John Lennon High School

Today I visited John Lennon high school located in the former East Berlin. The school, one of the top-ranked in the city, is housed in a 120 year old building that looks out onto a leafy courtyard. Racks of student bicycles attest to the favored form of transport. When the Berlin wall fell 20 years ago, the decision was made to update the school's name. Parents, students, and teachers had equal say in the naming process. Students wanted the new name to be Bob Marley high school, while teachers favored a more traditional name. Finally, parents swung the vote in favor of a compromise. As a result, images of the school's namesake can be seen everywhere; titles of Beatles songs hang above classroom doors, and the main stairwell is decorated with stencils of Lennon's signature glasses.

After an orientation and several cups of coffee with the principal, we spent time in a 10th grade English class. Students were discussing the concept of stereotypes, and were analyzing clips from the film Legally Blonde. While the teacher began the lesson leading the discussion from the front of the room, within minutes the 24 students were divided into groups and deep in cooperative discussion.

I had an opportunity to address the class and ask a few questions. Students indicated that there was little or no bullying behavior on campus, and despite the fact that the school is open and has no school personnel stationed in the entryway, students comply with the requirement to remain on campus the entire day out of loyalty to their teachers. A few hours after we concluded our visit, scores of students marched down a nearby street to protest education budget cuts.

I was impressed with the students' overall English language proficiency; over half the students in this school will participate in a year abroad in the US or other parts of the world, and students told me many of their classes focus internationally rather than specifically on Germany or even Europe.

Below are some photos from today:

Titles from Beatles songs adorn walls.

Discussing stereotypes with 10th grade English students.

View from the courtyard of John Lennon school.

Construction sites are everywhere in the school's neighborhood, including directly across the street.
Tomorrow we are off to see the Albert Einstein school!

DVS