Erasmus+ Journal (Issue 2) 2013/14
Margret Oberreither, Spain, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Mobility for Studies
Autorin: Margret Oberreither
Peer-Review: Katharina Körbler
Übersicht, Geschichte
Huelva is the capitalcity with 150 000 inhabitants of the region Huelva in Andalusia, the south of Spain. The city was founded 3000 years ago, but a earthquake destroyed 1755 nearly all of the old buildings. Thats the reason, why the city looks like a modern and not like a typical andalusian city. The habor and the chemical industry are very important for the economy of Huelva. The most important places in Huelva are the Plaza de Torros, with the bullfight building, Plaza a las Monchas, with the Columbus statue, the Plaza de la Merced, with the huge Cathedral de la Merced, Plaza San Pedro with the San Pedro Church, the Santuario de la Cinta, the church where Columbus was praying before he started his journey and the harbor with a kind of bridge. There are also a football stadium, three shoppingcenters and nice parks. At the park moret it is possible to make a barbecue.
The city is also full of tapabars and pastery shops, where you can eat the typical spanish food. I can suggest the Bonilla, which has three localisations, but the flair at the Bonilla at the harbor is the best, which offers delicious food, but with a low price. There are also many bars for going out, like the Mombasa, which is always full of Erasmusstudents or the Mantua, where you meet many locals or the Mandala, which is on a hill and gives a beautyful view about the city and the Natural Park Donana.
It is possible to visit the Natural Park Donana by bike or by a walk and it is for free. There is also the Donana National Park, which is a half hour away from the city Huelva, but really worth seeing and huge. It is possible to visit the park with a special bus or by horseriding. The problem is, that there is no bus to the Donana National Park.
There are three beaches, Punta Umbria, el Portil and Mazagon, which you can visit by bus. To go to Punta Umbria or el Portil needs 20 minutes and to Mazagon 45 minutes by bus.
The university is located at 3 different places and the education studies are at the el Carmen university at the suburb of the city. It needs about 35 minutes from the citycenter to the university by bus and 20 minutes by bike. It is possible to rent a bike from the university (20 Euros for one semester an 50 taxes) or buy a bonobusticket for the bus, to get a lower price.
Vergleich der Ausbildungssysteme und des Studiums
At my semester abroud I had six courses, which includes five subjects about teacher education and one spanish course.
At the "Pädagogische Hochschule Steiermark" are every semester much more subjects, which have less ECTS points.
The university of Huelva offers subjects only for Erasmusstudents in english, where you get 6 ECTS points with each of them. It is also possible to visit courses in spanish, but you are only allowed to make maximum 30 ECTS Points and the spanish course.
The higher level of education is in any case at the "Pädagogische Hochschule Steiermark". The subjects for the erasmus students are very easy, but the subjects in spanish are more amibitious.
Lehrveranstaltungen
Beschreibung der Lehrveranstaltungen (Bezeichnung der Lehrveranstaltung, Ziele, Inhalte, Lehrende/r, Beurteilung)
1. Didactica y Desarrollo Curricular
The teacher of this subject in english is Mr. Bautista. We discussed once a week at this subject the positive and negative aspects of the school system in general and the curriculum. Mr. Bautista sent every week an article, which I had to read and to comment.
2. Metodos y Tecnicas de Investigacionen Psicologia
This subject is in spanish and the teacher is Mr. Perez Moreno. I had this subject every monday and wednesday, every other week, and we learned about statistics, surveys and methodes of psychology. At the end of the semester is an examen, with a multiple choice and a writing part. The teacher wrote the exam for me in english. But all the documents I had to learn were in spanish. For homework I had to read articles in spanish and write summerys in english.
3. Teacher Practicum
The 50 hours internship in Spain was a good and very interesting experience next to the theoretical subjects at university. Before I went to the class the first time I was a little bit worried, because I only speak Spanish at an A1 level and I feared it would be difficult to communicate with children with special needs. But it was totally possible to communicate with them. My entire knowledge of sign language was very helpful with that. The children were very happy that I was part of their class and they perceived me in a very positive way. When the children were divided into two small groups for their work I was mostly responsible for one of the groups. I helped them to read in their books or to solve their mathematic exercises. During breaks we used to play with dolls or ballgames and had a lot of fun together. Sometimes it was very difficult to get in touch with some of the introverted kids. One girl really went far to push the limits of all the teachers. And for me it was difficult since I was not able to say what I wanted to say because of the barrier of language. It is difficult to work in pedagogic high grade if you are not able to communicate in the way you want.
