Culture of Teaching and Testing

German gymnasia follow different pedagogical philosophies and teaching methods may vary. In the most traditional schools, students rise when the teacher enters the classroom. The teacher says "Good morning, class" and the class answers "Good morning, Mr./Ms. ...". The teacher then asks them to sit down.

Up to the 1960s, students used to be supposed to call their teachers by the appropriate title, e. g. "Herr Studienrat". This is generally outdated. The headmaster might also be addressed more laxly as Herr Direktor (the correct title being Herr Oberstudiendirektor). The general mode of address is these days Mr. + surname. Teachers mostly address students either with their first name.

Corporal punishment was banned in 1973. Teachers who want to punish students put them in detention or assign them boring tasks. Some have them write essays like "Why a student should not interrupt his teachers". Students may also be subjected to official disciplinary measures, such as a Verweis (reprimand), not unlike equally-called measures in the disciplining of civil-servants or soldiers; the hardest of these measures is expelling from school. Such pupils have to go to another school, or even be banned from attending state schools altogether. This is rare though. Some private schools are more easy with expulsions, along the line that the pupil in question does not fit into the community and should thus try his fortune with a school officially designated to take all pupils i.e. a state school.

While this sounds like discipline is strict in German Gymnasia, in many cases, the official rules are watered down and ignored, except when school officials are watching. For example, while teachers and upper-class students are not allowed to call one another by their first names, in some cases they do. Relationships can be very informal and notoriously some teachers have even become drunk with their students after school. A 'Klassenabend' or 'Kurstreffen' are features of German schools, whereby teachers meet their form in the evening for a social occasion.
There are written, as well as oral, exams. Written exams are essay-based and called Klausur and typically take one and a half hours. Many German students never take a multiple choice test.