On Monday our first lesson was about the Danish school system: school and education in Denmark. Our teacher, Mr Torbjorn, asked us about our first impressions of the Danish school system after our visit during the first week. We all agreed that the children have a lot more freedom here. They feel like at home. They take of their shoes when they enter the classroom, they get up whenever they feel like it,... There aren't a lot of rules either. In Belgium each school has almost 30 rules which the students have to respect. Here in Denmark there are only three rules: behave yourself, talk about your behavior with your teacher and with your parents. We also noticed that the lessons aren't well structured. There is a lot of chaos... But the schools are all well equiped with computers, books,... What surprised me most is that the teachers don't have to prepare their lessons on paper. They don't write the activities down, the skills the student should use and develop,... In Belgium we have to write everything down in detail.
After this interresting course we had Danish history. Our teacher, Mr Jorn Busch, told us in detail everything that happened in Denmark for the last 200 years. He told us about the feeling of nationalism, the differences between the social classes, the wars between England and Denmark: the Napoleon wars, the influence of Germany on Denmark... I liked this course a lot.
In the afternoon I worked together with Manu on our thesis.
On Tuesday I got up at 6.30 am and we met the other erasmus students at 8 am in front of the church.
Our first lesson of the day was the Danish school system: school and education in Denmark. During the first part of the lesson Torbjorn explained the 6 didactic categories in planning and preparing education. The first category is called: "Pupils ability". Here the teacher should ask himself: Who are my pupils? How can they start learning? The second category is called: "The framework". This category is about the culture and the organisation of the school where you are working. It is also about the relation between the parents and the teachers. The third category is called: "Aims and goals". This is the way the teachers organises his curriculum. The fourth category is called: "Content". Here the teacher has to ask himself questions about what to teach? The fifth category is called: "Method". These are the methods the teacher will use to teach different subjects. And finally the last category: "Evaluation".
Torbjorn also mentioned Kant, Kafki and Dale. Kant wrote: "As a teacher you have to free yourself by using your own understanding and unconsciousness. You have to use your reason and take decissions on your own." Kafki also says that you have to use your reason to have a democratic attitude. For Dale there are three levels of competences for a teacher: Implement your teaching, Develop your curriculum and Theory. The last level is very important. Here the teacher should analyse himself, should create new things and should develop. When a teacher uses these three levels he will become a professional.
I think that this course was the most interesting course I have had since the beginning of my stay here. It is very important for a teacher to be aware of the things that he is doing. Every teacher should write his curriculum down and show it to his collegues so that they can criticise him or give their opinions.
Afterwards we had another course called "The Danish school system and cultural dimensions". Our teacher Jette asked us about our trip to Copenhagen and we had to write down three things that seemed typical Danish for us. Here is what we wrote down: an all-you-can-eat buffet, the traffic lights are on the opposite side of the crossing, design, bikes on main roads, water cabs, guards,... The last 45 minutes of the course every erasmus student had to present his home country to the other students. I presented together with Tim and Manu our beautiful country: Belgium. We spoke about the history of Belgium, the typical food, the celebrities like Jean Claude Van Damme, football, the royal family and politics.
In the afternoon we had another Danish course and this time we learned how to ask somebody: "How are you?" And now in Danish: "Hvordan gar det med dig?" I can also say: "I am perfect" = "Det gar fint", "I feel very fine" = "Det gar meget godt", "I am ok" = "Det gar godt", and "I am not good" = "Det gar ikke sa godt".
From 4 pm until 6.30 pm Manu and I worked on our thesis and now I am working on my weblog again :-) ...
On Wednesday we had two great courses! In the morning we had an art class. During three hours (I could have stayed there all day...) our teacher Dora taught us how to make a portrait of somebody's face. In the beginning of the lesson we had two minutes to draw with a black pencil somebody else in the class. I drew Sylvie and Daniel. Two minutes is really short but I think I did it very well because the teacher showed my drawings to the other students of the class :-)
Afterwards we had to look in a mirror and draw our own faces with a black pencil. Again we had a couple of minutes to do this. I never recognised myself on my drawings.. During the last hour we had to paint on the mirrors and then press it on a big white paper. We could then draw with other pencils on the painting to give it more colour and form. At the end of the course my painting looked like this:
In the afternoon we had a cooking class. We were devised in several small groups. I worked together with Sylvie and two other Danish students. We made potato pancakes and a fruit salad. The aim of this class was that every group should make something typical Danish and something else typical from another country. The potato pancakes are typical Czech and the fruit salad is typical Danish.
In the afternoon I worked on my weblog at home and in the evening I went to bed early. I enjoyed this day a lot.
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