Where does the Jenaplan concept come from?

The founder of the Jenaplan concept is the educator Peter Petersen. The professor of educational science at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena was at the same time head of the university school. At this school Petersen developed his reform pedagogy concept, which he presented in 19 27 to the London committee preparing the New Education Fellowship conference.

With regard to Petersen's place of work and the conceptual character (Eng. plan) the committee coined the term Jenaplan. Today Jenaplan schools are often also named after their founder as Peter-Petersen-schools.

20 basic principles as a foundation:

The Jenaplan concept found particular resonance in the Netherlands. In the 1980s teachers, within the framework of the Utrecht seminar for Jenaplan pedagogy and based on their teaching experience, developed 20 basic principles that were generally recognized as guidelines for pedagogical work according to the Jenaplan concept.

“Starting form for a new school life":

With these words Petersen presented his school concept when it was published in 1927. The focus is on the effort to move away from conventional year-group classes and subject lessons and to promote independent, engaged group work within a school community.

What distinguishes Jenaplan schools from conventional schools?

At the center of Jenaplan pedagogy is the idea of school as a living space for children. Instead of a neutral, rigidly structured educational institution, a Jenaplan school aims to create a place where children can develop individually and enjoy learning. Therefore there are some fundamental differences compared to everyday life at regular schools:

• Core groups instead of year-group classes:

  At Jenaplan schools there is no division into classes of children of the same age, but rather cross-age learning groups. This is also intended to promote helpfulness among the children.

• Weekly work plan instead of class periods:

  Instruction at a Jenaplan school is not divided into 45-minute segments, but follows a weekly work plan within which pupils can learn independently. The required minimum knowledge is conveyed in compact courses as part of the weekly work.

• Self-designed 'school living room' instead of a bare classroom:

  The school should be experienced as a living space and be shaped by the pupils themselves. The classrooms should provide incentives for learning.

• Learning development reports instead of grades:

  No grades are given in Jenaplan schools, and repeating a year is not possible. Instead the individual learning development is documented and mutually assessed among the members of a core group.

• Daily group instruction:

  The entire learning group is taught together for 100 minutes a day.

• Cross-disciplinary project work:

  Project-based instruction includes various areas of knowledge and promotes the independent working through of content.

• Monthly celebrations for community building:

  Monthly celebrations—optionally student celebrations, parent celebrations and teacher celebrations—give the school routine a rhythm and promote the school community. Project work is often presented at these celebrations.

Individual elements of Jenaplan pedagogy can now also be found in conventional school concepts. Especially primary schools increasingly rely on learning development reports instead of grades from the first grade on, or adopt the concept of cross-age learning groups.

A school concept that involves the entire family

Jenaplan is a school concept based on community and shared responsibility. In practice this means that parents also regularly participate actively in everyday school life and help shape school celebrations. Typically parents lead group activities such as reading groups or movement and creative offerings. Like many other reform pedagogical concepts, a Jenaplan school is therefore only suitable for families who are willing to invest a lot of time and to contribute to shaping instruction even during teaching time. In some Jenaplan schools it is common practice for parents to sit in class as observers and provide feedback on lesson design. Parental engagement is on the one hand due to the pedagogical concept and on the other hand to the school form: a large part of Jenaplan schools are privately run and therefore also rely on voluntary work by parents and volunteers.

Criticism of the Jenaplan concept

Criticism of Jenaplan is directed less at the actual school concept than at its originator: some historians see strong parallels between Petersen’s approaches and the basic attitudes of National Socialism, particularly with regard to concepts of education and upbringing. The fact, however, is that during the National Socialist regime the already existing Jenaplan schools were closed because the concept of self-determined, superficially unstructured learning and the understanding of school as a living space did not fit Nazi ideology. Only in the 1960s did Jenaplan pedagogy revive, first in the Netherlands, later also in Germany and across Europe.