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.

Week 10- Personal

Over the last few weeks I have noticed many changes in my attitude. I have become more open to trying new things including: food, literature genres and television programmes. I have discovered that I actually enjoy many things that I had previously been closed to experiencing and am encouraged to continue with trying new things before I have decided I do not like them. This attitude is also impacting on my children as they are also more open to trying new foods and I have been able to cook a greater range of meals knowing that they will at least try before deciding whether they like it or not.

The last couple of weeks have seen my oldest child really missing home. This had led to me having doubts about whether I should have brought them to Sweden and experiencing many instances of guilt. However in the last couple of days we have been discussing how long we have left in Sweden and what places we want to visit before we leave; the children have all expressed their enjoyment at being here and the oldest has asked when we might return. These conversations have made me realise that even though they miss home they have been given an opportunity which is not available to most of their friends. I believe this experience will impact on many areas of their life as they grow and develop and I am hoping that they continue to remain open to new experiences. It is also encouraging to watch them grow in confidence the longer we are here and to watch the boys become more independent as they take the bus to and from school and make friends with more new people.

Our time in Sweden has also enabled me to spend more time with my children and to take a greater interest in the things that they like. At home they spend their free time playing with friends and there is always some sort of housework or study for me to do. Here the house is smaller and the university work load is not as heavy and so I am able to spend more time talking to and playing with the children. This was something I had hoped would happen as a result of our time here and I am very happy that it has.

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.