The Relationship between Educational Policy and Practice: The Reconstitution of the College-Preparatory Gymnasium in East Germany

Abstract

In this article, Heinrich Mintrop and Hans Weiler examine how the recent political reunification of Germany has affected schools in two states in the former East Germany. Through the voices of administrators and teachers working in upper track college-preparatory Gymnasien (high schools), the authors describe the curricular and structural changes occurring within secondary schools. Among other issues, Mintrop and Weiler explore the central issue of tracking in a European context under conditions of rapid institutional restructuring and cultural reorientation. The authors' initial research suggests that tracking, in addition to being an equity issue, is also a practical, social, and vocational concern. At a more general level, the authors conclude that because disjunctures remain between state-mandated reforms and teachers' perceptions of the goals of education, only partial implementation of a unifying school structure has been possible.