Week 13 (Mon 23^rd April – Sun 29^th April)

Professional Blog

This week we had an English teacher from Finland that gave us a presentation in our education class about the Finnish education system.  Our education teacher Peter remarked that Finland had the highest scoring PISA testing results; which test literacy in three competence fields: reading, mathematics, science.  A Danish student in our class asked why this was and the Finnish teacher suggested that it could be because Finland is “educationally religious” and autonomous learning is highly promoted with the Parent’s and school’s support.  In addition to this she continued that teaching is considered a prestigious job and they are greatly respected and trusted by the people of Finland, which perhaps encourages more enthusiasm for learning and promotes positive and engaging learning environments.

I asked the Finnish teacher if they had a curriculum to follow that the government enforced and to my surprise she replied that each school was given the freedom to create their own curriculum with skills the staff in the school felt should be developed.  There is only a loose framework of guidance provided by the government.  It made me think that as teachers have more autonomy with their teaching styles and selection and organisation of their resources, they may reflect their enthusiasm about learning and this consequently encourages children to want to learn and partake in individual investigations and take ownership over their own learning.

The Northern Ireland Curriculum also promotes autonomous learners and the central aim is to empower young people so that they can be independent, furthermore, as in the Finnish education system, teachers in Northern Ireland are encouraged to act as facilitators of learning as opposed to imparters of knowledge, therefore our education systems seem quite similar in that respect.  This week we also learned that in Denmark there isn’t much competition to get into teaching education and once people begin to study teaching, 40% of students drop out of the course.  However, in Northern Ireland this is not the case as it is very competitive to enter teacher training education and places in the universities are quite limited.

I like that in Northern Ireland we have a structure to follow for teaching (NIC 2007) that lays out the skills for each area of learning, but allows for teachers to help children develop the skills in a variety of forms and using a variety of teaching styles and resources.  I do however feel that the Northern Ireland Curriculum demands an awful lot of teachers in terms of timetabling and giving adequate and quality time to each of the areas of learning.  Perhaps we could learn something from other countries and their education systems, for example, with less accountability to the government, schools and staff can form their own curriculums to meet the needs of the children in their care and can promote positive learning environments without such rigid frameworks and time constraints.

Week 12 ( Mon 16th April – Sun 22nd April)

Personal blog

My friends visited Copenhagen this week and we stayed in a hostel that was situated in a different area in Copenhagen that I’d never seen before so I was able to compare and see Copenhagen from a new perspective.  I also didn’t feel like a tourist this week as the girls depended on me to be their tour guide and I became more aware of the surroundings and was able to direct us through the city quite easily. 

My friends and I in Tivoli gardens.

The weather was sunny and allowed for us to take a canal tour and see Copenhagen from the water.  I also got to see new sights I’d never visited before with the girls, including; Tivoli gardens and theme park, Christiania and Copenhagen Ice Bar.  The girls really enjoyed it and said they would visit Copenhagen again.  Having the girls over to question Danish culture and traits such as laid back living, cycling bikes everywhere, drinking tea/coffee from a glass, sarcastic sense of humour and using Danish kroner, made me realise how much I have became accustomed to Danish culture and forget how different it can be to Northern Irish culture.  It will be interesting to see if I pursue such traits when I return to Northern Ireland.

The girls commented that they thought I’d really settled in Denmark and that I was coping with being away from home better than they expected.  This made me reflect on how long I’d been away from home and family (over 3 months) and realise that I exceeded my own expectations for staying in the one place for a whole semester.  I have been able to recognise that I am quite an easy-going person and tend to take each day as it comes, however I do like to have some plans each week to look forward to, for example, meeting up with other ERASMUS students.  Since we have moved to the ‘White house’ it has been much easier to casually meet up and socialise with other students as we cross paths everyday.  It will be strange leaving the other students when we all go home as these are people we have lived with for so long and have became so familiar with.  I would like to think that we will maintain our friendships and arrange visits to each other’s countries in the future. 

Week 11 ( Mon 26th March - Sun 1st April)

Cultural blog

This week, as we had no classes, Trisha, Fionnuala and I went with some Erasmus students; including a Turkish girl, a Spanish girl, a Colombian girl and 3 Dutch girls to Berlin.  We shared a hostel room with the Spanish girl and learned a lot about her and she asked us many questions about Northern Ireland. A week passed and she insisted that we visit Spain this summer! The Spanish girl also informed us that her dinner time was different to ours as the Spanish typically eat dinner at 10.00pm, to accommodate this we arranged to meet for dinner as a group around 7.00/8.00pm each night.  This week we were able to improve our cultural awareness as all of the girls shared their cultural interests, for example, the Dutch celebrate Queen’s Day; where everyone in Holland wears orange and white on 1^st May, the Colombian girl voiced her frustration about non-native people associating Columbia with drugs all the time and the Turkish girl told us she couldn’t eat pork as part of her culture.  These are only a few examples that we learned about over the week.

