In March, thanks to the Erasmus+ program, I had the opportunity to spend a week at a state school in Brussels. Around 300 pupils are taught there. There are no classes, the system is more comparable to our course system in the upper secondary school. The young people learn partly guided and partly independently and receive tasks, feedback and both organizational and technical information via a digital platform, which they access using the laptops provided by the school. The learning groups consist of two to forty pupils, who are taught by two teachers from a group size of around 15 members.

The consistent reference to European topics and aspects of democracy is striking. The city of Brussels is also heavily involved as an extracurricular learning environment. Both teachers and young people see themselves on the one hand as experts in their teaching field and on the other hand as learners. This creates a sense of togetherness that contributes to a very positive working atmosphere. In addition, no cell phones are used during the entire school day to ensure that everyone involved in school life can communicate.

As the school moved into a new building about a year ago, the structural conditions could be optimally adapted to the needs of the learning and teaching methods there. For example, a large and a small classroom are connected by a direct door so that learning groups can be divided easily. Because the dividing wall is made of glass, teachers can easily keep an eye on both subgroups. Overall, everything is designed to facilitate communication and exchange.

I particularly liked the open-mindedness of the teaching staff to try out new things and make adjustments where necessary. The week was an extremely inspiring experience for me, and I would like to incorporate as much of it as possible into our everyday teaching. I can recommend participation in Erasmus+ to everyone!