Vecka Femton

This week I will continue with the professional blog from last week, reflecting on my week on placement. As this is the last term of primary school for the children. The children have very few classes as they are allowed ‘to relax’ before beginning life in secondary education. Because of this, I have seen very few lessons being taught over the past week. The children appear to have a lot of free time, or are working on projects which are already meant to be finished. During anytime where they have nothing to do, the pupils should take out their Ireland projects and work on them, however, I feel that I was asked to do this project as a ‘time-filler’, that the teacher didn’t have anything for them to do and so he asked me to carry out this project with the children. They can spend up to three hours throughout the course of the day working on the projects. I feel that this ‘time to relax’ is a very bad way to prepare children for secondary school. They will never get this in secondary school and shouldn’t get into the habit of becoming lazy. I know for certain in Ireland, pupils would barely get a week of this not to mention a whole term of few lessons. I know when I was in the last week of primary school, we did some fun lessons, art, music, P.E etc.. but only for one week, not a whole term. I think this is a bad habit for the children.

I have noticed that children here in Sweden are very respectful of each other and of adults. Discipline doesn’t seem to be an issue for teachers to deal with at all. In both schools I worked in, I have never heard the teachers raise their voices once. I have spoken to the teachers regarding this and they have all said that children will do their work with little or no talking, and also without any debate which I have had to deal with before. I feel that children in Ireland lack the respect for others, whether this has to do with culture or they way we were brought up, I don’t know. On many occasions I have also seen the teacher leave the room for various reasons and the children remain in their seats continuing with their project work, I know for a fact, if this was done in Ireland, pupils would be up moving around the room messing with each other. This is definitely one of the things that has amazed me most during placement, the respect pupils have for each other and the teacher. How the pupils take responsibility for their work and need little or no instruction to do so.

If only our classrooms were so quiet and full of hard workers, I feel that teaching would be so much easier without the constant battle to get pupils to work.