The whole group outside Brandenburg Gate

Berlin was a place I never had considered visiting as I didn’t realise its rich war history.  The girls briefly educated me about the Berlin Wall and how it divided the city as East and West Berlin. It wasn’t until we took a hop on - hop off bus tour that I really appreciated the significance and impact of war on this city.  I was humbled by some of the sights we seen, including; Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall and the Jews monuments. To educate myself further, once I arrived back in Denmark, I watched Berlin videos on ‘youtube’ and was shocked at how families were separated by the wall for so many years. 

Me signing the Berlin Wall

I wondered if war is still a raw topic for the German people and if the majority of people don’t like to talk about it, never mind be associated with it.  The Dutch girls told us that often some German people express their frustration and refuse to answer questions about the war.  I suppose on reflection we can be quite ignorant to small details like this and forget that people are still embittered about history.  I did however enjoy learning about the war and its impact on the city.  I think a lot of us can be ignorant and passive to topics such as the war and other countries suffering as well as cultural differences. The Berlin trip has encouraged me to open my mind to this.  I look forward to other trips to places that are rich in history and that tell a story.  I also look forward to planning trips with the other Erasmus students, now that we know each other a lot more and enjoyed each other’s company.  This trip acted as a type of bonding session between us all and I feel I have made some friends for life!

Week 10 ( Mon 19th March - Sun 25th March)

Professional blog

This week we had our first education class and all of the ERASMUS students, including three Danish students that we had never met before were in the class.  Our new teacher Peter was relaxed and promoted an open learning environment where we felt at ease to introduce ourselves and ask any questions.  It is now very apparent that the University of Zealand teachers all promote this informal, relaxed and open learning environment.  I assume that the schools here would also follow this ethos.  I like learning here as I feel totally at ease with the teachers and can easily express my opinions or ideas to the rest of my class, without the fear of saying something wrong or naïve.  The teachers take such an interest in what you have to say and like to ask you questions and take notes on what you have to share.  Furthermore, I don’t feel like there is a hierarchy between the teachers and the students, it is encouraged that we can learn a lot from each other.

The education semester plan was displayed as an overview in a Prezi presentation and the content is basically the same as education studies back in Stranmillis e.g. learning theories, teaching styles etc.  We also played ‘Jeopardy’ which involved two pairs competing in a questions and answers activity.  The aim of the game was to revise education studies terminology and content, for example, I had to describe Success Criteria to the opposing pair of students and they had to guess the answer as ‘success criteria’.  I discovered that as students described things to me I could relate them to things we had studied in education at Stranmillis, however they used different words for the same definition, for example, differentiation and inclusion had different names in the Danish education system.  I also found that were a lot of things I had never heard of, including terminology for research on society and gender and its implications for teaching.

I am really looking forward to finding out more about learning theories and teaching styles that the Danish consider important to underpin teaching.  I have already heard the familiar theorists; Vygotsky and Bruner mentioned as well as another theorist Krashen. 

Week 9 ( Mon 12th March - Sun 18th March )

Personal blog

We moved to a different place on campus this week called ‘Hvidebo’ which means the ‘white house’.  The majority of other students live here including the Spanish, Dutch, Austrian and Danish students that we know and have classes with.  I was apprehensive and stressed about this move as we had got used to living where we were, however I knew the room was far too small for the three of us and I outweighed the pros of moving with the cons of staying.  The main things I was concerned about were not having our own private bathroom and kitchen, however once we cleaned everything, including our new room, ‘Hvidebo’ started to feel a bit more like somewhere I could spend the rest of my time in.





Our new accomodation

The communal bathroom and kitchen situation isn’t as bad as I presumed it would be.  It’s actually quite nice to live on a floor with other people passing through and cooking as you feel less isolated and the environment is more homely.  This week however I have began to feel a touch of homesickness, although the girls have been empathetic to this and can relate to it as they miss their families and friends too.  On a positive note this led to our decision to plan a trip to Berlin for a few days and see a change of scenery.  We also posted this idea on an International student’s facebook page and we now have three Dutch girls, a Spanish girl, a Colombian girl and a Turkish girl joining us! We are all really looking forward to seeing Berlin together and getting to know each other more.  It will also be a great opportunity to learn more about each other’s interests and culture habits perhaps, as we will share a hostel together.

Our room

 



This Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day and we invited the other students to join us in Copenhagen for the celebrations.  The other students had never had experienced the St. Patrick’s Day parade before and so were eager to embrace a part of Irish culture.   We all drew the three leaf clover on our cheek and walked in the parade along with the crowds of people dressed in St. Patrick’s Day green merchandise and novelty hats.  Ironically, this was the first time I had ever been at a St. Patrick’s Day parade and the fact that it was in Copenhagen and with lots of other cultures joining in, made the experience more enjoyable and memorable.  Perhaps I ought to embrace Irish culture a bit more back home!

