Vecka Fem - Understanding Cultures

Since coming here I have been given the opportunity of learning about many different cultures and how their education systems work. Our regular class presentations enable each of us to gain a better cultural understanding of countries from all over the globe. In this blog I hope to give you and insight into some of the interesting facts I have learned since starting study here.

In both China and Turkey teachers to have to work with large numbers in the classroom, in China for example 80-100 pupils is quite common in all classrooms. Imagine in Northern Ireland people complain of large class numbers when a teacher has over 30 pupils. I couldn’t imagine being able to remember each pupil’s name. It would also be impossible to develop a personal relationship with each pupil – something that I think is very important for a teacher and pupil to have.

In Sweden and in China, the common age for pupils to being primary school is 7 years old. I personally feel that this is quite late, especially when I can see what children are capable of at school in P1. Many students in our class were quite amazed at the fact that pupils can read and write many letters and words in P1, and also that in Ireland pupils also learn to speak Irish from the age of 4. It is normal in China and Sweden for children of this age to remain engaged in play activities all the time until they begin school at 7.

I also learned that in most of the countries we have learned about (around 10) teachers haven’t as much of a status as many others careers and aren’t paid very well either. On a recent visit to a vocational school we were told that particularly here in Sweden, there are very few post-primary teachers; something which I was shocked at as teaching is a career that many people at home tend to choose. Also the wages for teachers in Ireland/Northern Ireland seem to be significantly more than other parts of Europe.

We also had a discussion about disciplining the children. Many Asian students talked of how teachers in Asia are allowed to hit the children with a long stick. We were all quite shocked at this, but whenever we then talked about how in Northern Ireland it is not even permitted to hug a child or allow it to sit or your knee, most people were gob-smacked! They couldn’t understand how we comfort an upset child without engaging with he/she. This is completely normal in most other countries, we also learned of teachers carrying younger pupils around in the playground, something which would be unacceptable in most cases in Northern Ireland.

In Stockholm there are small schools which have no classrooms but rather one large room where all pupils work together., called Vittra Schools. In this school pupils are grouped in accordance to their ability not their age. I feel that this system would be very beneficial to pupils all over the world as not all pupils of the same age range have the same abilities. I think that it would be good to have some of these schools in Northern Ireland also for pupils who do not match the same ability range as their peers.

I am really enjoying my class – Intercultural Competence and Understanding, as I learn more and more about other cultures and how their education systems operate. I often come out of class wondering how we would have turned out had we attended some of the schools we have heard about.

Vecka fyra

 This week my sister was over visiting. We went to Stockholm where we did some sightseeing. We went to the Royal Palace which was exciting as I’ve never seen one before. We also saw the changing of the guards where there was a short parade. We also saw some beautiful sights of Sweden during our travels around. We also went skiing for a day which was unbelievable, and we survived with no injuries! During the ski trip I noticed the tiny children, some no more than 4 years old skiing down the mountain with absolutely no fear. I was amazed as children of this age at home can’t even tie their shoes and here are children putting on their own skis, getting the chairlift up the mountain, and skiing down successfully all by themselves. It’s amazing to see the difference in cultures, even for little things such as this.

In front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm

We also went to an ice-hockey match with some friends which was exciting as I’ve never seen one before. We were standing in a perfect spot for the game as we were beside all the real fans, chanting and playing drums. As all the chants were in Swedish they were quite difficult so we will have to get practising for the next time we go to one.

My sister and I also went to Goteborg this week. I absolutely loved it. It is a fantastic city. W e went to a huge park which had a small zoo in it and I got to see an elk! We also went to an aquarium where we saw some sharks and some really beautiful fish.

During my travels throughout Sweden I noticed that there are not very many people suffering from poverty or homelessness. Compared to Ireland where one could note poorer people/homeless on almost every street, I think on my trip here and after visiting the different cities I noticed three in total. Presumably this is due to the high tax rates and the benefits which people can avail from due to these. It’s seems that most Swedish people are of the one class whereas in Ireland one can clearly notice the differences in people from different areas.  I think Ireland could learn a trick or two from the Swedish system!

