Switzerland

 Learn about Swiss

culture and the education
system
Infer how education may
Our objectives differ in the
US/Switzerland
for today Make suggestions about
how to teach a Swiss
student
 Introduction
Culture
 Education
Agenda:  Summary
 Review
“Swiss cities remind me of the kid in high
school who’s great at sports, has perfect
hair and the best girlfriend, and whom all
the teachers love. He’s just too perfect.”
~ Rick Steves
 At a glance
4 official languages recognized in Switzerland:
German
French
Italian
Romansch
Capital: Bern
Largest City : The Swiss own a lot of guns, but have a very low crime rate!
Zurich Switzerland is very small!
Population : 8.63
million
Capital: Bern
Largest City :
Zurich
Population : 8.63
million
Capital: Bern
Largest City :
Zurich
Population : 8.63
million
 Did You Know?
“The largest church clock in the
world is in St. Peter’s Church in
Zurich.”
History
• Switzerland was originally inhabited by the Helvetican
Celts (hence, the Latin name for Switzerland being
Helvetica) and was later absorbed into the Roman
Empire.
• Switzerland became part of the Holy Roman Empire,
and in the 16th century, the French & German parts saw
themselves divided over religion.
• In 1648, Switzerland was recognized as the Swiss
Confederation under the Treaty of Westphalia and its
neutrality was recognized by all.
• In 1815, Switzerland’s neutrality was once again
recognized and Switzerland has maintained armed
neutrality since.
https://www.pexels.com/@mikebirdy
Abbey Library
of St. Gall,
Switzerland
 Jean Piaget Roger Federer

Jean Jacques-
Rousseau
Tina Turner

Famous Personalities
Swiss culture

• The Swiss tend to be very conservative and very law

abiding.
• Honesty and politeness are extremely valued.
• Unlike the double kiss as seen in Europe, in
Switzerland you greet someone with three kisses.
• First names are reserved for very close friends and
family.
• The Swiss value cleanliness and neatness.
• NO LITTERING!
• Respect the elderly.
• Be punctual!
Economy
• The Swiss economy is very very good.
• As of March 23rd, 1 Swiss Franc = 1.07 USD
• The Swiss pride themselves on having a good
economy, and as a result, tend to be very materialistic.
But, in Switzerland this is not a negative!
• Hard working, law abiding citizen.

https://www.pexels.com/@mikebirdy
Military
• How does Switzerland maintain its armed neutrality?
• All abled bodied male citizens must serve once they
reach the age of majority (from 18-30)
• Sound similar? Selective Service Act is a bit similar
(18-26)

https://www.pexels.com/@mikebirdy
 Education

• School is cumpolsory for 11 years.

• School is very inexpensive, 90% of the total
expenditure in the cantons goes to education.
• Roughly 5% of Swiss students go to private school,
but the rest go to public school.
• Anyone who has the qualifications can attend a course
of his or her choice, and university is freely selected.
• 12 public Universities, 8 of which are applied to
science and the arts and 20 Universities of Teacher
Education.

Me, in fron
t of
the Univers
ity of
Zurich
 Education

• Instruction in schools is done based on the language of

the region.
• However, English is becoming a competitor language,
but this has caused controversy, especially in the
Swiss-German speaking parts.

Me, in fron
t of
the Univers
ity of
Zurich
Education

Me, in fron
t of
the Univers
ity of
Zurich

Switzerland - cultural etiquette - e
diplomat. (n.d.). Retrieved March
23, 2022, from
http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cu
ltural_etiquette/ce_ch.htm#:~:tex
t=The%20Swiss%20value
%20cleanliness%2C
%20honesty,and%20a%20sense
%20of%20responsibility.
. %20university%20age.
Military service. in Switzerland.
(n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2022,
Swissinfo.ch. (2021, April 1). Swiss from
education system - overview. SWI https://www.ch.ch/en/safety-and-
swissinfo.ch. Retrieved March 23, justice/military-service-and-
2022, from civilian-service/military-service/
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swi
ss-education-system---overview/2
9284412#:~:text=The%20majority
%20of%20students
%20in,kindergarten%20up%20to

References Encyclopedia.com. (2022,

March 23). World Crime
Rates. Encyclopedia.com.
Notes research -
Retrieved March 23, 2022,
smallarmssurvey.org. (n.d.).
from
ry of Retrieved March 23, 2022,
. ( n .d .) . ___ histo https://www.encyclopedia.c
Kästle, K ory of
Brief Hist arch om/articles/countries-with-
from
e r la n d .
Switz ed M https://smallarmssurvey.org/
itze r la n d. Retriev the-lowest-crime-rate-in-the-
sites/default/files/resources/
Sw world/#:~:text=Switzerland
, from e.org /
23 , 20 2 2 .n ati onsonlin d- %20has%20one%20of
SAS-Research-Note-63.pdf
w w
https://w istory/Switzerlan %20the,there%20are
/H
oneworld %20different%20legal
m
history.ht %20authorities.
 Visual
Pictures, and
videos

Learning Styles
Verbal
Kinesthetic
There was a
We played a review
lecture
game
. component.