To understand the main goals and aims of education in Germany and the way these aims are supposed to be achieved through the education system, at least five constitutive elements of German education have to be considered: (1) the institutional and organizational structure; (2) the interplay of education with the other sub-systems of German society, that is to say, the political mission attributed to education as part of the political reproduction of German society; (3) the economic role education plays in providing qualifications for the labour market; (4) the cultural traditions and visionary missions attributed to education by its key actors, not least, by German education professionals, namely the teachers. Finally, the fifth and most important element is the curriculum, mediating the above different objectives via the
process of acquiring knowledge and skills.