I met up with my buddy again this week. She was helping me to practise my Swedish. I’m still working on it, it’s very difficult, but I’m getting there, hopefully by the end of the semester I will be able to have a full conversation!

Until next time.....

Vecka tre - School life

It’s not getting and warmer here in Vȁxjӧ it was -20 at some points! But it’s great to still have the snow, everything looks so much nicer.

This week I was enabled to look at elements of professional life here in Sweden. We had the opportunity to visit a vocational high school where we met with the principal who had excellent English and told us many interesting facts. He told us about the school, staff, facilities and courses on offer. In the school there was a bakery, a garage for mechanics a media room, a painting and crafting studio, and a hairdressing and beauty salon. This high school was rather similar to what we would call a ‘tech’. I had never been in a tech before and so I was amazed at the facilities a school would have and we also had the opportunity of watching a number of pupils at work. Some of the pupils showed us some of their work and talked about the college in general. We also got to taste some chocolates which the students were making in the cookery school. They were delicious!  It was a great opportunity for us to view other options for when students finish school.

We also visited a pre-school where unlike Ireland students are of the age range 1-7 years old. In Sweden pupils start primary education at the age of 7, many people wonder how we can start at 4! This visit was a brilliant opportunity to observe the children from as small as 1 year old working and interacting together yet they were still so tiny! This particular pre-school teaches the children through music. We observed a lesson for the class of 5 year olds. I loved watching the children singing and dancing in the lesson, they weren’t even distracted by us students being there which was great! This visit enabled us to observe the pupils in each of the different age groups, we could notice the differences as they got older but it was amazing to see what the youngest were even capable of.

We will also be making trips to primary school’s here which I am looking forward to. We will be able to observe the progress from the pre-school to primary. We will also be able to compare and contrast with primary school’s which we have observed at home.

My sister is coming over to visit next week and so I’m sure I’ll have many exciting stories from that!

Hej dӧ!

Vecka två i Sweden

This week we began our proper classes. One of our classes is about Intercultural Understanding. The teacher discusses the Swedish system, both education and Swedish systems in general. She then invites us all to discuss similarities and differences between our systems. This is very interesting as in our class there are students from many different countries who have varying opinions and points of view. One particular aspect which I found interesting is that education including university is all free here in Sweden. Students also get a monthly grant from the government so assist with funding university. Many students from other countries also spoke about their little fees and government assistance which they can avail from. This is clearly a huge benefit for Swedes who must pay such high taxes.

In class, each person or group of people from a country also have to make a short presentation about their country. We have learned a little about Australia and Germany and so were able to make comparisons between all. Angela, Michael, Niall and I will be doing one on Ireland on Monday and so I’ll talk about that next week.

Last week my flatmates and I had a ‘family dinner’. Here we made a dish from our own country and the brave ones tasted each others. I cooked an Irish stew which all the girls tasted and seemed to have enjoyed. Some of the exotic foods over here do not appeal to me and so I didn’t taste a seaweed soup which the Vietnamese girl made. Maybe someday I’ll become more exotic! This was a great sociable evening where we all got to know a bit about each other. With all of us in different courses and in class at different times, I rarely see my flatmates and so I think we will make this ‘family’ dinner a weekly thing. 

I have also met my buddy this week. She is a Swedish girl and is lovely. She has shown me around campus and told me a little about Sweden in general. She has another Erasmus buddy who is from Finland. We met up for a ‘fika’, a coffee this week. It’s nice to finally talk to a Swedish person!

I started Swedish classes this week. I am in a class with many students who have done Swedish last semester and so it can sometimes be quite difficult to keep up, however I will continue to work at it and I know I’ll improve. It’s also quite difficult as they have three extra vowels which sound almost identical. I’m already learning lots of phrases and so with a little work I know I’ll have a good command of the language by the end of the course.

At the weekend Michael celebrated his birthday. We had a small dinner party which was really fun! There were 8 different nationalities in one room together which was cool. This experience becomes more and more interesting as we’re becoming close friends which such a diverse group of people.

It’s starting to get colder and colder now. The lakes are all frozen over enough for us to walk on, so I braved it eventually and walked out to the middle of the lake, scary! I think it’s -16 and the weekend! Hopefully it’ll snow some more too!