Week 11 in Copenhagen

Personal Development

This week, routine was well established again and early mornings (6.30am) greeted me each day in order to make it to my first lesson at school for 8am. It was great to feel a little more familiar with the routine in school and how things worked. The staff and the pupils have been so welcoming to us and I am really enjoying my placement school so far.



The weather has been so amazing this week and you could almost say that Summer has arrived. On Friday afternoon, I went to the Botanical Gardens with Katie and we sat in the sun for a couple of hours, chilling out after a busy week, the gardens were so quiet and you would not have known that you were right in the centre of town. One of the evenings, I went for a swim and the pool where I swim has a glass roof, the sun was shinning through and it honestly felt like I was in Spain- long may the good weather last! It is quite a change from the snowy Denmark I was faced with on my arrival.



Cultural Development



This week I was really looking forward to Monday night as my friend Matt was in Copenhagen with his band Two Door Cinema Club, it was great to get the opportunity to see a Northern Irish band playing in Copenhagen and also to hear a few familiar accents!



On Wednesday evening, I went to the theatre in Kongens Nytorv to see Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Nights’ Dream’. It was very interesting to go and see as this is often a text, which is studied for GCSE English Lit. The theatre was a very grand building, I even got to stand out on the balcony and took in amazing view of the New Harbour area of Copenhagen. The next night the Queen of Denmark was expected to go and see the play as part of her birthday celebrations so the theatre was already being prepared for her visit.



It was the Queens’ 70th birthday on Friday so many people flocked to the city to see her drive past in her carriage, unfortunately I did not make it to see the parade, however I made it down to the city later in the afternoon to soak up on some of the atmosphere. Many Danes also had the Danish flag on display in their homes as a sign of nationality and respect for the Queens’ birthday celebrations.




Professional Development.

On Monday, I spent the majority of the day with Grade 8- we spent most of the day preparing and discussing what they will be doing for their project exam. In Denmark, pupils get a two week period to complete a project and are taken off timetable to be given time in school to complete the project work. Most of the pupils in my class have decided to research the theme of ‘oprar and frihed’ ,which translates roughly to the concept of war and freedom. The pupils have come up with so many great ideas for their projects and I am already excited to see the end outcome of all their hard work. One group has decided to look at the troubles in Northern Ireland, so we have been helping them with ideas for the project.

On Monday, the Grade 8 class we allocated time to work in the ‘Eat Me’ café in their school. They are given the responsibility of preparing the sandwiches, salads and other healthy snacks for the pupils in the school who order food from the centre. It is a great concept and the pupils learn so many skills whilst working under the supervision of the café manager. The café is very modern, each pupil is given a t-shirt while working in the café which makes them feel part of the staff- it is a very clever and worth while initiative in my opinion. I think schools in Northern Ireland should look into the possibility of such an initiative in our schools.

On Tuesday, I had an evening class at UCC which gave us time to catch up with our Erasmus class and also to feedback on our experience in schools so far. As well as working on the projects this week, the Grade 8 class were given another task of lifting rubbish from the local community. They were given the morning to collect rubbish from a local park, in return the council gave the class a certain amount of money which they could use for a school trip. I thought this was an excellent idea and gave pupils an element of social responsibility whilst being rewarded for their efforts. This also gave us the opportunity to chat with the pupils and hear more about what it is like to go to school and grow up in Copenhagen.

I have also been working on my Comparative Education group project, we spent time this week asking teachers questions about the Danish School system in regard to the title of our project. We then have to write up our findings and also a response in relation to our home countries and give a presentation next Wednesday evening to our class. So as you can see, it has been a very busy week.

Hope everyone is well! Speak soon. G.

Week 10 in Copenhagen

Personal Development

Week 10 hard to believe, over half way through my time here and this week has gone so quickly once again. This week I started at my placement school and also had a number of social things planned for the evening time. I really enjoyed getting into school and back into a routine after having a week off. It was great to see a bit more life about the city after it being almost like a vacant town for a number of days.

This week I was invited to a Danish couple’s home on Wednesday evening, who I have got friendly with from Fredricksberg, it was so kind of them to invite us to their home and it was great getting to know them a bit better. They both work in education so it was great sharing and exchanging experiences of education with them. It was also great to hear a little more about Copenhagen from local people. They also made us a lovely traditional Danish meal. Katie and I made cheesecake to bring with us to the meal, although the final product was delicious (even if I do say so myself) the state of our kitchen was similar to that of a disaster zone.



It was also really great to get back to the pool again. I am really lucky to have a 50m pool near to my flat and it is fairly cheap to go for a swim. One thing is that it is often difficult to find the time as the pool closes on a Monday and then is only open at certain periods during the rest of the week. It is amazing to have such a great facility so close.

I have loved that the weather has improved so much this week and the sun has been out almost everyday! I have even had sunglasses and flips flops on, quite a change from the hats, gloves and scarves from a few months ago.