St. Patrick's Parade

Week 8 ( Mon 5th March - Sun 11th March)

Professional Blog

This week in Teaching English as a Foreign Language classes we engaged in a lot of group work and we had another teacher called Finn taking the classes.  He immediately put us at ease and was very friendly and interested to get to know us and hear about our education system.  He also directed a lot of questions to Fionnuala, Trisha and I as we are the only native English speakers in the class and he didn’t hesitate to ask us to define words and provide appropriate words to help him to describe things in English.

The lessons were based on discussions through group work; where we discussed approaches to teaching English and whether speaking, listening, reading and writing should be taught exclusively and how we were taught. The Turkish students said they are taught how to write in English, but their teachers don’t speak to them in English and so they are not fluent speakers of English.  In our groups we came to conclusions that there needs to be a balance of learning English through speaking, listening, reading and writing activities and they shouldn’t always be taught exclusively. 

Furthermore, we learned that the Danish have introduced a new skill for English language learners – communication, which encourages students to apply their English learning with a partner or in groups by having a conversation with each other or writing letters.  I think back home we do engage in this, although we have not identified ‘communication’ as one of the language and literacy skills.  Also I think after discussing about this in groups it has placed more of an emphasis on how important it is to allow children to apply there learning through real-life contexts e.g. ordering something in a restaurant or having a telephone conversation.  This is because members of the group highlighted that they often were given contrived dialogues to practise and they seemed far removed from natural language use.

In our second class this week we were split into groups and each group had to focus on an element of teaching e.g. classroom discipline.  My group focused on lesson planning and each of us shared our experiences and what we thought should be considered when lesson planning.  The Dutch girl showed me and the Turkish girl a lesson plan template she uses and I found it interesting that there was a space for the teacher’s personal skills; skills they will work on during a lesson e.g. classroom discipline and using your voice appropriately.  I also learned that the Dutch trainee teachers engage in teaching experience every week, at least once a week and have seven weeks teaching practice every 2nd semester.  I think this is really beneficial as they are regularly engaging in a classroom setting, seeing a qualified teacher and the strategies and resources he/she uses as well as learning more about how children behave and learn. I think I could also benefit from this amount of experience as it would develop my confidence in teaching and the hands-on experience would perhaps help me to retain more knowledge about teaching and learning.

After our group discussion on lesson planning we prepared a PowerPoint and presented it to the rest of our class and Finn was impressed with the included Stranmillis lesson plan template as it considered everything i.e. differentiation, assessment, thinking skills and personal capabilities etc.  He asked me to upload a copy onto Sjaelland University’s version of Queen’s Online so that all the students could access it.  I feel my confidence in presenting has increased since I have joined these classes as we are encouraged to give presentations quite a lot.  I like that they are not assessed because they don’t feel as daunting or stressful, but rather an opportunity to share ideas with people in your class in a non-threatening, positive way.  It’s also giving me plenty of practice for future oral presentations.

Week 7 (Mon 27th Feb - Sun 4th March)

Personal Blog

I cannot believe I have been living in Denmark for nearly two months now! The time truly flies here and has made me realise that my decision to do ERASMUS was a wise one.  I was slightly apprehensive at first as my Mum and some of my family were wary of me going and thought that 5-6 months away from home was too long, as well as risky, as I would be missing out on teaching practice in a Northern Ireland school, a year before I expect to graduate.  However I feel that I am coping quite well being away from home; surprisingly, as I have never been away from home and without family for more than a week. I also feel this experience will add more value to my professional and personal development as a teacher, as I am engaging in a different education system and will hopefully take away new ideas that will improve my teaching style and my confidence  in teaching children.  Furthermore, I hope to introduce new activities and teaching strategies I learn about when I go on placement again.

Austrian Dinner

The Austrian girls invited us and the Dutch girls for a kaiserschmarrn dinner; a meal they like to enjoy after they go skiing.  It was very nice and similar to pancakes, although could be described as broken pieces of pancake with optional toppings of sugar and jam.   The conversation was interesting and we enjoyed each others company and exchanging similarities and differences from our cultures.  I think our cultures are very similar in terms of our sense of humour and society norms, for example, table manners.  However, one of the Dutch girls did remark on how thankful we are when we receive things like dinner and said that we don’t seem to be content with saying “thank you” just once.  This surprised me and made me question whether it was because of my family background or Northern Irish culture.  She did say that it’s nice that we are so polite. 

Movie Night

Fionnuala’s boyfriend Ruaidhri arrived on Friday and the both of them stayed in Copenhagen for the weekend, so Trisha and I decided to invite the Austrian, Dutch and Norwegian girls over for a movie night.  We all seem to share the same interests and I feel like we are building friendships with them, which will hopefully grow throughout our time here. It’s refreshing to have different company every so often, as with little class time we don’t really see much of the other students unless we arrange to meet up and sometimes we can feel quite isolated in our room.  Trisha, Fionnuala and I all agree that our experience here is getting better with the arrival of the other students and as we socialise more.