Vineyard School (Seekirchen am Wallersee)
The Weinbergschule was an alternative private boarding school in Seekirchen am Wallersee , which held the public rights for the first to ninth grades (compulsory education) from 2006 to 2019. It was run by members of the Community of Working Christians for a New Jerusalem and was located on the grounds of the Zachhiesenhof, a 35 hectare organic arche farm . Methods of Montessori pedagogy were used in the primary level and those of the Russian Schetinin school in the secondary level . The Weinbergschule was sponsored by the Association for the Promotion of Alternative Educational Paths , founded in 2002 ; The school director and club chairman is Hannes Maier. The school was officially closed on May 17, 2019.
Self-presentation
The Weinbergschule was founded in 2005 on the initiative of committed parents, who today form the core of the school community, with the aim of creating a space for children that offers them a suitable platform to promote their personal and social development and to impart creative, practical knowledge.
The Weinbergschule pursues reform-pedagogical approaches that focus on the development of an independent, responsible personality in addition to the classic and practical knowledge transfer.
The children and young people work and learn here of their own accord and intrinsic motivation and are supported by various learning guides in finding their strengths and potential. The children and adolescents face the challenge of acquiring the skills and knowledge they need for their path through life through their own motivation. This happens - wherever possible - in practical action and in real life situations. In addition to imparting knowledge, experiences are experienced, shared, reflected on and supported in pairs or in groups.
The following motto applies: "Life is school". In the course of their schooling and personal growth, the students have the opportunity to take on more and more responsibility in the most diverse areas of school life and community life.
The school is divided into the primary level (the core element here is the Montessori pedagogy according to Maria Montessori) and the secondary level (the core elements here are the development of the areas of knowledge using diagrams).
Agriculture with its species-appropriate animal husbandry (horses, cattle, goats, cats, ducks, chickens and bees) promotes healthy physical, psychological and mental development in children. The school's learning environment not only relates to the rural environment, but can also draw on the wealth of experience of the 35 adult members of the community living at the Zachhiesenhof. These include trained teachers, Montessori educators, art therapists, craftsmen, artists and managers and much more.
Since 2014, with the help of Richard Kandlin, a graduate of the Schetinin School , this knowledge transfer, developed from learning methods of the Schetinin School , has been applied.
In 2016, vineyard students received a special prize as part of the Citizen Science Award for their creative video for the project "Folded Days Adventure".
In addition to the classic transfer of knowledge, the following areas were part of "liberated learning" at the Weinbergschule:
- Personality and heart formation
- Conveying a holistic worldview based on non-denominational values
- pronounced student responsibility based on democratic principles
- Internships from grade 6
- Topic-specific excursions and study trips at home and abroad
- Horsemanship and riding
- Animal care (horses, cattle, goats, dogs, cats and chickens) in cooperation with the farm at Zachhiesenhof
- Pedagogical riding and vaulting with trained riding instructors
- meditative martial arts and archery to promote concentration and self-control
- Craft (especially woodwork, such as carpentry and carving, technical work, repair work, cooking and baking, tailoring, etc.)
- Music and instrumental lessons, choral singing and orchestra
- Providing knowledge of housekeeping for boys and girls
- Mediation of dining and table culture
- Mediation of social manners and rules
- Research on innovative green technologies (ecological building and energy efficiency)
- Implementation and promotion of the ecological sustainability concept in everyday school and everyday life
- Agricultural knowledge in cooperation with the Zachhiesenhof (ARCHE-HOF and biological agriculture), which is dedicated to the preservation of rare, native, endangered livestock breeds.
criticism
As early as the founding year 2005, there was a public controversy over what was happening at the Zachhiesenhof. In 2017 the dispute escalated again after the operator applied for a building permit to expand the school from 20 to 100 places. In a report broadcast on November 23, 2017, the ORF reported on allegations that the children were being isolated and that everyone had to submit to authoritarian structures. The Salzburg child and youth advocate, the state school board and the Federal Office for Sect Issues criticized the school concept and its implementation. The Mayor of Seekirchen ( ÖVP ) expressed skepticism, while representatives of the Greens and a list close to the Greens saw the school concept as “interesting” and “suitable for our colorful city”. The responsible ministry initiated an examination of whether the school's public rights should be withdrawn. A member of the Federal Council of the Greens introduced a parliamentary question "regarding dubious teaching methods and worldview at the vineyard school".
A statement published by the school, which was drawn up by a representative of the “external parenting”, described the ORF report as “defamatory” and “scandal and quota journalism”. It is an attempt to ruin the reputation of holistic educational institutions. A few weeks later, the school published new advertising material, which should give the opposite impression compared to the ORF report.
Individual evidence
- ^ Vineyard School. Retrieved November 22, 2017 (German).
- ↑ Land closes controversial vineyard school. salzburg.orf.at, May 17, 2019, accessed on May 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Citizen Science Award 2016 . In: Young Science - center for cooperation between science and school . ( youngscience.at [accessed on November 22, 2017]).
- ↑ Arche Austria: Arche Austria - Association for the Conservation of Rare Livestock Breeds. Retrieved November 22, 2017 .
- ^ Report on the activities of the Federal Office for Sect Issues in 2005 , Federal Ministry for Health, Family and Youth, 2007, page 80 f. Retrieved November 27, 2017 (PDF)
- ↑ "sect-like structures": Authority private school in his sights , ORF Salzburg online 24 November 2017th
- ↑ "Am Schauplatz" report on "The Children of Zachhiesenhof" on ots.at, accessed on November 23, 2017
- ↑ Private school in Seekirchen is causing a stir on sn.at from September 10, 2017, accessed on November 23, 2017
- ↑ Ministry checks: School could soon lose license , krone.at, November 24, 2017.
- ↑ 3263 / J-BR / 2017 - Weinbergschule in Salzburg. Retrieved November 29, 2017 .
- ↑ Official statement by the external parents of the Weinbergschule on the defamatory ORF program Am Schauplatz 'The Children of Zachhiesenhof' , weinbergschule.at, November 2017 (archived on November 27, 2017).
Coordinates: 47 ° 55 ′ 26 ″ N , 13 ° 9 ′ 24 ″ E