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.

Week 5- Cultural

Within one week we have gone from Växjö being a white winter wonderland to experiencing the first signs of spring. The snow has been replaced by sunshine and the ice on the lakes is starting to melt. The improved weather and the fact that it is not so cold now means that being outdoors has become appealing. We have spent the last few days exploring the campus a bit more, visiting Teleborg Castle and walking around one of the nearby lakes. It is nice to see more of the natural environment this city has to offer and of which the Swedes are so proud. At home we do have beautiful surroundings but because it is familiar to us I think we tend to forget it is there; spending more time outdoors here is convincing me that I should continue this when we return to Belfast in June. This week we also became aware that Swedes learn the name of plants and flowers from an early age, walking around the lake today with the kids asking ‘what’s this?’ every five minutes about many of the plants I wished that I had a little of this knowledge. The fact that they learn names and that there is a policy in Sweden which allows the public to walk anywhere and enjoy all nature the country has to offer backs up my expectations that Swedes are outdoor loving people who care for and value their natural environment.

In class this week we have talked a lot about the school system in our home countries, it has been interesting to hear how each country is similar or different to our own. The most amazing thing for me was to be in a group with a Japanese student who was discussing how it is important to learn through doing and having personal experiences; I expected Japan to have a very strict education system that would be based on learning by listening to the teacher and was surprised to hear her placing this emphasis on learning through actions, as we do in Stranmillis.

It has also been pancake Tuesday at home and here it is known as ‘fat Tuesday’ or ‘fett tisdag’. On this day the traditional Swedish food is Semla, a bread roll filled with almond paste and cream, I did feel that I should try one and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it tasted.

It is hard to believe that the weeks are going so fast, sometimes it feels like we only arrived yesterday and others it feels like we have always been here. I love getting to know more about this country and the people who live here and plan to find out much more before I leave.

Week 4- Personal

Week 4 has arrived and along with it a lot more snow; the weather and temperatures I was expecting and looking forward to is upon us.

As time goes on I find myself becoming more confident with the Swedish language. I have had one very short conversation and have also managed to loosely translate and reply to a message left in the laundry room. Although I don’t know a lot of words and mostly need to use English it is nice to be able to say a little in the language of my host country. After using the language successfully it also raises confidence to try it again and I hope I can learn more and have longer conversations by the time I leave here.

I can also understand most of the words on the food packages now as well so I can cook things according to the instructions and also buy the foods that I want with greater ease. The food here is expensive, as I expected, I have found that I shop more often than at home but buy smaller amounts. This helps to reduce the amount of food wastage that I am guilty of at home and I have become a bit more inventive with my cooking skills in order to use all the food I have bought. I have also convinced myself to try a traditional Swedish pastry which I discovered is actually very nice and this has encouraged me to try more Swedish foods if/when I get the chance.

Eating the pastries has convinced me that I need to be a bit more ‘Swedish’ and get active. I am enjoying walking to school and daycare when I have the time and when the weather is a little warmer we plan to buy bikes and get out in the fresh air more often. I am looking forward to this because although we have bikes at home we live in an area where I would not feel safe using them and so they are rarely out of the garage; here there are better cycle paths and because bikes are so common they are treated with more respect than at home.

So far Sweden is living up to my expectations of being a family-friendly country, where children are valued and listened to. Many of the adults you speak to think that perhaps the child is too much in charge in Sweden at the moment but I am enjoying the change from home. During next weeks school vacation there are a lot of free activities planned for children to take part in and the afterschool opens all day every day so parents do not need to use their holidays from work for childcare reasons. I think this is really good as when I worked I often heard parents worrying over who would mind their children because they had no leave left. Also they would ask what they were going to do with all the kids at home for the week that would be cheap and prevent boredom, next week I will find out if Sweden has the answer to these questions.