The difficult behaviour of the children was the challenging part of my work. For me it is very important to work with logical consequences, but I could not practice it most of the time because I was not fluent in Spanish. Besides I also had to accept the methods of the class teachers even if I would have done it different. To be honest I mostly did not agree with many strategies the teachers used, but of course it is difficult to judge their work after just 10 days of working at the school. I just prefer to work with logical consequences and in a harmonious way. Sure it is important to be authentic, but it is also important to be very patient especially with children with special needs.
The methods of teaching which were used are as far as I am concerned not the most effective methods. There was no change in methods, no diversion and sometimes the children seemed bored to me. They made puzzles or drew pictures nearly every day, but the children sadly learned nothing from it. Maybe they only had to do that to relax between mathematic and Spanish lessons, but still I did not find it wise to use the same games all the time without educational benefit.
In summary the class teacher and the educator were very friendly and open to me. They answered all my questions that I had and explained everything that I wanted to know.
It was also the first time that I had worked in a small group of children with special needs. Usually I always was placed in an integrated class with only 3 to 5 children with special needs. The way of teaching was also completely different because of this reason. The classes teacher and the educator were very good with the children, which is extremely important. For me the language barrier was very difficult because I was not able to communicate effectively in the Spanish language. But of course, I did as good as it was possible and with the help of sign language it turned out well. I became better in the Spanish language as time flew by. To centralize the experience I would say it was very interesting to see firsthand the way of teaching in another country and to participate myself in the education of children with special needs.
4. General Didactics 2
General Didactics 2 is also a subject of Mr. Baudista and we learned about methodes for the school system. Once a week we discussed different topics and he sent us weekly an article to this topic, which we had to read an to comment.
5. Creativity and Learning 2
We learned in this subject, how we can support the children to be more creative and to improve their own talents in this way. Mr. Bautista also sent us at this subject every week articles, which we had to read and comment.
Anmeldeprozesses
At first I checked the subjects in english at the website of the University of Huelva and chose 4 of them and one subject in spanish. Then I talked with the coordinators about this subject and they agreed with them.
The next step was, that I filled the Learning Agreement, which I got from my homeuniversity and they signed it and sent it to the University of Huelva.
After I arrived in Huelva I had to fill out another Learning Agreement and give it to my coordinator. Then I got a date for the official application at the university, where I had to go with my new Learning Agreement to the office.
It is only possible to make 5 subjects, 30 ECTS, on the University of Huelva, if you are an Erasmusstudent and the spanish subject (4ECTS).
You have to apply yourself for the spanish subject, before you arrive in Huelva. The link with the application formular is also on the uhu.es webpage.
Kontaktinformationen
Information to the university
Universidad de Huelva
Dr. Cantero Cuadrado, 6. 21071 Huelva, Spain
Website: http://www.uhu.es/index.phpPhonenumber: 959 218000
Information to the Coordinator of the International Office
Name: Isabel Leandro
Servicio de Relaciones Internacionales
Universidad de Huelva
Email: drinter02@sc.uhu.es
Phonenumber: 959219494
Pab. 13_Juan Agustín de Mora
Campus del Carmen
21071 Huelva, Spain
Unterkunft
I lived in a shared flat in the citycenter of Huelva. Two of my flatemates are spanish girls and the third flatmate is an erasmus student from Slovenia. The adress of the flat is calle Rascon 33, Huelva and I paid around 200 Euro for the flat plus taxes and internet.
Leben
The life in Huelva is cheaper than in Graz, for example the rent for the flat is 200 Euros a month, the busticket is around 20 Euros every month and for food and drinks I need around 150 Euro.
Restaurants, bars and clubs are in general cheaper. For example one coffee is mostly for 1 Euro and one tapa for 1,5 Euro.
Bus and train tickets are also cheaper, for example a ticket from Huelva to Madrid by bus is for 50 Euros. But I prefer "Blablacar", which is the cheapest and most interesting way to travel for me.
The most expensive part is traveling, I spend for every trip between 120 and 350 Euros. But it is really worth to travel a lot during the Erasmus semester.