Week 9 Professional

As part of a module here we have spent one week in a Swedish school. This experience, while answering many questions I had about the Swedish school system, has left me with many questions about our own.

The children in Swedish schools appear to be given more trust and freedom than at home. They are left to work on their own more than at home and they can leave the room to work elsewhere. We also experienced the children being allowed to have a disco during choosing time, they were able to access YouTube and the teacher left the room. The disco was a lot of fun and while I have never seen it happen at home I think it would be good to allow the children to experience this type of activity during choosing time. I also think that a degree of freedom is essential if children are to express themselves and to become independent, however the idea of no teacher present was hard for me to accept and I am not sure I can see the benefit of this.

Along with the trust came added responsibilities. The children are responsible for wiping the tables in the dining hall and were able to clean up after a woodwork lesson with no instruction from the teacher. They also treat the tools with a lot of respect and do not mess around whilst using them. I was amazed to see children so young taking part in handicraft (woodwork and sewing) lessons and to be learning useful skills in a fun environment. I think these skills are important and would love to see our schools offering this practical education at a young age.

Every school has a profile and while there are compulsory subjects e.g. Swedish and mathematics the school can concentrate on a specific area of the curriculum. The school I was in had a music profile and so the children had 2 or 3 music lessons a week and specific music targets are set for each grade. The grade 3 class were learning ukulele (I was very bad at this when invited to join in) and the teacher told us that they would all eventually learn to play guitar, piano and drums. I like the idea that parents can choose to send their child to a school that will have a focus on their interests while still giving them an overall education. My personal thoughts are that if a child is really interested in a subject they should be given the opportunity to spend extra time on it. As Swedish children do not start school until the age of 7 they have a chance to explore their likes and dislikes before starting school and to make decisions about school based on them. I do think schools in Northern Ireland could learn from this approach and try to offer children more opportunities to take part in lessons that focus on their interests while spending the minimum time in those that do not.

Week 8 Cultural

skogsmulle

This week we have been on an outing organised by the friend family project in Linnaeus. This gave us the opportunity to meet Skogsmulle (forest gnome), a Swedish sprite who takes care of the forests. It gave us the chance to further experience and appreciate the Swedes love of the outdoors. The kids were enchanted by Skogsmulle and I think this is an interesting and motivating way to teach children how to care for their environment and to want to use it for fun and enjoyment whilst making sure not to destroy it. The evening ended with us all sitting in a wooden ‘hut’ eating vegetable soup and enjoying time together. I have discovered that eating outdoors is not only reserved for sunny, warm days in Sweden and I think it is more fun to be eating outdoors when it is cold, dark or even snowing as it is not what we think should happen. When we return home I hope to continue picnicking and to further foster my children’s love of the outdoors regardless of the weather.

I also enjoy the meetings with the friend family as it helps us to access more typical Swedish culture. In class there are no Swedish students and as I live in a private apartment and don’t go to the student pubs I have not met many Swedes. The pairing with a family means that we have opportunities to learn more about Sweden, to practice our language skills and to ask questions or discover the local area more easily. I came here mainly to learn about Sweden and the Swedish people so this scheme has been invaluable.

We have also been on a trip to Gothenburg. I drove there and back and am feeling very proud of the fact that I managed this. After several weeks here I discovered that I look for traffic in the right direction so thought it was time I tried. Starting to drive has meant that I can now find my way around easier as well because I have to pay more attention to where I am going. When in Gothenburg we visited Universeum, the biggest science centre in Scandinavia. Although we visited for enjoyment I was also interested to see how it was set-up because I took the science outside the classroom module last semester. Although we enjoyed the visit I do think that our W5 is better at encouraging children to be inquisitive and to work things out for themselves. The focus in Universium appeared to be on animals and the environment with a large aquarium and rainforest environment which were fantastic. Perhaps the differences reflect what is important in our societies although the aims of both centres are the same; to encourage positive attitudes towards science, technology and mathematics and to encourage curiosity through the experiences they provide.

