The fact that we had now reached our second week of
placement was overwhelming! Our time Denmark is moving all too fast to say the
least!
Although we were thoroughly enjoying our time at Åby Skole we had
to start thinking professionally. For part of our diploma we have to complete a
final portfolio in which we carry out activities with our 4th
graders. After our first week of observations we were ready to start building
on their interests and hopefully come up with good activity plans!
Monday was pretty normal in terms of class; we just went
with Niels to both the fourth and fifth graders’ class and sat in on their
classes. Niels kindly translated everything that was going on and the conversations
between the teacher and pupils, so needless to say we would have been
completely lost without him!
This week we spent a lot more time in the SFO, Skolefritidsordning,
which is similar to an after-school club at home. However a lot more time and
expenses are put into the SFO, which stays open all year round for the children
to attend.
Within the SFO, pupils have their own ‘base’ for their year group
where they can play games, listen to music or play out in the courtyard. We
soon came to realise that the older the children the get, the greater the privileges
they receive…and by privileges I mean food! Niels brought to our attention that
that’s the main reason most of the pupils stay on after school, so they can get
fed and then head on home when they please!
Something that I found interesting within the
SFO was the ‘checking in’ system. There was a big touch screen in the central
part of the SFO, where the children came and checked in and then checked out
when they were leaving. I found this quite extraordinary because I know if this
existed at home, children would definitely forget to check in and would be more
excited to get home, not thinking twice about checking out. It demonstrates
again the independence the Danish children have and the responsibility they are
given. It’s a system that maybe wouldn’t work so well at home, due to the
health and safety aspects of letting children come and go when they please, but
it gives me an insight as to how children can be trusted at this age and they
are far more capable than we give them credit for!
On Tuesday Poppy, Leah and I went with Niels to the
campfire, where every week Niels and Mikkel, another member of the SFO team,
cooked up something delicious for the children. When we went outside we were
surprised to see the children were cutting vegetables and chicken with sharp
knives, something that definitely wouldn’t pass at home! They all seemed more
than capable of using the cutlery and again made me think that if we give
children this responsibility at a young age, it might promote their learning and
reduce the risk of accidents, that we’re so afraid of back home.
Giving
children the opportunity to use these resources allows them to encounter
different experiences and outcomes and who knows, this type of teaching could
be more beneficial than telling them about it in a classroom!
‘A child learns how to be responsible by being given
responsibility, and he learns accountability by being held accountable.’ –
Denise Rowden
After our experience at the campfire and witnessing how
enthused the children were about cooking, helping to prepare the food and the
pride they showed with the end result, we were sure we wanted to plan one of
our activities in this setting and couldn’t wait to get started.
Once again Friday had arrived meaning more social time with
our classmates! We all headed into a small bar in the town, Bodegaen, to meet up and talk
about our busy week in placement which soon turned into a night in Skjoldhøj
bar once again, which I couldn’t complain about!
Seeing as our days off only occurred at the weekends now due
to our full time placement, we took it easy on Saturday and Sunday, starting to
think of activity ideas and getting some rest before our final week of
placement began!
References
Denise Rowden - https://www.empoweringparents.com
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