Classroom on the mountain pasture

A holistic place of learning surrounded by mountain peaks and alpine meadows - that is the basic idea behind the classroom on the alp. On a self-managed alpine pasture away from their usual habitat, we enable Year 11 pupils not only to experience nature and the environment first-hand, but also to develop personally through intensive group processes in a quiet setting. 

In addition to the subject matter, which is taught to them by specialist educational staff in the core subjects on site, the young people are responsible for organising everyday life and running the alpine farm.
Central elements of our project are the holistic teaching of skills, a forward-looking curriculum that brings the Central European economic and cultural region of the Alps to life in a modern and up-to-date way, as well as learning in a community and through encounters with experts and inspirational figures. The academic knowledge corresponds to the general learning standards of the Bavarian curriculum, but an application is open to all secondary school pupils nationwide.

Various employees of the Landheim found the project so exciting and worthy of support that they became active themselves. Andreas Öhlerking, head of the boarding school at Landheim Ammersee, and his wife Bettina are looking after the students on the Alm during his sabbatical. And our foundation director Rüdiger Häusler has taken on the pedagogical management of the project on a voluntary basis and outlines the special features of this project in the article in bildungSPEZIAL.