Week 13 - Cultural Development ( Easter Hags what are they ?) 07/04/12 - 13/04/12

Easter week in Sweden has definitely been a cultural change and different to my normal Easter Sunday. Instead of my usual family dinner and chocolate Easter eggs Megan and I spent the day making crepe with the French students. I received some lovely Easter Cards and letters from my Granny, my little brother and sister telling me about how many eggs the Easter bunny had left them.

Påskkärringar (Easter Hags)

Whilst in town I noticed that there were witches hanging in the town centre. I was curious so I asked Ulla our tutor what these represented. Ulla explained that in Sweden a myth exists surrounding Easter time. On the Thursday before Easter it is believed that witches fly off on broomsticks to dance with the devil at Blåkulla. This tradition has continued to this day and Swedish children dress up as witches known as Påskkärringar (Easter hags) painting their faces and walking door to door carrying their broomstick to spread the Easter cheer and receive sweets. I thought this was very much like Halloween in comparison to the Easter bunny story In Northern Ireland. These witches give a clear indication that Swedish Påsk origins predate Christianity. However, Easter today, has little to do with Christian beliefs for the majority of Swedes.

Megan and I loving our bikes

Easter week here in Trollhattan has been very relaxing and with the weather picking up again Megan and I decided to embrace the Swedish culture and purchase bikes. We have spent this week exploring the many beautiful areas in Trollhattan as well as cycling to Vanserborg. I can understand why so many people here travel by bike as the grounds are very flat in comparison to Northern Ireland where there are hills everywhere.

Trollywood stars

Some people refer to Trollhattan as Trollywood as it is very well know for the music and film industry in Sweden As we explored the town we noticed that the town has its very own Trollywood stars on the ground on a street close to the canal. We cycled to the beautiful canal, waterfalls and even visited a lovely church.

The beautiful Canal in Trollhattan

Church beside the waterfalls

 

My placement in Fridaskolan starts next week therefore at the end of this week I will purchase my first monthly bus card. Although I would much prefer to cycle to school I will be attending a school in Vansburg, the neighboring town of Trollhattan. The class begins at 8.30 therefore taking the bus at 7.30 to make it on time is the better option. The bus and train system is very efficient, very rarely do people in Sweden take a taxi as it is too expensive.

Enjoying some party food at Trollhattan badminton club.

This week the French student Robin who plays badminton with me decided to have some food and drinks after badminton at the club to celebrate his birthday. Robin and I discussed our opinions on the Swedes character and both agreed that they are very friendly and helpful but extremely reserved and it takes time and effort to get to know them as they don’t like to open up to new people. He thought it was a great chance to get to know the badminton players of the club and it was definitely a great idea. He told me that in his club in France they usually sit together after badminton to have tea and cake and he would like to introduce his club tradition to the club here in Trollhattan before going home which seems closer than ever.

Week 12 - Personal and Proffesional development (31/04/12 - 06/05/12)

This weekend Rebecca, Megan and I went for a Chinese with an American student named Pierce. It was really nice to eat out at a restaurant as it is not often we can do this. We also took the bus to Overby the biggest shopping centre in this area. I have booked my flights to return home and cannot believe that the end is near. I definitely feel at home here in Sweden and think I will be really sad to leave this town and all the wonderful people I have became really good friends with here.

Class this week was really interesting as we discussed the importance of creativity in learning and how schools can kill creativity amongst children. Formal tests in Primary education can minimize children’s confidence. Children can be discouraged to take risks and children can develop a fear of being wrong. I think this issue is very relevant and Ulla highlighted the importance of been creative in your teaching approaches. Furthermore, we had another visitor who talked about the early year’s education. She spoke about the importance of Preschool giving an insight into how the Swedish Pre-school came about and who the founders were. The Swedish system is different in comparison to Northern Ireland as children here attend pre-school between the ages of 3 months to 6 years old. Children do not start formal education until the age of 7 and there is a lot of focus on outdoor play and communicating with the children. She said that ‘learning to read and write starts with conversation.’ I am looking forward to visiting a Preschool whilst I’m on teaching practice.

I think long holidays at Stranmillis is something I have taken for granted over the past few years, as here in Sweden they don’t have Easter holidays as such. The lecturer (Ulla) told me that every Sunday is a holiday; luckily we have less class next week and have no class on Megan’s Birthday. I went to a local bakery and ordered a cake for Megan’s birthday, I was surprised when I seen that the cake was yellow with an Easter chick. They told me it’s an Easter birthday so the cake is yellow; it looked and tasted nice and Megan loved it. We spent the day baking buns and food and later had a party in our flat with the rest of the Erasmus group, it was a great night had by all.

I was shocked by the fact that it snowed this week especially after the previous warm weather. It felt strange to look out and see everything covered in white, it almost felt like Christmas again. Hopefully despite being so picturesque this won’t last long and we’ll see the return of some sunshine.

