Week 4 - Proffesional Development (Time to Work !) 04/02/12 - 10/02/12

View from the Library at University West

One thing I have noticed this week is how friendly and helpful the Swedes really are. The tutors here are always willing to help and I find that they give instant feedback on presentations and reports which is much better and more constructive than receiving the results at a later date like Stranmillis. This week I had to prepare a presentation on Tackling Social Exclusion to the rest of the class for the Power, Gender, and Inequalities module. This was a challenging but interesting task as it is a topic which I have not studied before. The class is quite small so I felt very comfortable during my presentation and afterwards everyone provides constructive feedback including the tutors. This aspect of the Swedish classes has been extremely beneficial and as a direct result I feel I have improved on my own skills at providing instant feedback which is essential in teaching. 

I have noticed that the classes at University West are much longer and last three hours. In addition the classes themselves are not always supervised with the tutor setting a group task and then leaving for a period of one hour or more. When the tutor returns to the classroom they will discuss the questions which we would have worked on in groups during their absence. In comparison to Stranmillis there is a very relaxed attitude to teaching and an expectation on the student to be mature and work unsupervised.  I personally have found this method of teaching very useful although I do realise it depends on the group and individual for this method to work successfully. The classes are very informal and I feel calling tutors by their first name adds to this relaxed classroom environment. During our lessons we are encouraged to reflect and discuss each topic and relate to situations in Northern Ireland such as ‘gender’, ‘inclusion’ and ‘power.’ We have also been provided with a take home exam which I will have to work on next week.

Furthermore, we had a meeting with a school teacher from the school that we will spend our time during teaching practice. The school is known as a ‘Fridaskolan’ meaning ‘Free School’ and it provides free education for children from the age of six to sixteen. We where told that (Frida Education) are financed mainly through public money, i.e. the amount that comes with each pupil who chooses to attend a Fridaskolan school. This differs to Northern Ireland education system where the money is usually controlled by the government. I am really looking forward to my placement module and my first visit to the school to experience how this School system works. I am excited to learn more about ‘Fridaskolan’ and the Swedish education system and how it works in the classroom..http://www.fridaskolan.se/News.asp

Chole,Izza, Me and Fiora.

The weekend we have all booked a trip to Riga in Latvia for April. We also dressed up and attended a French student called Melanie’s Carnival party to celebrate her 21^st birthday. It was a great night with the entire Erasmus group. I am now looking forward to my birthday which is very close.