Erasmus+ Journal (Issue 3) 2014/15

Julia Gamperl, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, NL/Hengelo

Contact of my University:

Hengelo:

074 - 851 61 00

M.A. de Ruyterstraat 3

7556 CW Hengelo

Postbus 70.000

7500 KB Enschede

The contact of the Erasmus office:

Kamphuis Sander

e-mail: s.a.a.kamphius@saxion.nl

Erica Staverman

Secretary International Office

Saxion University of Applied Sciences Hengelo|Room S. 0.13

M.A. de Ruyterstraat 3 | 7556 CW Hengelo | The Netherlands

P.O. Box 70.000, 7500 KB Enschede | The Netherlands

Teacher training for European Competences

a description of chosen courses

Link: http://www.saxion.edu/site/programmes/exchange/details/teacher-training-european-competences/teacher-training-european-competences

Description of the university

Saxion University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest institutions of higher education in the Netherlands, with over 24,000 students (and still growing!). Saxion University has a rich history – its roots can be traced back to the 1875. A merger of two educational institutions, the Hogeschool Enschede and Hogeschool Ijselland, in 1998 paved the way for Saxion University in its present form. This merger enabled Saxion to build further on its strong position in Dutch higher education and since then Saxion University has come to be recognised as an important centre of expertise at regional, national and international level.

Location

Saxion University of Applied Sciences has four campuses in the East of the Netherlands - one campus in each of the four Dutch cities of Deventer, Enschede, Apeldoorn and Hengelo. Thanks to the important contribution of agriculture to the local economy, this region is renowned for its beautiful countryside and fairly relaxed pace of life. However, all four Saxion locations have good public transport facilities, meaning that the hustle and bustle of the major cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague is no more than 1½ hours away.

Why choose us?

Quality of education: Saxion offers a broad range of courses at various levels, including many international programmes. The quality of education at Saxion is monitored by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, as well as being accredited by several international bodies, assuring you that the programmes on offer are of a high standard.

International approach: We are very proud of our diverse student body. Our international student population tops 2,500 students with a total of 55 different nationalities. Many of Saxion's full-time educational courses are already conducted in English, with more being added each year. Our ‘international classrooms’ are made up of a mix of students from all over the world. In this way we provide you with a truly multi-cultural experience in which you can compare experiences with and learn from fellow students of different backgrounds and nationalities.

Support to students: Education at Saxion is very student-focused and we offer you support not only from an academic point of view but also in terms of your personal development. While studying at Saxion University you will have the opportunity to gain both the knowledge and the skills you require to continue on your chosen career path.

Coming to the Netherlands from abroad can of course be a big step for many international students. If you are arriving from outside of the Netherlands, we aim to make the transition for you as smooth as possible, and we have therefore established a network of host families (Friends of Saxion International Students) who are on hand to help you settle into life in the Netherlands. We also have a ‘Buddy’ programme, whereby current students can help guide you through your initial period of studying at Saxion.

Detailed description of the registration process at the host organisation

The course is open to 3rd and 4th year Bachelor students in a Teacher Training programme.

The students’ home institution must have an Inter Institutional Agreement (IIA) with Saxion Teacher Training College (APO Hengelo). To apply as an exchange student for this course, please contact the International Office at your home institution. Once your home institution has nominated you for this course, they will contact our International Office (internationaloffice.slh@saxion.nl). If our International Office agrees with your nomination, you may fill out the application form.

Application deadline is December 1^st 2014 for the Spring 2015 course.

Exchange Programme: Teacher Training for European Competences (TEC):

Here the programme is described, in the pdf-folder all the classes are described as well:

http://www.saxion.edu/site/programmes/exchange/details/teacher-training-european-competences/teacher-training-european-competences/

My Courses:

Description of the University:

About Saxion:

Location:

Why choose us?

Quality of education: Saxion offers a broad range of courses at various levels, including many international programmes. The quality of education at Saxion is monitored by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, as well as being accredited by several international bodies, assuring you that the programmes on offer are of a high standard.

International approach: We are very proud of our diverse student body. Our international student population tops 2,500 students with a total of 55 different nationalities. Many of Saxion's full-time educational courses are already conducted in English, with more being added each year. Our ‘international classrooms’ are made up of a mix of students from all over the world. In this way we provide you with a truly multi-cultural experience in which you can compare experiences with and learn from fellow students of different backgrounds and nationalities.

Support to students: Education at Saxion is very student-focused and we offer you support not only from an academic point of view but also in terms of your personal development. While studying at Saxion University you will have the opportunity to gain both the knowledge and the skills you require to continue on your chosen career path.

Description of the application process:

Applications

All applications for admission must be submitted online, using a specific form available during application periods.

