I am sad
that this is my final week with Grade 6 as I feel I am starting to really get
to know the children and staff here. I
noticed that a majority of Swedish pupils cycle to school in comparison to
Northern Ireland where most travel by car or bus. I thought the Swedish
children were very physically fit in this Grade 6 class especially during PE
class were children could do press ups and sit ups with ease.
I was privileged
to watch the children play Bandi (floor ball) an extremely popular sport in
Sweden and a lot of the children actually played for teams. I also got to watch
a gymnastics lesson which was planned by a few pupils who were talented in this
sport. They left the class early to set up the equipment with the teacher. When
I arrived I was surprised at the amount of great resources that was available. The
children were exceptionally talented performing flips, so it was a pleasure to
watch.
The main
difference which I have found between the teaching style of the Fridaskolan and
schools in Northern Ireland is that the
teachers focus much more on the individual learning of each child. Children are
allocated special time to work individually, they plan what they will work on
during this time with the teacher. During individual learning the pupils can
work independently on previous work they have been given in the morning. In
Northern Ireland children are not given a lesson dedicated to individual
learning, group learning is more common practice. ‘Lpo94 advocates pupils to be largely responsible for their own
learning by being active in and being able to influence the learning process.
The curriculum is based on the principles that learning happens inductively and
that pupils ought to make their own discoveries as a means of reaching deeper
understanding.’ p.38, SKOLE (2010) After spending time within
Fridaskolan I found pupils do make their own discoveries and it is definitely a
main principle within the school. This principle is one Northern Ireland should
definitely incorporate into their curriculum as in my opinion the pupils do
reach a better understanding when they discover something for themselves.
I also
had the opportunity to give a presentation on Northern Ireland. I talked to the
children about where I lived, the history, religion, popular sports, music and
food. The children were very interested and asked numerous questions as they
had studied London but they did not know alot about Northern Ireland. They were
particularly suprised at the differences I pointed out to them about the
education system when I explained that we have to wear school uniform and the
fact that lunches for some, school trips and Mac books are not free.
On Friday it is
a theme day therefore all the children from Grade 6 go to a larger room where
they spend the day being introduced to a new theme. The new theme this month
was Gustav famous king of Sweden. I found this very interesting and decided to
research it to learn some Swedish history.
Every Friday in
Sweden is known as Fika Friday. The teachers have Buns and cakes in the staffroom
during break and lunch. Myself and Emma (the student from Manchester) decided
to bake some buns since it was our last
day at Fridaskolan. Anna the cooking teacher and mentor of Emma kindly baked us my favourite bun (name) and
provided us with the recipe in Swedish to translate. I definitely will be
attempting to make this when I return home. Victoria and Sandra also gave me my
very own Fridaskolan hat to take home with me as it was a fashion trend within
the school especially in Grade 6. Children were allowed to wear their hats all
day and would never be asked to remove them and
as Sandra pointed out it wasn’t hurting anyone. I have learned a lot from
my placement in Fridaskolan and will
take some positive aspects from this system and use them in my future career as
a teacher.
Reference
List
Curriculum for
the compulsory school system, the pre-school class and the leisure-time centre
2011.(2011). Stockholm: Swedish National Agency for Education. Can be accessed
at: http://www.skolverket.se/
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