose of the education and she introduced the mission of the school, which is cultivating global citizens that understand multi-cultural exchange of

134 FORCA Journal

April 2012

135

learn languages such as Spanish, Korean and Latin. Besides languages, schools curriculum puts a strong focus on natural sciences and it has a new state of the art science lab in school. Providing a strong foundation in natural sciences, its students have successfully participated in German science competitions and received top placements for the last consecutive two years.

The competitive contents of the school curriculum and programs

Upon responding the questions about the most important program of the school in terms of its efficiency, competitiveness, and performance level of the curriculum, Mrs. Schmidt explained the competitiveness of its educational program. I think that most importantly, our school successfully manages to integrate children from various national backgrounds and with different academic capabilities into school life. Our curriculum is an internationalized German based program and the first language of instruction is German. Therefore, we put a lot of effort into improving our non-German students German language skills, so that they will succeed academically in our school. The curriculum of German School adheres to strict standards set by various German government agencies and institutions in charge of education affairs. Therefore, it can guarantee that its curriculum is in line with German education standards and therefore very competitive. Also, the degrees its students receive upon graduation are internationally recognized and allow the entrance into top-universities world-wide. A main strength of the school is the focus on languages. Children at the
Mrs. Schmidt thinks that first priority is to foster the students individual capabilities, fostering individual strengths and working on weaker areas. She aims to guide and educate her students to reach the best academic results based on their individual intellectual preconditions

Educational priorities of the school and practices of excellence

Nowadays most of the Koreans do think that excellent school is to let the student study much more than any other school and enter the student into the prestigious universities in and out of Korea. Mrs. Schmidt talked about the educational priority of the school and best practice of excellent school. First priority is to foster the students individual capabilities, fostering individual strengths and working on weaker areas. We aim to guide and educate our students to reach the best academic results based on their individual intellectual preconditions. She thinks that important is not the amount of education or the number of hours that are put into studying, but the methods and ways of teaching. Studying should be a fun experience and she wants to encourage her students to develop a drive for life-long learning. She wants her students to become responsible global citizens. Most importantly we strive to give our students a set of skills that encourages life-long learning instead of focusing only on a conveying knowledge.
Mrs. Schmidt thinks that important is not the amount of education or the number of hours that are put into studying, but the methods and ways of teaching. Studying should be a fun experience and she wants to encourage her students to develop a drive for lifelong learning.

school will not only learn German, the second most spoken language in Europe after Russian and official language in 5 European countries, but also will learn English from a very young age. While attending our school, students will develop bilingual language skills in German and English, will learn French as a third language and can furthermore

Pursuing higher education by students interest and preparing employment through the Meister Schools in young adults
The percentage of graduate who is admitted to universities these days in Korea is about 86%, compared with 50% and 30% respectively in Germany and Japan. Here lies the reason why the rate of unemployment is so high these days. The system of German school has sort of resolution in its

136 FORCA Journal

April 2012

137

The German School Seoul International is a school with 200 students, 28 teachers, 3 staffs, and the principal, Schmidt whom are equipped with passion and knowledge to provide best education opportunity. Mrs. Schmidt and the faculties of the German School Seoul International hope that students will grow as leaders of the global society and they acquire knowledge and skills by finding individual students interest and teaching know-how.

system itself to solve the disparity of demand and supply of labor force. Mrs, Schmidt talked about this disparity issue, while elaborating its education program. One misconception is the belief that all students should strive for university education. In Germany, we have a strong education program, the middle-school diploma that focuses on developing technical skills in young adults. I have heard that these so-called Meister schools are now also being introduced in Korea. The schools system offers a strong education branch besides university education that prepares young adults to enter the job market as highly qualified candidates. These Meister studies allow them to prepare young adults effectively for the job market in case they do not pursue university education. Mrs. Schmidt thinks with the introduction of Meister schools in Korea, Korea will doing a step in the right direction to reduce unemployment. However, the Meister System that has established since Lee Myung Park administration is almost at a deadlock in Korea. The Korea society still values the school with higher

college entrance rate as the school with better education. Korean parents hope that their children to go to college, which makes the system that much more nominal. community in Korea and I wish these communities received more support from the government. In light of the recently signed FTA-agreement between Korea and Europe, She thinks there is a real need in the European expat community to improve the foreign school situation especially in Seoul. on German and European educational values and traditions. Our joint efforts are all directed to fulfill this goal. She tries to utilize all resources and ideas coming from all employees and try to incorporate these into the schools development. She thinks an open management style, open communication and an open work environment are very important. I try to establish an open work environment, listen to ideas, criticism and suggestions from all groups in our school in order to improve our education offering for our students and parents. Most importantly, she wants to offer the best education possible for her students. Mrs. Schmidt and the faculties of the German School Seoul International hope that students will grow as leaders of the global society and they acquire knowledge and skills by finding individual students interest. F

Ed u c a t o r w h o t r i e s t o o p e n e d u c a t i o n a l opportunities in a better environment

A lot of foreign schools in Korea are facing challenges imposed through regulations by the Korean government. For example, foreign schools are only allowed to operate in either facilities that are owned by the school or the government. This puts a high financial burden on especially smaller schools since renting additional facilities is not allowed. Mrs. Schmidt mentioned the Ger man School Seoul International also faces such difficulties which are limited by the policy. For growing smaller international school in Korea, such as ourselves, this regulation puts quite a challenge on our infrastructure development. Also, I think that the Korean government should also recognize non-English foreign schools. There is a huge non-English speaking foreign

Achieving excellence in multilingual and international education

Mrs. Schmidt came to Korea in 2007 after 30 years of teaching in the field of education. She is learning Asian values and acquiring new experiences as an educator. We asked her about her philosophy as an educator and she told us the mission values. Our mission statement is the guiding principle for all our work. We want that our students receive an excellent multilingual and international education and acquire forward-looking competencies based

138 FORCA Journal

April 2012

139