The course is open to 3rd and 4th year Bachelor students in a Teacher Training programme.

Application deadlines:

Application deadline was December 1^st 2014 for the Spring 2015 course

Once you are accepted at the Saxion University of Applied Sciences you receive a ´letter of acceptance´.

Arrival & Housing in Hengelo

We went from Graz to Duesseldorf by plane and stayed there for a night. The next morning we travelled on to Hengelo by train, which took us about 3 hours, changing trains twice.

Sander picked us up at the trainstation together with Irina, another Erasmus student from Spain. He drove us to our house. Apart from some problems with the leaking washing machine (which was solved after like a week) we really feel comfortable in our own house.

The other Erasmus students from Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom live in the same building. There are two flats for 2 students upstairs and two flats, each for 4 students downstairs. Each flat has at least 2 floors. Kitchen and living room on one level, rooms on the other, the toilet is sometimes on a seperate level as well (in the bigger flats there are two levels only for rooms, bathroom and toilet).

Hengelo & Public Transport

Hengelo is a really nice city. When we first came here we wondered what to do here all day. But it is actually bigger than we thought! There are some shops reachable by 5 minutes walking and to the city centre you walk about 20-25 minutes. University can be reached within 10-15 minutes walking (depending on your speed :) ).

In the centre there are a lot of shops, clubs and pubs to go to. It has very nice buildings (typical Dutch brick-houses), a cinema and a theatre.

The trainstation is in the centre as well. The next big city is called "Enschede" and trains are going there pretty much every 10 minutes (late in the evening maybe 15-20 minutes). The Netherlands have a good system for public transport.

There are a lot of trains going from Hengelo to a lot of places in the Netherlands, Germany and partly Belgium (might have to change trains for Belgium though). It takes you about 2 hours to Amsterdam by train. Trains are less expensive than in Austria! Still, there are some offers by different shops for very cheap train tickets you can use for 1 full day in the entire country. If you go to Amsterdam and back or to Groningen, Den Haag, Rotterdam it is really worth it! But these offers run out at some point, so they are only available for a couple of weeks.

Internship and teaching

I am doing a semester abroad not only to improve my level of English but also to gather as many different teaching and life experiences as possible and there are a few things which I would like to mention. I am in an international class in the Netherlands for five months, to become a European Teacher. Our education includes an internship in a primary school. The children in a primary school are aged four to twelve, which is quite different compared to Austria. However, I was really thrilled to be able to observe and teach in another country. English lessons here in the Netherlands are really different compared to Austria. Every class works with the same online English programme called `take it easy´. Take it easy is a programme, which is responsible for the English activities and explanation of the language. On the one hand, children here start using English at the very young age of four, which is really good but on the other hand, a programme like “take it easy” is not the best way to learn a foreign language. I really don’t know if this programme is appropriate for every group. It seems to me that this programme teaches the children. In Austria all the teachers have to prepare every lesson for every class depending on what level the children are. “Take it easy” is a programme where every topic is given.

The online method is offering videos, songs and games for each lesson and topic. I observed more or less five English lessons with this method and this programme is the main English teacher for the students. Although, the teachers really interact during the whole process, it still is totally different compared to Austria. Using different teaching methods, tasks and activities is compulsory for every English teacher in Austria. I really think that this teaching method is too monotonous for the students. A method like this can lead to boring English lessons where the students lose the motivation to learn a foreign language. Additionally, the teachers here in the Netherlands speak mainly Dutch in every English lesson. Again, a real difference compared to Austria. The goal of our English lessons in Austria is to speak as much English as possible. Moreover, we really try to only speak German if there is no other way your students would understand the word or content. Furthermore, in the Dutch classrooms there was no real introduction to each topic. There was however a video where someone explained the tasks. Unfortunately, in most of the English lessons I observed there were hardly any speaking activities for the students. There were no tasks where the students were working on their pronunciation. Again, totally different compared to Austria.

Thus, the learners were really interested in all the activities and different methods I used during my English lessons. I used picture and word cards, prompt cards, sentence starters, group and partner dialogues, I prepared a centre work besides just using English for introduction and communication. There was no necessity to translate to Dutch. I never worked with their online programme `take it easy´ but I introduced them to different Austrian methods and activities. Not just the Dutch learners were impressed but also the Dutch teachers said that they really liked all the different teaching possibilities.

I really appreciate every lesson I can observe or can actively take part in here in the Netherlands. I am grateful for all the international teaching experiences I have gained. Furthermore, I think that I can profit from every lesson I observe and teach. I think that experience is a key to be a successful teacher. Hence, I am excited to gain new and different learning experience in our fifth semester.