The view from our balcony

Week 11 - Professional development (24-03-12 - 30-03-12)

Erasmus group at Italian and French Elegant Party

I can’t believe that I have been in Sweden for 11 weeks now, time is going so fast. This weekend the weather has been really great and we took advantage of the temperature change and had a barbeque with the rest of the Erasmus group. The French and Italian students also decided to host an elegance party which was fun, as their culture is elegant. I feel that I am learning so much about so many different cultures and I am extremely thankful to have been given the opportunity to study here in Sweden.

Me and Megan with Lorenzo at barbeque.

This week I started my new and last module ‘Education and School Practice’ and Ulla our lecturer has given me an insight into the background of the Swedish school system and the curriculum. We have been given numerous articles to study which cover familiar topics such as how children learn and Special Educational Needs. Seminars have been full of interesting discussions especially comparing similarities and differences between The Swedish Education system and the Northern Ireland Education system.

Ulla has kindly organized many guest speakers and school visits during our course and I am really enjoying this module already. This week we had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Dr. Wim Voskuilen, a lecturer from the Instituut Theo Thijssen Hogeschool Utrecht in Holland. He attended two of our seminars and gave us a presentation on the Montessori approach to education which is a very common teaching approach in The Netherlands. This is the first time I have heard of this approach to teaching and he informed us of the special training which is required to become a Montessori teacher. Montessori education allows children to have free choice in the classroom and a lot of their time is spent working independently rather than in groups like Northern Ireland.

Dr. Wim told us that lessons are individualized and he stated a very important quote that ‘we need to control the environment, not the child’ and that we must ‘help the children, to help themselves.’ I will take this quote into consideration and will definitely remember this for my future career in teaching as I feel when children are independent in their own learning real learning takes place.  He also told us that the children are split into heterogeneous groups which differs greatly from the approach taken in Northern Ireland. Composite classes are usually only found in country schools where small numbers make this essential for the feasibility of the schools. After listening to his perspective on heterogeneous groups I can understand why he feels this approach is best for the child. It can allow children to develop a number of skills in particular older children have the opportunity to communicate and help children younger than themselves. However, as with all approaches to teaching, no system is flawless and I can see both the positive and negative aspects.

I have also been training at the badminton Club here in Trollhattan every Monday and Wednesday; the coach now takes the lessons in Swedish so I am beginning to learn some of the language. The club provides me with a great opportunity to interact and talk to the Swedish people and training here is much better than my hometown. The Swedish focus much more on fitness and even after a few months I am still adjusting to doing thirty press ups and sit-ups every time I lose a match. It`s a strategy that definitely motivates you to try your upmost to win a game. I will definitely use this approach in my role as a coach in the future. The Swedish coach has also asked me to take warm ups at the beginning of the training session so I’m definitely feeling at home here and very much a part of the club.

 

Again, I’m looking forward to the week ahead, especially with Megan’s 21^st Birthday Party.

Week 10 - Personal Development : (The sun is shining in Trollywood) 17/03/12 - 23/03/12

I had a lot of university work this week as our Intercultural Studies – Global English and Media Discourse has finished and we have been given a take home exam to complete. This exam consists of questions on the future of English and the different purposes of English in other countries. Additionally, Rebecca, Megan and I gave a presentation on our field study of Inclusion of Special Educational Needs. The presentation was one hour long in comparison to our usual ten minutes in Stranmillsis. However, the presentation allowed us more time to discuss our experiences and although it seemed very long we really enjoyed sharing our findings. It was also very interesting to listen to other students field studies about different topics such as marketing and political science. I really have enjoyed this module and will look forward to starting our Education and School Practice module next week.

The temperature has increased this week and the sun has been shining every day. I hope this weather lasts as I feel like I am on holiday especially when we can sit out on our balcony and admire the lovely view we have. It’s been great spending a lot of time outside in the park and being able to go running along the riverside. I found it strange that the Swedish are still wearing their winter coats and scarves during this hot weather.  I got a few comments from the local Swedish people passing whilst running saying ‘spring is here’ however, I’m not quite sure whether they were saying it due to me wearing a pair of shorts or because it was the first day of spring. I also got to experience a traditional Swedish band playing in a local bar on Thursday.

The beautiful park beside our accomodation.

International Dinner

On Friday Megan, Rebecca, Ryan (a student from University of Ulster) and I spent the day preparing traditional Irish Cottage pie for the International Dinner. We previously attempted Irish stew but we felt without gravy it wasn’t the same. The International Dinner gave me a good opportunity to get to taste foods from all over the world including Ukrainian, French, Italian, Turkish, Chinese, Korean, Latvian, and Polish specialties. It was interesting to see the different types of foods and try some things I have never heard of or tasted before. I know I will never have an opportunity like this again so I made the most of it by tasting everything up until the point where I could not physically eat any more. We had a lot of fun making the food even though we did not win. The Turkish won as they cooked many different types of food from spring rolls to deserts. I really enjoyed the Ukraine’s potato cakes and also the Italians homemade pizzas even though they arrived much later, as it is their tradition to have dinner much later than we do. I’m looking forward to the rest of this weekend as we are having a barbeque.