Cultural Development.



This week we had another food event that was arranged by a number of our Erasmus classmates. Each country was to prepare something traditional from their home country. All of the recipes were put together in a cookbook and everyone helped to prepare the meals. All of the European countries made amazing meals. Northern Ireland were asked to prepare the coffee afterwards and we managed to burn the shortbread that we made and also the milk for the hot chocolate, good work team Northern Ireland! We did manage to save some of the shortbread so it was not a complete disaster, but a very funny and enjoyable evening!





I have also seen a lot of commercial areas during this week in Copenhagen, I went to Magasins and Illum two of the large department stores in Denmark, similar to that of House of Fraser or Harrods in some cases, especially in relational to the prices- they were so expensive. I also went one afternoon to Fields, which is the biggest mall in Scandinavia, it really was huge and so different to the smaller stores in Copenhagen’s city centre. On Wednesday, I also visited Bella Centre, which is on the metro line and where the Copenhagen Climate Summit took place, it was interesting to visit the newly developed area. It was clear that a lot of young professionals lived in this area and it contained a lot of very well designed apartments. A number of people from our class also arranged a trip to Ikea, as apparently you have to visit an Ikea in a Scandinavian country, however in my opinion it was identical to that of the one in Holywood exchange- it was great, however to get some cheap lunch at the store!



Professional Development.

First week in school and I could not wait to start to see how Danish schools worked after hearing so much about them over the last two months. I am in a state school not far from my town, the school has about seven hundred pupils from six to sixteen years, schools in Denmark are not split into primary and secondary like in Northern Ireland. On the first day we meet with one of our teacher tutors, unfortunately the other was ill this week, so I hope to meet her next week. We got a tour of the school and were introduced to a number of our classes. There is a lovely relaxed atmosphere in the school and the teachers are addressed by their first names and the children and teachers dress in casual clothing- which is obviously very different from home. There is a great pupil/ teacher relationship between the pupils and staff and it is so apparent to see the mutual respect and family atmosphere in the school.

I found it great to get to chat to the pupils and I was so impressed at their English, especially the younger children. On two of the days we were asked to give presentations from our home countries in the library and a number of classes came at different times to hear the talks from Katie and I (Northern Ireland) and Julia (Austria). It was amazing how interested the pupils seemed to be, and this was shown through their many questions, which were fantastic. We also got an excellent opportunity to ask the children questions about their experience of living and going to school in Denmark.

I spent the majority of class time with Grades 7 and 8, it was interesting to note and reflect upon the structure of a lesson in comparison to lessons structures in Northern Ireland. I think I have been given such a opportunity to gain more insight into what it means to be a reflective practitioner as I now not only have one view of an education system. One of the afternoons we spent in cookery class, this was an excellent chance to talk to the pupils and get to know them as well as picking up a few cookery tips. The classes in Denmark stay together through their school career, so it was obvious to see that the pupils knew each other very well. It is common in Denmark for school to start at 8 o’clock but on some of the days the pupils leave school shortly after lunch, if pupils stay in the afternoon the often have the opportunity to take part in handicraft, woodwork or cookery classes.

This week many of the classes had taken part in a music festival where they performed songs that they had written, we got the opportunity to see the show and it is clear that pupils in Denmark are very much encouraged to be creative in school and a lot of time and effort was put into producing these songs and the final show.

Next week we are going to be helping pupils with their project exams, which is a large part of the Danish school system and I am really looking forward to seeing how this is organised and what work the pupils will produce.

Hope that you have had a great week and are all looking forward to getting back to routine after your Easter break!

Speak soon. G.

Week 9 in Copenhagen

Personal Development

This week has been a very quiet and relaxing week, uni has finished for Easter break, however it has been typical that the weather has been awful- it rained for a substantial part of the week. I found it quite strange to be in Copenhagen over the Easter weekend as the town was almost empty- everything closed for a number of days and there were not many people about the city. It was great however to enjoy the time to relax and catch up on things after a busy term. I spent a lot of time going for walks (as the pool was closed also). It was nice to walk through the city without the usual crowds, however at times it seemed quite eerie having so few people in the city centre. I really enjoyed having the time this week to explore a couple of new places such as the Opera House and also to prepare myself for the next part of the semester.



Cultural Development

Over the Easter weekend, I went to a number of Easter services in the town. It was great to see how Danes celebrated over the Easter period. One thing that I have noticed is that there is not the same commercial hype towards Easter Eggs, children still receive eggs, however not on the same quantity as children (and adults!) at home. I went to a service on Easter Sunday at the Vineyard church in Fredericksberg, and then also to a service at the state church on the Easter Monday. In the service on Monday, the priest was talking about new life and what the cross represented ( or what I could tell from my limited Danish) and then the congregation were asked to put a daffodil ( again a symbol of new life) into a model of the cross. I have noticed that people in Denmark are very respectful of faith and religion – the state church plays a large part in the community, especially in the town where I am living.



