Week 17 Cultural

A recent trip to Copenhagen has shown me that while I enjoy Vaxjo and the laid back, relaxing way of life I also miss being near to a big city. We have had an exciting trip and enjoyed visiting the zoo, Tivoli Gardens and going to see The Little Mermaid. With H.C. Andersen being one of my favourite authors I have read many of his stories to the children and we have all seen the Disney adaptation of this particular story so it was really good to see her guarding the harbour.

 One of the things we learnt was that public transport is free for the under 12’s on weekends. I think this is such a good idea and would be encouraged to use buses more if they were to imitate this at home. I must say that every bus driver I have encountered in both Denmark and Sweden could not have been more helpful or pleasant and it is lovely to be greeted with a good-morning when you get on a bus at 7am feeling tired and grumpy. One of the drivers told me that it is a rule in Vaxjo that they must look to make sure no-one is running for the bus before they pull away from the stop.

We also went to the friend-family midsummer picnic on Sunday and it was interesting to see how the Swedes celebrate this holiday (officially in June but they have the party so we can experience it). We made crowns from flowers; watched traditional dancing, with some of the students invited to take part; and were given the opportunity to taste sill (herring) with sour cream and chives. Sill is a traditional Swedish food eaten at Christmas, Easter and midsummer, I surprised myself by actually liking the herring and we all enjoyed the strawberry cake that followed. The day was concluded with all the students and friend-families joining together to dance around a maypole. This turned out to be more fun than we originally thought and even the boys joined in with a little gentle persuasion. I was happy to be given the opportunity to experience this celebration even if it was a little early. It was a lovely way to finish the friend-family project and many people were emotional at the thought of it being the last time they met with their family. We will meet with our friend-family again before we leave so the emotions were kept in check for a later date.

Week 16 Personal

Last week I was looking forward to my first visitor. I had been thinking about all the things I wanted to share with my sister and the places we should visit so she could see what it has been like for us during our stay here. I was eager for her to see what it is we like about Sweden and why I will never forget the time we have spent here. I decided that we should visit the glass museum because the glass production is something which I have been told makes the people of this area very proud. It was interesting for us to visit the museum and I discovered that the iconic Coke bottle was actually designed by a Swede. I also felt that a walk round one of the lakes would allow her to see the beauty of this town.  This has made me aware that while I have become more proud of Northern Ireland I also have embraced my new home and am proud to show it of too.

This led me to dwell on an exercise we performed during my popular culture module. The teacher asked us to think about home and what it meant to us. There were a range of responses to this question but for me it helped with the realisation that home is not a house, a city or a country; it is being together with my family and enjoying each other’s company in a place that makes us all happy. This is a particularly important realisation for me because with the job situation in Northern Ireland not at its best I plan to also explore the option of working in an international school. I now know that we can survive away from our normal environment and without the constant support of our extended families. I can, however, recognise that some sort of support network is also essential; an incident where my daughter cut her head meant a swift ‘help’ phone call to Michael as I discovered the sight of blood makes me feel very sick and faint. Thankfully it was nothing serious and he managed to have her (and me) feeling better in a few minutes but I’m not sure how I would have managed if he had not been available.

During this discussion there was a student from Hong Kong in my group. I had stated that occasionally coming from Northern Ireland can be a little confusing; whilst our nationality is officially British, many people associate us with the Republic of Ireland and are surprised to learn that it is two different countries. He said that coming from Hong Kong he can identify with this because while he is Chinese he feels it is a different Chinese than those who live on the mainland. I found it both interesting and amazing that someone from a country I would assume is totally different than ours can identify with this.

