Home on a boat

Week 17 (16/05/16) – Professional and Cultural

Crêpes at Nyhavn 

Between picnicking with ice-cream in the park after church and enjoying homemade crêpes along the water’s edge at Nyhavn, we have had a busy week trying to spend time with as many people as we can before we return home. There are mixed feelings of nostalgia and procrastination in the flat as we are strangely beginning to do a lot of things for "the second last time" and the day when we have to open our suitcases and begin packing is fast approaching!

This week saw us visit our fourth and final Danish school, Trongårdsskolen, which is surrounded by Jӕgersborg Dyrehave, the deer park that we visited in April. Rather than going to the school itself, we met a group of Grade 7 pupils along with their teachers at the entrance to the forest and spent the morning engaging in some outdoor activities with them. I was quite surprised at the flexibility of the school timetable which permitted the teachers and students to abandon classroom teaching for a large portion of the school day in order to meet with us. Apart from having the opportunity to develop their English talking and listening skills, no formal work or assessment of any sort took place. This epitomises the relaxed, flexible approach in Danish schools, as outlined by the Danish Ministry of Education (2003, p. 1) who note that “The teaching of the school and its daily life must…build on intellectual freedom, equality and democracy.” Indeed this informal, democratic ethos, which permits time to be allocated for activities such as those that we engaged in with the students, is notably different to what we are used to in Northern Ireland where the structure is not as flexible and teachers are much more restricted by specific subject and curriculum requirements.

'Speed dating' with Danish pupils

The importance of students developing their social interaction skills was also reiterated to me as we engaged in ‘speed dating’ and other social interaction games with the pupils. The General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (2011, p. 45) note the importance of this, claiming that teachers should “…work with colleagues and others to create a professional community that supports the social…development of pupils.” Indeed, I believe that having many opportunities to interact with Danish pupils during the last four months has contributed to my professional development in terms of my recognition of the importance of developing students’ social skills and my ability to use my own skills to communicate with students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

 

Last Monday, we had the opportunity to experience more of the beautiful Danish coast during a trip to Tisvildeleje in the north of Zealand. At the peak of the fortnight-long heatwave, we basked in the 27⁰C sun, enjoyed an ice-cream and even managed to get a swim in the Baltic Sea; it was absolutely beautiful and another welcome day away from the business of city life.

 

Beach huts at Tisvildeleje

Swimming in the Baltic Sea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had another, slightly more terrifying, encounter with the water on Saturday when we went canoeing with our small group from church in the Lyngby Lakes. Stuck in a three-man canoe with Emma and Naomi who insisted on purposely rocking it back and forth, I was, at times, absolutely petrified! However, when the rocking stopped and we got into rhythm, we were home on a boat and spent the morning laughing at our two Indonesian friends, Anne and Lente, who persistently kept rowing into the bushes; a very memorable time was had by all!

 

Canoeing in the Lyngby Lakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all our adventures for this week, farvel!

Reference List

Danish Ministry of Education (2003) The Folkeskole (Consolidation) Act, available at http://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/media/docs/db4e18f1f260d4ef8ea9ca6e1d4e08d4532fc083.pdf (accessed 16/05/16).

General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (2011) Teaching: the Reflective Profession, Belfast, General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland.