Uge Otte (Week 8: 15.03.12 - 22.03.12) - Professional Development

Today I had my first visit to my teaching practice school in Herlev.  It is a large school with approximately 800 students ranging from Kindergarten, Primary and right through until Secondary.  I found it very strange and surprising that all three levels of education were in the same building as in Northern Ireland each different schooling level are normally in different locations.  However, after spending time at the school I think it is a good idea as it provides consistency for the children and there is no fear about entering a new environment.

The teaching style and school atmosphere is completely different to that in Northern Ireland.  Children wear their own clothes and teachers also dress casually.  The children call the teacher by their first name which is a complete opposite to schools at home but I have found that I like this approach as it is more personal and allows the children to view the teacher as more approachable and not someone superior to them.

The crocodiles performing in the school play.

We began the school day at 8am which seemed so early to myself and the other student; Anna, from Ireland.  However, the German and Austrian students placed with us are used to this in their country.  We spent the morning with a 1^st Grade Music class, which was very interesting and I even got to practice my Danish with the children.  The atmosphere in the school can only be summed up as free.  Children are allowed to do what they want whether that is sitting on tables or running around the corridor.  There are positives and negatives to this approach and it is definitely in stark comparison to schools in Northern Ireland.  The teacher explained that some of the children have behavioural problems but as she doesn’t have a Classroom Assistant it is difficult to do much teaching.  The children are very independent and are not afraid to talk or interrupt the teacher where as at home, schools are a lot stricter and the children must raise their hand to speak.  It was a very interesting experience to observe a completely different teaching style and how it worked.  I spent the rest of my time with a 9^th Grade Danish class.  Admittedly I was very nervous about this and preferred to be with a younger class but as there were only ten teenagers it was quite nice.  We all introduced ourselves in English and the class asked us questions in English.  Anna and I had to then explain the difference between the North and South of Ireland; a topic I find we are often questioned on and often don’t know the answer.  Often people either know nothing about our history or only the negative press and trying to explain our history simply in a few minutes is difficult so normally we compare our differences in currency, language/accent etc.  People are usually surprised at the diversity of such a small country!

I throughougly enjoyed my first experience of a Danish school and I am looking forward to gaining further insights when I visit next week.  Comparing our school culture with Denmark has proved more interesting and different that I thought it would be and it is definitely provoking my curiosity as to how and why their system differs to our own.