Week 15 Professional

 As my placement continues I find that I have more and more to reflect on. The Swedish education system is often cited as being one of the best and yet I think that the level of pressure put on the children and the amount they are required to learn is much lower than at home. The 6^th grade have been learning a mathematics topic which we start to teach as early as year 5 and when talking to the other Stranmillis students, Mary and Michael, I discovered that they were also surprised at how easy the work is. There is no Friday test and I have observed very little testing of any kind. The children also receive very little homework each week and even this is often a point of discussion with many people thinking there should be no homework at all. As a parent I do think our children get too much homework and, as parents often help I am not sure if it is ever a true reflection on a child’s ability. However from a teacher’s point of view I can also appreciate that if the children do not work at home it would be difficult to reach the expected goals on time.

During a science module in the first semester I had to write a paper reflecting on my teaching placement. In the readings I found that self-reflection is the lowest level and to be a truly reflective practitioner we should also be reflecting on our curriculum and the entire education system. Although I don’t think I am near to reaching the point of highest reflection I do believe that this experience is helping me to move beyond reflecting wholly on my own actions and performance. I am constantly questioning what way I think is better and why I think this; next week I have planned to talk more to the Swedish pupils about the differences between our countries and to get their opinions on things such as school start age and school uniform.

 I have also found that the teachers here are more open and frank with their opinions and so it is easier to explore the deeper questions of education with them than it is with many of the teachers I have met at home. They have all been very welcoming and eager to talk to me about our ways in comparison to theirs and I have enjoyed hearing their opinions and different perspectives on many of the topics we have discussed.

Week 14 - Cultural

After spending some time on school placement I can see what a big part education plays in the culture of a country. I am constantly comparing Sweden to home and one of the main areas that I have thought about is the place of parents in their child’s education. As I said before parents can and do spend time with their children in school and this week the teachers are conducting parent-teacher interviews. I was amazed to discover that the children accompany their parents to these meetings and that the standard time spent on each interview is around 45 minutes with the grade 6 teacher saying that on one interview she spent 1 and a quarter hours. I like the idea of children attending the interview and having a say in what their goals are for the future; I believe they will better understand what is expected of them because it is discussed on a personal level when there is time to explain the reasoning. The teachers also conduct these interviews in the evenings and I think this further shows the high level of dedication that I have witnessed. The GTCNI states that teachers should liaise effectively with parents on the progress and attainment of their child and I think the way Swedish teachers do this is more effective than the practice I have witnessed at home.

The GTCNI also states that as a teacher I should be aware of significant features of a pupil’s culture, language or faith and what implications this may have for learning. I have discovered that even the small things might have short-term implications. My son has been taught to tell the time in school in Sweden but as they tell the time differently to us he may have difficulties when this topic comes up again at home. I have also noticed that Swedes use a comma instead of a decimal point and use a point instead of the multiplication cross that we use, again whilst these are easy to overcome they could initially cause problems especially if the teacher is unaware of these types of differences.

When I think of the culture of education in Sweden and at home I can see that on the whole we have the same kind of goals but we go about achieving them in different ways; at the moment I don’t think one way is totally better than the other and feel that we could learn as much from the Swedes as they could learn from us

Week 13 - Personal

 

Our time in Sweden is progressing rapidly and I feel that there are still many places to visit and sights to see.  When I talk to the local people they all have suggestions as to where are the must see spots and I have realised that making these type of decisions does not come easy to me. I want to go everywhere and see everything and am finding it hard to narrow down my list so I can fit the trips in around my studies and school placement. I have asked the children to think about where they most want to go as this Erasmus experience is one that includes us all and is not just mine, maybe they will find it easier than me.

Over the last few weeks, whilst listening to others talk about their home countries, I have had many opportunities to talk about Northern Ireland both to other students and to the Swedish people I have met here. Before I left for Sweden I felt that we lived in a boring country with very little to offer us or those who choose to visit; these talks and presentations have led to me seeing Northern Ireland in a new light. I can now see that we have many interesting sights, many of which I have not visited myself, and that we live in a country known for its natural beauty. I feel myself becoming more appreciative and proud of Northern Ireland with every conversation. Even though I know that when the time comes for us to leave Sweden it will be emotional and we will all be sad to leave our new friends I am looking forward to returning home and to spending some of the summer exploring our country with the same enthusiasm I have shown in Sweden.

