How Berlin elementary school students save the world

The Kiefholz elementary school has introduced the Frei-Day: On the day, the students should deal with the future of the planet. Does it work?

Maria Haussler

Sophie, Paula, Anouk, Mona, Luise and Minna (from left) discuss which texts they still need for their “Weltretterzeitung”.Markus Wächter/Berliner Zeitung

Why do older people determine a future that no longer affects them? How many cigarette butts are on the way to school? What can we do for more equality? These are questions that six girls in class 4b at the Kiefholz elementary school in Treptow are dealing with. Every Monday on “Frei Day” the schoolgirls spend four hours working on their own project on the “Global Goals” – these are 17 global goals set by the United Nations for sustainable development.

In the “Frei Day” learning format, schoolchildren deal with social and ecological challenges in groups on a “free” school day. Margret Rasfeld, former principal of the Evangelische Schule Zentrum Berlin, developed the approach and 111 schools are already implementing it. The Kiefholz Elementary School has been involved since last fall. The aim is to strengthen self-determination and a sense of responsibility and to learn in an interdisciplinary way.