With the Easter holidays coming up I hope to visit more places and to experience more of Sweden.

Week 7- Personal

As time here in Sweden continues to pass by rapidly I have found that I am becoming increasingly confident in my abilities, both personal and academic. I continue to enjoy writing papers which allow me to voice personal opinions and have become more confident in voicing these opinions within the class groups. I also continue to learn a little more Swedish as the weeks pass and have attended another parent meeting, this time at the school the boys attend.

The parent meeting was a humbling experience; as we, the parents, sat waiting for the meeting to start we were told that once the interpreters arrived we could begin. When a man walked in and asked who spoke English I suddenly realised that I was one of the parents who needed an interpreter. Until this experience I had not considered the fact that I was a non-native speaker, as so many people speak English in Sweden I had not been confronted with a situation where I could not understand what the other person was saying. I did understand more of the meeting than I had expected and this was commented on by the teacher although could not have understood enough without the help of the interpreter. Increasingly I am becoming aware of how the parents and children who are non-English speakers must feel when they come into our schools and I know this experience will affect the level of empathy I feel towards these pupils should any of them be a pupil in my class in the future.

I have also tasted more Swedish foods over the last couple of weeks and although there are a lot of differences to the foods at home there are also some similarities. Potatoes are eaten a lot in Sweden and I have discovered that there is also a bread made from potato but have not tasted this yet, I would be very happy if this tasted anything like potato bread at home because it is a food that I like to eat and as time passes I am starting to miss some of the things we can easily get at home.

I have also been missing my nieces and nephew over the last couple of weeks; they are all very young and are changing with every picture or video clip I see. My nephew is learning to say a lot of new words and when my sister sent a video clip of him with a message to us I wanted to reach into the computer and give him a cuddle. I never really anticipated how much I would miss them and can’t wait to see how they all have changed and grown when we get home.

week 6 Professional

Over the last couple of weeks we have spent time talking to others about their education systems and visiting some Swedish schools. First we visited a gymnasium school (senior high school) where we were able to look around and see what programmes were offered to the children who attend; these ranged from construction to bakery to hairdressing. They were similar to courses offered by further education colleges at home except only children aged 16-19 can attend, what I noticed most was that the school appeared to have a lot more facilities than an FE college and the workspace available for each course was larger and better equipped. We have also visited a Montessori school which was an interesting experience and the teachers and children were happy to show us around and talk with us about the differences between Montessori and municipal schools.

We have also had the opportunity to talk to Swedish students and we used this time to ask what they thought of the fact that Swedish children do not wear uniforms. Most of them agreed that they liked the non-uniform policy and felt that it allowed them to keep their identity. Some of those who thought uniform was better were in favour because they thought it would stop bullying in school as it put everyone on the same level. We know that this is not true as we have uniforms yet there are still problems with bullying and did point this out to the students in our group. Teachers in Sweden also have a more relaxed dress code than at home and wearing jeans on school placement is considered normal. I am not sure how I feel about this as I am used to teachers dressing in a smart way and I am not sure if dressing in a casual manner might take the emphasis of school being important. On a previous teaching practice at home I recall a teacher saying that she never dressed up for parent/teacher meetings because it wasn’t her clothes but was her attitude and personality that determined her ability as a teacher so perhaps this is a reflection of how Swedes think.

Children in Sweden don’t start school until the age of 7 and are in compulsory education until the age of 16. This is much later than at home but appears to be similar to a lot of other European countries. All education is also free, including any field trips that the children may go on. This may sound like a good thing but we have been told that it means there are not many opportunities for children to go on trips because the school budget doesn’t cover the cost. While school trips are not essential I believe that they are an important part of school life and would be sorry if they were not offered to my children.

Next week sees us on a week-long placement in a local school so I am sure my next professional blog will be full of reflections on the Swedish education system and on myself as a teacher outside my normal environment.