Der handelnde Unterricht

Lesson as activity

There are no weak pupils - meaningful learning precedes development

"An essential characteristic of successful teaching is the the fact that it creates the proximate zone of development, that means that many inner developmental processes in the child are brought to life and set in motion." (L.S. Wygotski)

With this book Christel Manske founded the "Handelnder Unterricht". This idea corresponded to the spirit of the times. As a teacher we do not have only the responsibility for every single child sitting in our class, but we also bear responsibility for the organization of our society.

As educators, we must be aware that the didactics and methodology of teaching is not given by God, but has changed and developed over and over again in the course of history. This means that both the learning content and the relationship between the students and the teachers is constantly changing. The goal of "teaching by doing" is a democratic school. This means that the lessons are not only developed and designed by the teachers for the children, but with the children.

A changed attitude towards the role of the teacher in school education is needed. It is not he who masters the development process taking place before his eyes with sovereignty and autonomy, but his task should essentially consist of recognizing the needs of the students and promoting their development - in other words, he should essentially see himself as a positive regulator.

The interaction models of children become the starting point for a reorientation of education. This presupposes that the children are given the opportunity to develop their own interaction models at all, and that this means practicing them.
This, in turn, presupposes on the part of the teacher the willingness and courage to experiment.

The problems of such experiments, their positive and negative sides are discussed and demonstrated in this book.