The German pedagogue Peter Petersen (1884-1952) designed the Jenaplan method. His aim was to reform the old-style education system. The base of his method is the importance of the community that surrounds the school.
In this method, the parents have a great role because they are the bridge between the children’s school life and house life. This link to the community life makes each Jenaplan school different because each one has a local situation and specific history.
Students are divided into multi-aged groups. They use that grouping methods because they do not set goals based on the age; instead, they do it based on the capacities, abilities and rhythm of each student. The main idea to understand this method is that all students have differences.
In this pedagogy, all situations are pedagogically intended. Even though, the teacher plans them, the students can choose and the teacher cannot anticipate his/her answer. This is so important that the lesson plans are a plan of what might happen, rather that what should happen.
The main components of everyday are the dialogue (in circle), the play (role-playing and improvisation), the work (self-instruction) and the celebration (to build a sense of community).