As you can tell from the empty city centre a lot of people tend to go away for the Easter period. It is quite often the case that people in Copenhagen have moved here because of jobs or university, so many people head back to other parts of Denmark to be with their families over the Easter break. Danish families often have a family meal (similar to Northern Ireland) on the Easter Sunday and they often display the Danish flag, many of the churches had the flag on display over the Easter period. I really like the way the Danes have pride in their country and show this pride at special occasions, it is nice that the flag can be shown without being political.

Professional Development.

This week we clearly have had no classes as it is the Easter break. I have however, been looking forward to starting my teaching placement. I have also been trying to think about what area I would like to research and write about for my individual assignment that I have to complete during the month of May. As you can tell I have lots to think about over the next couple of weeks. I am really looking forward to seeing all of the theory in practice once I start my school placement, it will be great to see how the Danish school system works.





Hope that everyone is well and has had a lovely Easter break!

Take care. G.

Week 8 in Copenhagen

Personal Development

This has been a fantastic week, extremely busy, but great. I have been really busy with university work, however I have had some great evenings in Copenhagen, hanging out with friends. An added bonus has been the fact that the weather has been amazing, everyday the sun has been shinning and there have been some amazing sunsets as we walk home in the evenings. The weather has changed so quickly- it is hard to believe that only a few weeks ago there was copious amounts of snow still lying in the ground. On Thursday afternoon, I had no class and I went into Frederiksberg for a walk in the park as it was such a nice day. In previous weeks, I had told you about the huge hill were many people gathered to go sleighing, this week there was a different social gathering of people enjoying pic-nics and even ice cream whilst sitting on the hill facing Fredicksberg castle.




This week I have tried to make the most of the time in class with the Erasmus students. The reason for this is that after Easter we will all be teaching in different schools across central and suburban Copenhagen, therefore, we will not see as much of each other and many of the students are leaving after the three-month period and not staying on for the individual assignment in May like I am. I am really looking forward to some of the social activities that we have planned for over Easter and into April- We have decided to have an International food event, every represented country will be providing speciality food and drink from their culture. It is hoped that everyone from our class will attend, along with many of our tutors.

I can’t believe I am now nearly at the half way stage, it is amazing how quickly the time has passed, how many good friends I have made, how many places I have explored and seen and also how much information I have learned- not to mention how quickly I have settled into the way of life in Denmark. I am so glad I have been given the opportunity to be a part of the Erasmus International programme in Blaagaard.

Cultural Development

Talking about settling into the way of life in Copenhagen, I had to go to complete my temporary residency form this week. Within Denmark , you are not able to stay longer than a period of ninety days without applying for temporary residency- Katie and I both went and afterwards we felt very strange, especially after the lady at the desk told us our residency form would be with us in a matter of weeks. It is a pity I cannot speak fluent Danish, or I would have definitely felt Danish afterwards. This week however, a Danish person actually thought that I was from Copenhagen, I took that as a compliment!



On Tuesday evening, I went to a small theatre in Osterbro, the theatre only held about eighty people. The play was in English and it was a monologue comedy. Our land lady invited us along as her friends’ son-in-law was the actor. It was very enjoyable, I have never been to such a small theatre before , it was a really different kind of atmosphere. People in Copenhagen often have concerts, theatre, plays and musical events planned in the evening and it is surprising how well priced they are, considering we are in Copenhagen, where everything is overpriced compared to at home.

Professional Development.

Last week, I told you about the tender for the Multi-cultural classroom presentation that I had been preparing for. On Monday, we all had twenty minutes to present our findings. We had to focus on a number of key elements, policies and ethos of the school, resources and structure of the classroom as well as staffing. We had to present in a way which combined theory with practice. It was really beneficial to hear about the variety of approaches by different groups. We were really pleased to find out that our group won the tender for the school- based on the storyline method of teaching.

We spent the majority of Tuesday morning presenting the work which we had completed on the Wiki pages in relation to Visual Culture. You can have a look at the work my group had completed by following the links below. I found this task to be extremely informative, not only in the content but also in the methods used to present of research, in relation to Wiki pages and also Podcasts.

http://erasmus2010.wikispaces.com/Group+4

(Task1 – Libraries in higher institutions & Task2 – Karen Blixen Museum)

On Wednesday we spent time in our Danish class recapping on a lot of the content we have covered over the last two months, as well as explaining a little about our family trees. On Wednesday evening, Globalisation and professional change considered the issue of there being one universal approach for education, or must national priorities be taken into consideration. We spent time working in groups and then we discussed our findings through a debate.




Hope everyone is well and is looking forward to Easter break.

Speak soon. G.