Erasmus+ Journal (Issue 2) 2013/14

Schulpraxis Örebro Spring

Internationella Engelska Skolan

Hagmarksgatan 39

702 16 Örebro

http://orebro.engelska.se/

Practice School (Photo:Mohr Daniela)

The school is only 15 minutes by foot away from the university.

Reflecion:

I had my school practice in the Internationella Engelska Skolan. My supervisor, Annika Müller, was very helpful and coordinated sometimes the lessons, when I had my school practice. In this school the teachers are addressed with their surname. My supervisor means that this is very special in this school, because in most of the other schools the teachers are addressed with their first name. In Austria it is normal that the pupils call the teachers with their surname. For example: Ms Mohr.

This school is a private school that means that the state is not the supporter of the school. You can compare it with a company. The school offers the grades between 4 and 9.

Every pupil in this school has an I-Pad. In this I-Pad are saved the most important documents of every subject. You can compare it with our moodle or PH Online. It includes the exercises, the homework and you can also save the panel of the teacher. The I-Pad has also an calendar, where every important date is included. Also the grades have been published on this software. Of course, the students were only able to see their own grades. I was surprised that the children do not only play with the I-Pad, they really work with them for school. I think they know the consequences if they play games. I’m not sure if that would also works in Austria.

My active parts in class were mostly the German lessons in grades 7 to 9, I told a lot of life in Austria. One day I told the pupils something about Austrian food. Unfortunately, the teacher told me that I should tell something about food one hour before the lesson. In that case, I had no PowerPoint to show the students the typical Austrian food with pictures.

In the German lessons the students usually solve some work sheets on their own, because in the following week were THE big exam week. Because of that reason, I went most of the time through the class and observed the students in solving the tasks. Of course I called attantion to mistakes and helped if they had questions. With older students you could already speak good in German and they liked it if they understood me. The younger pupils were usually too shy to talk in German and so I talked with them mostly in Englisch, due to be in touch with them. I was very surprised that most students had no problem with English.

A very special situation stucked in my mind. The students had to solve a listening comprehension. Here in Austria the teacher would turn on the radio and play the exercise twice to three times. In Sweden it was handled completely differently. The students had the exercise already on the I-Pad and each of them could solve the listening individually. I really liked that method.

I also visited several times the Class 5. I spent most hours in the subject "Sience fair". In this subject they worked on a project. The children worked in a group of two or three people and worked on a specific theme. The children could choose a topic in which they are very interested and in which they would like to learn more about it. The requirement was that the topic has to do something with science.

I was very surprised what topic the children chose. For example:

What happened in the brain when we are sleeping?
How does the tongue work?
How does smell affect taste?
How grow our bones and muscles?
The voice

I was very impressed about the chosen topics. These children are around 11 years and have these kinds of questions.

They have to include a purpose, a hypothesis, a research, an experiment and a conclusion. They can use the internet and some books to get the information.

For this project they have approximately 2 or 3 week and in the end of the project they have to present their outcomes with a poster. Independent people, that means they are not from the school, judge the poster and the presentation. The best group will win a price.

I visit the class in the end of the project and so I could see all the outcomes of this project. They were amazing. Especially the research and the experiment were very interesting.

Outcomes of a school project (Photo:Mohr Daniela)

I also visited class 4 in the subject textile handicrafts. The class is divided into two parts. One part had textile handcrafts and the other part had the technical subject. The children were about 10 years old and all of them was able to handle a sewing machine that was very amazing to me. The teacher told exactly what will happened in the lesson at the beginning and then she went through the class and help the children when sewing. During my observation, I found it quite amazing that the children helped each other if they had difficulties and they didn’t went immediately to the teacher.

Comparison of the school practice: Austria - Sweden

There are some differences between Austria and Sweden. One of these differences are for example the class room. As mentioned above, each child has an I-Pad for the lessons. Furthermore the classes were all equipped with a projector and a whiteboard. Unfortunately, you will find in Austria only a few class with such modern facilities.

There is a free hot lunch for each child in this school. You can choose between a vegetarian and a normal menu. Of course, you will find this possibility in Austria too, but I do not think this is for free.

But a most essential difference between Austria and Sweden is the kind of disciplining in the class. Here in Sweden misconduct of a pupil or a student is seen much more relaxed than in Austria.

Situation out of the classroom: The pupils in the classroom tinkered something and one of pupils threw all paper remainder on the floor. The teacher didn’t respond to the misconduct. At the end of the lesson everything had to be cleared away and without saying something the pupil cleared his part of the table.
Of course, I do not know, but I think that teachers in Austria have reacted differently in this situation.

In my outdoor education course, we designed a day with children in the forest. There I could see the attitude of the teachers very well. The students were given a lot of freedom when exploring the forest and the teacher told them no rules. Here I could see very well that the teachers let the children learn from their own experiences and of course errors. I think I don't have the composure to go with children without rules in the forest. I would be too scared that something wrong will happen.