 

Week 9 - Proffessional Developement : ( Visit to School's) 10/03/12 - 16/03/12

This weekend I went to Goteborg to see my first ever ice hockey game. There was a great atmosphere as it was the last match of the season and a very close game with Goteborg losing by one point in the last few minutes of the game. 

Caroline, Me & Linda

This week we visited two more schools as part of our field study in which we have to write a twelve-page report on the inclusion of children with Special Educational Needs and the differences between the system here in Sweden in comparison to Northern Ireland. It was interesting to visit different schools and gain an insight into how each school caters for SEN pupils. Firstly, we visited Magnus Åbergsgymnasiet särskola, Trollhättan where we interviewed Anna a social pedagogical worker. The school was a secondary school for students aged 16 to 20.

I noticed that students at the age of sixteen choose the field of study in which they would like to have a future career compared to the age of eighteen In Northern Ireland; I felt this age was very young to make such an important decision. However, the Swedish education is free for all so students can always change their career path if they feel that the course is not for them unlike in Northern Ireland were we pay for our education.

Furthermore, we had a wonderful opportunity of observing the Special school were many children with severe learning difficulties and it was interesting to see how they were educated. The main subjects which they could study were Merchandising, Hotel and restaurant, Construction and Caring. The subjects focused very much on developing core life skills which these students would need to survive and also to provide them with skills and training to gain employment. However, if a student is exceptionally talented they are integrated into other mainstream classes such a higher carpentry class.

My second visit was to Lextorpsskolans a Special School for pupils who have Autism. We had a meeting with a behaviourist who give us an insight into how the system works in Sweden. The school was very homely and had a TV room and a kitchen within the classroom. There is a lot of one to one teaching and every child has their own individual timetable.

On Friday I had my first visit to the school I will be teaching at in April called ‘Fridaskolan.’ There are two Fridaskolans one in Vänersborg and Trollhättan. Karin a teacher from the Fridoskolan in Vänersborg who has close links with University West kindly collected us from our accommodation. She drove myself, Megan, Rebecca and Emma a student from Manchester to both schools. Emma and I will spend our placement in Vänersborg the neighbour town of Trollhattan. Karin introduced us to the staff, the teacher and classes which we will be with during our placement. Karin has been very helpful and has placed us in Schools according to our interests therefore, I will have the wonderful opportunity of been in the sixth grade with pupils aged 11, who can speak English. It will be great to teach the class English as a Foreign Language after completing the TEFL course in Stranmillsis. Furthermore, I have access to wonderful resources such as a sports arena, and separate rooms for practical subjects such as Science, Art, and even language rooms. 

Fridaskolan

It was great to see both schools and feel of the atmosphere of this school. I think teaching in this school will be a different experience than teaching in schools in Northern Ireland. I have already noticed that the school environment is much more informal and relaxed than in Northern Ireland. Schools in Sweden also have no uniforms. Pupils can wear anything they wish to school. The children are free to walk around the classroom and school wearing no shoes as it is the Swedish culture to take off your shoes indoors. However, children also choose what they want to eat themselves and can walk with hot food through the corridors to their classroom which would be seen as a health and safety issue in schools in Northern Ireland. The children here are much more independent. I will look forward to teaching in this school and sharing more experiences on how the Fridaskolan works.

Week 8 - Cultural and Proffesional Development ( Road trip to Malmo - Copenhagen and our first school visit.) 03/03/12 - 09/03/12

This weekend Megan, Jakub and I set off on a road trip to Malmo and Copenhagen. It was great having the use of a car for the first time in 2 months and not having to catch a bus or a  train. On our drive to Malmö which is the southernmost province of Sweden the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. The first thing we spotted as we approached Malmo was the tallest building in Scandinavia known as The Turning Torso which is a high-rise sky scraper. We managed to direct ourselves to it with Megan’s good navigation skills and Jakub’s good driving and of course the excellent motorway which reaches right into the city centre. The design is based on Santiago Calatrava’s “Twisting Torso” sculpture and there is a creative 90-degree twist in the entire building.

