We know today from research that teachers have formed a judgment about a student after the first 14 days and then can hardly revise it.

I grew up in a small little town in Germany. An area where people made they living with coal mining. My father was an educated men, my mother didn't have much access to education, growing up. She grew up in a small village near Trier. Her family earned their living with owning vine vineyards and a hotel business. She married at the age of 18, too young for a young woman full of life and ideas. My father, educated and career-oriented, with little sensitivity to his young wife's needs. A failed marriage, four children. A time were children from divorced families were treated as outcast.

From an early age, I loved learning, discovering nature and telling stories. At home there was a lot of unrest, which limited my personal creativity. My mother married three times, became depressed and disconnected with life. It made it difficult to concentrate on my own education.On the good site, my mother loved reading books and telling stories of the past. Those impulses have stayed with me all my life.

What I remembered most from growing up is, how the teachers dealt with children like we were, or migrant children.  Access to secondary school was often blocked. A mother who could no longer prevail and a feeling defenselessly exposed, accompanied me during those years. My grades were pretty average. My motivation was low.

I was always dreaming about the future and hoping that one day I would live a life I enjoy. My presence was shaped by my hope and growing ambition.

Not much was expected of a child from such a milieu, with low confidence. I remained an “uneducated child” with little potential for the teachers.

When I changed school at the age of 16, I got a teacher who looked at me with a different eye and always saw the highest potential in all his students. My grades changed to above average. I owe a better future to the teacher who noticed my potential and looked at me as who I am.

I quickly moved up to the top third in class. For the first time in my life I saw myself as a person who had the capacity to be a good student, and I stayed that way from then on. My biography shows how teachers can be the key person to young people. Non-educated students have the potential to be great students, only then if the teacher is able to put aside personal feelings and able to see a child for what they are.

Young people in a development phase - some receive more support from home than others, but this cannot and should not determine what they can become in the future. No teacher has the right to decide which school or professional career a young person should slide into. (every school system varies from country to country)

Therefore, we should remove the term "lack of education" from our vocabulary. Because "uneducated" actually means to be "uneducated". I do not agree with it. The parents', their professional career or financial background, cannot determine a young person's educational potential. We know today from research that teachers have formed a judgment about a student after the first 14 days and then can hardly revise it.

Isn't that a sad result? Today I am in education myself and see how teachers deal with children. A lot has changed, but the pressure for teachers has increased, which leads to the teacher falling into old patterns. Our school system has many gaps and needs a reformation. Until this happens, it is up to the teachers to avoid discrimination and see children as children. Treat young people equally, regardless of their parents' origin, income and educational level. The teacher as an educational coach not as a dominance. That is what education demands today.