Nov 04, 2026

Who Actually Invented School? — A Full House at the Children's University

A view of the audience in the packed Audimax at the Dresden Children's University. The children are holding up green and blue postcards. © TU Dresden

Every fall, children can explore current research topics alongside researchers during the four lectures offered by the Dresden Children’s University. On November 3, 2026, Prof. Anke Langner explained how educational research works and what a school of the future might look like.

The holder of the Chair of Education / Inclusive Education encouraged the children in the nearly full Audimax to ask why learning today still closely resembles school as it was 100 years ago: with rows of desks facing the front, numerical grades, grade-separated classes, and the same amount of time for each subject for everyone. In several short videos, student Aida also questioned the traditional school system and provided insights into her daily school life at the Dresden University School, such as when creating her class schedule for the following Monday. Using green and blue voting cards, the young lecture attendees were able to vote on who actually sets the rules for school or whether, for example, the school day could be organized differently—even without a school bell.

A bird's-eye view of a table with flyers from the Dresden Children's University and blue and green postcards featuring the logo of the Dresden University School.
A man wearing a microphone and glasses begins a lecture in a lecture hall. Behind him, on the podium, stands a woman. Above them is a blue slide in the TUD design featuring the question, “Who actually invents school?”
A shot from the back showing the stage in the packed Audimax at TU Dresden. A young woman is speaking in the presentation projected onto the wall.
A view of the stage from a back row of the packed Audimax. The presentation on the wall poses the question “...”
A view of the audience in the packed Audimax at the Dresden Children's University. The children are holding up green and blue postcards.
A view from behind, looking down a flight of stairs toward the stage of the Audimax. Two boys are sitting on the stairs. The presentation showcases the Dresden University School's class schedule tool.
Professor Anke Langner is standing at the lectern. Above her is the presentation with the question “...”
"Vielen Dank, dass ihr mitgeforscht habt!", steht an der Wand über dem Podium im Audimax mit Anke Langner. Der Moderator schaut suchend ins Publikum.
A girl wearing a blue sweater, with red hair and glasses, is standing among the rows of seats in the Audimax. She is speaking into the microphone held out to her.
Professor Anke Langner stands at the lectern, surrounded by children. She is signing a participation stamp card for the Dresden Children's University.

Not all questions had been answered by the end of the lecture. “Would you like to attend the University School yourself if you were younger?” was one question posed to the initiator and scientific director of the school pilot project run by TU Dresden and the City of Dresden. Of course, the kids also wanted to know whether the professor used to enjoy going to school, what her favorite subject was back then, and whether she likes her job today.

“It was great that we got to participate actively with the cards today,” enthuses student Nele, who is attending the Children’s University not for the first time. Anke Langner sums up the most important idea from the afternoon as follows: “School hasn’t always been this way, so it doesn’t have to stay the same forever.” Together with the online participants, Anke Langner therefore sent the children off from the Audimax with a research assignment: “Come up with a new idea for school!”

Who actually invents school? Prof. Anke Langner invited students to research the school of the future at the Dresden Children's University. © TU Dresden

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More videos about the school pilot program can be found on the YouTube channel of the University School Unit Center (ForUS).

About the University School Dresden

The pilot project consists of 3 parts: school for kids from Dresden, research project at the Chair of Education / Inclusive education, and a future training and continuing education school at TU Dresden. Please activate English subtitles. © Projekt Universitätsschule Dresden

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Dresden University School is a joint project of the City of Dresden and the Dresden University of Technology. It is a free, public community school run by the city, where innovative forms of teaching and learning are tested under scientific supervision. In addition, it is a training school for future teachers and, in the future, a further education school for teachers. The school trial is being scientifically supported by the ForUS Research Unit at TU Dresden.

Read more about TU Dresden’s research project: tu-dresden.de/gsw/unischule
Read more about University School Dresden: universitaetsschule.org

You can catch a glimpse inside the research project and daily school life on various social media channels at: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. There are also regular updates on University School Dresden in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences newsletter.

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Maria Neuland Agüero
Last modified: Nov 13, 2026