Christiania 

After our brief but enjoyable visit to Malmo we then travelled on to Copenhagen to meet the other Erasmus students who were travelling there by train. It’s only 45 min by car but the journey was very exciting as we drove over the Öresund Bridge, the longest bridge in Europe which connects Sweden and Denmark. After booking into our hostel we made our way to the centre of Copenhagen. We couldn’t believe it when we met Mary, Michael, and Niall on the main street of Copenhagen. It turned out that they were staying in the same hostel as us, so it was great to catch up with them and share some experiences of University life here in Sweden. Copenhagen was full of wonderful places to see and we did our best to get round as many as we could but I will definitely not forget Christiania (a free town within Copenhagen well known for it’s hash trade) and the smell of people freely smoking illegal substances. It is also well known for its inhabitant’s love of meditation and yoga and abroad it is celebrated as a showcase of the progressive and liberated Danish lifestyle. So leaving this cultural experience behind us we returned home early on Sunday to prepare for our first school visit.

Us in the centre trying out some danish mediatation

On Monday as part of my field studies for the module on Inclusion of Special Needs I had the opportunity to visit a school in Vanersburg close to Trollhattan known as ‘Norra Skolan’.  This was my first experience of the Swedish primary education system and when myself, Megan and Rebbecca arrived we had a warm and enthusiastic welcome from a Special Educational Needs (SEN) teacher called Camilla. This particular school had two separate classes for those with learning difficulties (such as autism and ADHD). A class for the younger children aged 7 – 9 and the older group aged 10 -12. This was a new experience for me as during my previous placements in Northern Ireland I had not encountered specific classes catering for those with SEN in a mainstream school and I was delighted to have the opportunity to experience this method of inclusion.  

The children attended music in the morning which was taken by a specialist teacher, this was followed by some mathematics lessons and in the evening we were privileged to join in the cooking of apple pie and cream. The children’s behaviour and ability to organise themselves even the very young was in such contrast to what I have experienced so far in my teaching practice. This is definitely something I think is very positive about the Swedish culture. I think the resources in the school were excellent and it was great to learn more about how the Swedish education system works including the fact that school dinners are free for all including staff. I felt very welcome at this school and am looking forward to visiting other schools in Trollhattan next week.

Week 7 – Cultural Development : (Stockholm Adventures!) 25/02/12 - 02/-02/12

My best effort to smile for the camera in freezing water

We had an early rise after a late night to embrace the wonderful opportunity of going on the Viking Shauna Tour organized by the hostel City backpackers along with a group of international students. We travelled to a lake with a Swedish tour guide giving us lots of information about the town. I noticed how the tour guide started running to make the train; Swedish people do not like to wait the extra five minutes until the next train arrives, so we all ran after her.  When we arrived I was amazed by the beautiful scenery and the wooden Shauna platform floating on the freezing lake which we eventually jumped into. We used the ladder to carefully enter the water as it was freezing but by the end, after several dips and running in and out of the Shauna I got the courage to jump. She told us that this is a very popular activity in Sweden and now I can understand why as it is very addictive. However, usually people rent the saunas and take it out into the lake and drink champagne. To rent this it is extremely expensive so we were lucky to experience this trip especially with a group of International students including some Irish, American, Canadian and Australian from Umea University a partner of Stranmillis.

'Gamla Stan'

We visited some lovely places in Stockholm on Saturday including the most charming part the Old Town (Gamla Stan.) It reminded me of the Haga District in Goteburg. The old town is the original Stockholm and was set up during the 1300 century. Most buildings are from the 1700 and 1800 century. There were lots of lovely cafes and souvenir shops where I bought some postcards. The buildings here were in perfect condition. The tour guide informed us that  you would never  see a building in Stockholm with a patch of paint falling off, which I found very true. We also experienced the changing of the guard an extremely popular event at the Royal Palace as well as visiting Stockholms Stadshus (City Hall.) Later, we went to the Ice bar hotel. I had never been to one before so it was lots of fun and we received a lovely cocktail called a snowflake served  in an ice glass. I have decided that I love Stockholm and the city’s great buzz but it’s time to catch the 8 am train to return to our new home in Trollhattan.

Changing of the guard at the Royal Palace.

This week the Sun has been blinding me every morning.  While it lasted we decided to take full advantage of  this nice weather and  we went to watch the sunset with the Erasmus group here at University West. We went to the waterfalls area which is very beautiful and climbed to the top to get the best view we possibly could.

Trollhättan's Waterfalls.

We also attended a conference this week on Dating Violence; the conference was based on changing attitudes to dating violence in adolescents which relates alot to teaching children. It was very interesting.  We attended the CAVA conference dinner in the Kung Oscar Hotel where we had access to unlimited food and hot chocolate and it was a great opportunity to talk with the other lectures and discuss some issues related to teaching. During the conference we were privileged to watch the opening of the waterfall (vattenfall) in Trollhättan.



 On Thursday evening, we enjoyed a full course meal and had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Trollhättan. I tasted herring pâté and wild hog for the first time and it was delicious. The weeks keep getting more exciting and busier as Megan and I will set off on a Road trip to Malmo and Copenhagen this weekend.