Overview of the lessons:

Date	subject (each 1,5 or 2 hours)	Klasse
28. January	German lessons	Klasse 9
28. January	German lessons	Klasse 7
30. January	German lessons	Klasse 8
30. January	German lessons	Klasse 9
3. February	German lessons	Klasse 7
3. February	German lessons	Klasse 9
3. February	science fair	Klasse 5
5. February	science fair	Klasse 5
6. February	textile handicrafts	Klasse 4a
6. February	German lessons	Klasse8
10. February	science fair	Klasse 5
10. February	German lessons	Klasse 7
10. February	German lessons	Klasse 9

Daniela Mohr

Fyren EkAlmen

Braxenvägen 5

SE-705 10 Örebro

My school practice took place in the private school Fyren Ekalmen. This school is located a bit outside of Örebro, but is easy to reach by public transport. The first day I was welcomed very nice of my practice teacher (Sabina Segerlund). I was shown the school and the children were introduced to me.
Fyren EkAlmens guides the pupil to find tools and courage to meet and develop the future, through our watchwords SAFETY, RESPONSIBILITY, INNER MOTIVATION and SELFKNOWLEDGE. It was founded in 2012 by four teachers.

The school has an ambition, like the real lighthouse, to lead the path for our pupils.

The teachers want that every student feels safe with adults and peers around them.
They also want that every student feels recognized and respected. Students are welcomed and feel loved. The students also know w

hat they can and can not do.

The school also wants every student shows respect for their peers.

Students are asked to think about their actions and their behavior and maintain their language. All children should find their own motivation and challenge.

Each student will be creative and find solutions and ways and be excited for independent thought and action. You want that every student is proud and believe in yourself.

Students have courage, self-confidence and self-knowledge.

Pupils reflect with adults about what is the next step and how they have to work to achieve it.
Pupils know what you can, what you've learned and how to use their knowledge.

Multiple intelligenses – to let the pupils use different ways of learning

Entrepeneurial learning – to encourage and go through with the pupils ideas

Flexible learning – we focus on the development of learning, instead of time for learning

Leadership – we use a pronounced leadership in the classroom, and encourage pupils to be good models for each other

Dialogue – we continously use the dialogue with each pupil to engourage and talk about how to develop their own knowledge and skills

The concept of this school and how they incorporate the kids in the school, I was very excited. I've never seen anything like it in this way. The children can realize their own ideas in the classroom. The teachers listen to students and use their suggestions and ideas. The pupils make at the beginning of the hour, the question of how they can improve in this subject and how they reach their destination. The children are allowed to work independently, with various methods. Frontal teaching takes place hardly. You may use all documents and thereby may move throughout the school building.
You may use your Ipad or her notebook in any hour. But in these children, there is no playing around on these devices, but they work really very focused on their exercises.
The children are allowed to decide whether to solve a worksheet, doing exercises on the devices or just play games. That was very interesting to watch.

During the breaks, the students always go to fresh air. For them it is very important to be out there and to have movement. They are also in the winter at -10 ° in the schoolyard.

What I found very interesting was that the children had no school bag and no school supplies there. It all was provided by the school. All books, worksheets, notebooks, pens, scissors and so on, were in school. Snack they needed no bring, because there was always hot food for lunch. The school started at eight and ended about two or two thirty. Homework they do not get well because the teachers believe it is important that the children have free time, when they come home.

A special experience for me was there was in the social contacts are maintained one hour. The children go out in the schoolyard. There they will play a variety of group games. These they then have to deal with in small groups or as a whole class. So the class community is very much encouraged. You really notice it in the classroom, the class is one. There is no arguing or insulting. They stick together and help each other. This hour I found excellent.

In general, we can learn a lot from the Scandinavian countries.

AUSTRIA - SWEDEN

The school system in Sweden is a bit different from the Austrian:

Primary education:
Förskola (at the age of 1-3 years)
Grundskola (aged 7-16 years) - Schulpflicht!

Secondary education:
Gymnasieskola (aged 16-19 years)

Higher education: (19 and over)
Universitet
Högskola

Even in the school itself can recognize some differences.

1) Every child has an Ipad and a laptop. These devices are available in a separate room and may be used by the children at all times.
2) exercise and fresh air comes first!
3) The hours take longer, but the pauses are a bit longer
4) No frontal teaching
5) Children may even choose a method for learning the next substance
6) Children and teacher / interior read very much
7) no homework
8) no school bags

timetable

date	subject	topic	class
28.01.14	mathematics	Recognize and describe geometric figures (with Ipad) and in the forest	4
28.01.14	swedish	reading, playing	4
28.01.14	gymnastics	ball games	4
03.02.14	english	reading, write poems	5
03.02.14	social teaching	various group games	5
03.02.14	mathematics	worksheets	5
03.02.14	reading lesson	teacher read a book	5
06.02.14	science fair	project work	4
06.02.14	science fair	project worl	4
06.02.14	english	creating a presentation	4

Julia Neumeister