Four weeks to go!

Week 15 (02/05/16) – Professional and Cultural

With the countdown until we return home well and truly on and so many things still to do in Denmark, we have had an extremely busy week visiting different places, entertaining friends and, of course, doing assignments! I am ashamed to say that this week saw me mount a bicycle for the first time since arriving in Copenhagen, given the city’s world famous biking culture which is as old as the bicycle itself (The Official Website of Denmark, 2016). Inspired by the Danes, we were adamant that we had to bike at least once during our time here and, after a thoroughly enjoyable cycle along the beach, I think it’s safe to say we’ll definitely be doing it again!

Snail-themed display

A Grade 0 classroom

On Tuesday morning, we had the opportunity to visit a third Danish school, Skovbrynet Skole, which is located north of Copenhagen. It was encouraging to visit this school and see the well-resourced play areas and bright, colourful classrooms that I felt were lacking in my placement school. The enthusiasm amongst the teachers to integrate play and active learning into their lessons was also particularly inspiring. We spent the morning with the children from the two Grade 0 classes (6-7 years of age) and got involved in the Science, baking and creative activities that they were doing which were all based on the theme of ‘Snails’. The importance of thematic learning, which is advocated by the Northern Ireland primary curriculum (CCEA, 2007), was re-iterated to me during this time as it was clear that the connections that the children were making in their learning served to contribute to their overall understanding of the topic. Smith (2008) also makes this point, noting that connected learning provides suitable contexts for basic skills to be developed and gives teachers the opportunity to exploit children’s interests in ‘real world’ topics and contexts which usually cut across different subject boundaries. Indeed, I left Skovbrynet Skole inspired by the enthusiasm of the teachers to integrate more ‘real world’ topics into my teaching at home and use them as themes under which children can be involved in a range of hands-on, practical activities, in order to enable them to make relevant connections in their learning. 


Making pesto snails in the baking workshop

 




Designing and painting shells in the creative workshop

 



Experiments with snails in the Science workshop

This week, we also enjoyed a journey across The Øresund Bridge, the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe, which stretches 16km across the water and directly links Copenhagen to the Swedish city of Malmö (Visit Copenhagen, 2016). After the initial excitement of journeying across the bridge on the train, we took advantage of the beautiful sunshine as we walked around the distinctly Swedish streets, drank coffee in the quaint medieval ‘Lilla Torg’ and visited the architectural marvel that is the ‘Turning Torso’. By the time we arrived back in Copenhagen, our tired and aching legs were evidence of a thorough exploration around Malmö and an enjoyable day had by all!


The 'Turning Torso'

'Lilla Torg'

Our week ended with a visit to the small fishing village of Dragør, followed by a picnic in the park with our small group from church. This was a really memorable afternoon; I am extremely thankful for the relationships we have built up at church that have made our time in Copenhagen so special and I will certainly find it hard to say goodbye to a lot of people in the last few weeks that lie ahead!

 

Picnicking in the park!

 

Reference List

CCEA (Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment) (2007) The Northern Ireland Curriculum Primary, Belfast, CCEA.

Smith, J. (2008) ‘Reconciling subjects and contexts: the case for a pragmatic primary curriculum’, Educational Futures, 1 (2), pp.  62-74.

The Official Website of Denmark (2016) Bicycle Culture, available at http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/bicycle-culture/ (accessed 02/05/16).

 

Visit Copenhagen (2016) Øresund Bridge, available at http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/oresund-bridge-gdk711853 (accessed 02/05/16).