Jena plan
Peter Petersen


Motto
o
o „ We learn, work, sing and play together. We are all responsible for our community.“

Peter Petersen (1884-1952)
oeducator and philosopher influenced by Lamprecht and Wundt
oworking at Lichtwark experimental school in Hamburg-Winterhude
odividing of teaching in basic lessons and courses, the idea of a school community
oUniversity of Jena (1925)
omain works: General Education (1924), Internal Reform and a New School Education (1925), New
Educational Movement in Europe (1925), Little Jena Plan (1927) and Theory of Leadership Training
(1937)

Basic ideas and solutions I.
olife cycle with the participation of the educated and educator
oservice  - educator → child, teacher → pupil
o"Life Community" - groups of people to live and work together at school
ogaining knowledge from all areas of own activities, development of thinking in context of complex
and problem-solving skills
obased on real situations and learning in a real situation
oapproach to life

Basic ideas and solutions II.
o"Educational situation" - a situation in which are the issues and questions for both (teacher and
the pupil) created, these issues must be solved, responded to; interconnectedness between teacher
and pupil
otwo levels (look at the teacher and his activity)
o - Leassons Leadership
o - Leadership in Teaching
othe aim of education is not a traditional education, but education based on the model of a family
education
oa parent is in Jena plan replaced by municipality (educates its members to togetherness)

Basic ideas and solutions III.
odividing of teaching materials - three basic concepts, "God, nature and human's world "
oweekly work plan based on these terms - expressed in terms of knowledge areas: god, nature and
humanity (following the acquisition of knowledge and skills with the help of courses on various
topics)
odivision to strain fields
o - Substance (what may be the object of cognition)
o - What can not fully be understood
osense of pedagogical situations is in so called acceptance of a strain takeover

Basic ideas and solutions IV.
otwo interconnected levels:
a)Man receives internal strains (philosophizing and thinking, perception, sensation and perception,
and insight into the problems, piety)
b)based on three basic standpoints deduces four primary forms (interview, play, work and
celebration)
oweekly schedule circuits
o - God (interview, celebration)
o - Nature (interview, work, celebration)
o - Human (interview, play, work, celebration)

The basic organization of teaching I.
oSchool for 400-500 pupils
oOne teacher should take care of 50 pupils
oFour basic tribal groups:
o - Lower group (1st – 3rd grade)
o - Middle group (4th - 6th grade)
o - Higher group (7th - 8th grade)
o - Group of Youths (9th - 10th grade)
ochildren in the class are gathered according to chronological age and their peers
o

Lower group
(1st - 3rd grade)  6-8 years
reading, writing and arithmetic; work in teams; educational games; drawing, religion, music and
gymnastics
Middle group
(4th - 6th grade) 9-11 years
team work in the theory of culture, geography; courses in language and mathematics; optional
courses - foreign language; musical and gymnastic; religion
Higher group
(7th - 8th grade) 12-13 years
group work; solving social issues; training courses; a second foreign language
Group of Youths
(9th -10th grade)  14-15 years
education prepares for the profession; team work; training courses
•The basic organization of teaching II.

The basic organization of teaching III.
oschedule is not designed as lessons with traditional teaching subjects but as so called courses
oobligatory courses (basic courses of mother tongue and mathematics and introductory courses to
other subjects) and optional
oclassroom has a form a simple living room, called School Living Room
olightweight and simple tables and chairs, shelves and cabinets
oaids available to everyone, pupils are involved in class decoration

The basic organization of teaching IV.
opupils in the „school room“ work in two to four-member groups, these groups have the greatest
possible of freedom level
oSchool Rules takes the form of a law that creates and determine the pupils themselves (what team
approves is mandatory for individuals)
oevaluation - combined, marks criticized, but applied, but can be supplemented by a verbal and
written evaluation, in the first years of teaching marks are canceled
othere is no certificate in its traditional form

The basic organization of teaching V.
oschool must continuously follow extracurricular life of a child
oso the weekly work plan incorporates Saturday and Sunday that a child spends with his parents in
the family (practically being taught)
oWeek is initiated and completed with festivities of beginning and end of the week
oFrom Tuesday to Friday are included courses for math and language classes
oat the end of morning lessons, introductory courses and practical exercises for each of the tribal
groups
o

The basic organization of teaching VI.
obetween morning and afternoon teaching is classes so called school break, the big break between
classes in length from 40 to 50 minutes
othree parts lasting 15 minutes at max. (physical activity, relaxing part with rest and free play)
oafternoon classes in workshops, games, sports, foreign language courses

Teaching forms
ofour basic forms of teaching
o interview
o game
o work
o celebration
oWith an efficient alternating forms are fulfilled the basic objectives of the Petersen education
the development of social contacts, the formation of social communication skills, self-fulfillment
and individual development of creativity

Forms of teaching - interview
oactivity of teacher and pupils, at which they communicate together
ocircle - between teacher and a pupil is no obstacle, everyone gets the opportunity to express
themselves
oblock - students and teacher sitting at tables assembled into a square or pentagon, everyone has a
fixed place, one particular activity and task for all of them
oinformal circle - a loose group of pupils and teacher, pupils allows to communicate with each
other and form groups according to their own wishes
ocumulus - casual form of unification children (yard work, visiting the theater), the possibility
of conversation during work or employment

Forms of teaching - game
oscheduled games with clear rules
ofree game - performed in a room equipped for playing, use in the lower group once a week in
classes for free playing and hobby
oteaching games - in classes, appropriately didactically adjusted
opurpose games - used during breaks, physical education, clearly guided by a pre-planned,
thoroughly thought out and prepared (controlled game)
ovisual games - improvised dramatization, puppet games with puppets, improvisational verbal
outputs, own outcomes of children in dramatic scenes or theater performance with roles for
individual pupils

Forms of teaching - work
othe most used method, about 100 minutes devoted each day
otribal groups are mostly working in a form of team work (groups organized around work tables), are
not affected by the pupils, the form then spontaneously, the use of reading, writing, counting,
painting; Pupils learn to work with information, search for its acquire and process it
ocourses - several kinds of courses, introductory courses - familiarizing new students with
environment, learning new working techniques; level courses - divide pupils according to aptitude,
language and mathematics; Training courses - students are trained in new techniques (use of maps,
setting up tables); Special courses - kids interested in a certain area; Optional courses - the
pupils themselves shape the content and encourage their special talents and interests

Forms of teaching - celebration
ostrengthens relationships in the community and develop emotional life of children
omorning feast or celebration of the end of the week - teacher proposes a program of activities,
pupils are involved in its creation
ocelebration of Advent, Christmas - teacher guides festivities organized at the occassion of
various community festivals
oImatriculation of new pupils - the teacher manages the  celebration, pupils participate in groups
by preparing program for new pupils
oCelebrations organized by pupils - teacher lets all activity, preparation and implementation to
pupils; used at the occasion of children´s birthdays, saying goodbye to teachers or pupils

The present of Jena Plan
othe most developed in the Netherlands (unmarked with past)
ofollowed by Germany, Belgium, USA, in our country undeveloped
oone of the major benefits of Jena Plan for inovation schools and education - efforts to integrate
individual and social tasks, the pursuit of development of each individual, as a personality and as
a member of the human community at the same time