During one of my presentations the children were given time to ask me questions. One of the children asked me was I brave and with almost no hesitation I said yes, not wanting to admit to a child that I am scared sometimes (especially of spiders). However when I thought about it later I realised that even though I am fearful of some situations I usually try to face them and overcome my nervousness; I think this makes me as brave as someone who isn’t scared to start with. This realisation has made me see myself in a new light as in the past I have felt silly about being scared and overlooked the fact that I have overcome my fear.

Week 12- Professional

This week I started my five week placement in a local school. The classes I will observe are grade 1 and 6 which are the age equivalent of our year 4 and 9. The grade 6 class is interesting because I will not teach children of this age and have no prior experience of secondary school teaching. The grade 1 class have not yet learned English and this is very frustrating when we want to communicate with each other and don’t know the right words.

Throughout this first week I have been thinking about how I can compare these classes with year groups at home. I am not sure if grade one should be compared with our year 1 or year 4 or are they even comparable at all?

One of the first things I noticed was that the children interact with a lot of adults. In grade 1 there is a permanent class teacher and she is supported by at least 3 other adults at various times throughout the week. There is also a special needs teacher who helps with the class on certain days and they go to specialised music and PE teachers. This means the children experience a high level of support and can work in smaller groups more often so getting more one to one contact than we can give the children in our classes. I think this level of support can only be good for a child’s development, both academic and emotional.

It is also a common occurrence for parents to attend school with their children in order to observe what they do with their day and I have met 1 parent already and will meet a grandparent next week. I really like the practice of parents observing what their children are doing in school. I think it helps them understand how and why teachers do what they do. Also, from experience when I ask my children what they did in school the answer is often ‘nothing’ which in the past has led me to wonder if they are actually doing nothing or if they just don’t understand what it is they are learning. The open door policy also creates a high level of trust between the teacher and the parent as nothing is hidden from view.

I am not sure this practice could ever work in Northern Ireland because we are not used to it. I do hope that when I am a practising teacher the parents of the children in my class will feel that I am approachable and will feel able to ask me any questions they have concerning the education of their child. This is because I think the relationship between a teacher and parent is important for the successful progression of the child.

Week 11 Cultural

Easter tree in town

This week we have been celebrating Easter in Växjö. The town is decorated with colourful feathers and we decided that we should have a feather tree of our own. We have also been told that at Easter the Swedes have Easter witches; little girls dress up as witches and go door to door exchanging songs or pictures for candy. This is similar to our Halloween activities and it was good to see that the children here have as much fun dressing up as our children do at home.

Here in Sweden the children are presented with cardboard eggs filled with sweets as their Easter treat. While we joined in with this tradition I also asked family to send chocolate eggs from home and so we celebrated in both Swedish and British styles. I think it is important for us to experience things as they happen in Sweden; it is an integral part of being a member of a community. However doing things as they are done at home also helps us to keep our links with family and friends who we are thinking about, especially during holidays and times of celebration. This experience has helped me to realise why it is essential for us to take into account the sometimes diverse cultural experiences of the pupils in our classes. I think it is good for children to know that we don’t all experience things in the same way and to be aware how others do things differently from them and why.

Our tree on a much smaller scale

Meeting people from many different cultures has also made me realise that while there are many things that we all do differently there are also a number of things that are universal to all of us. The boys have been guests at birthday parties and reported that they took part in many of activities common to parties at home. They did however describe a game, I understand in place of our pass the parcel, where they had to ‘fish’ for small trinkets and candy. They said that this game was a lot of fun and are going to show me how it is played so we can play it at parties when we return home.

This along with an Easter tree every year will help to keep the experience in our memories. After posting pictures of the Easter trees on Facebook I had friends and family messaging me saying how they loved the tree and next year they wanted one as well, it will be a nice way for our family to be involved in our experience if they do this.