Being on teaching
practice at Fridaskolan is a brilliant opportunity to see how things happen in
the school system in Sweden as well as seeing the running of an independent
school which differs greatly from municipal schools. I have noticed a few
differences already between these two types of schools such as the number of
resources and the way in which the school is furnished is amazing as IKEA
furniture is used at Fridaskolan which makes it look more homely. Throughout
various areas in the school you can even see the pupils relaxing or hanging out,
talking to each other or listening to music on their Mac Books supplied by the
school (on a temporary basis until they finish school at sixteen). No school in Northern Ireland has supplied
every child with Mac Books but it is important to remember that this is just
one type of school that can do this!
I have really loved my
first few days at Fridaskolan and I have a very helpful teacher who is keen for
me to get involved and talk with the children in order to improve their English
as it is an opportunity for them as much as me. I have been speaking English
with small groups of six to seven children at a time in a separate classroom
from the teacher so that they will speak English and not be shy in front of
their teacher. I am really surprised at their level of English as they have
only been learning for two years yet some can have a fluent conversation with
me that makes perfect sense! Some of the children who cannot speak a lot of
English can still communicate with basic vocabulary which is great as I
struggle to understand when they speak Swedish – although occasionally I can
understand and I can follow conversations and lessons in Swedish.
I have been able to see
many practical activities at Fridaskolan this week such as floorball (which is
a very popular and competitive sport
amongst the children), wood work and needle work. I was shocked to see that the
children can use the machines in wood work and needle work without much
supervision and they decide what they want to make themselves rather than mass
producing the same item like we do in Northern Ireland. I think that the school
is certainly much more relaxed than schools in Northern Ireland as the teacher
would always be watching the children using machinery even at secondary level
as pupils do not have much control over what they learn.
I can sense that it will be a busy few weeks
whilst on teaching practice but I am looking forward to getting to know my
class a lot better and hopefully I will be able to remember some names before I
leave as right now it seems hopeless!
This week was also the week of going on the cruise to Latvia with the majority of other Erasmus students I have gotten to know. It was certainly a few sleepless nights and plenty of partying as well as some sightseeing in Riga before getting back on the boat to go back to Stockholm. It was great to visit Stockholm again and do some shopping although I was happy to get back to my own bed in Trollhättan. It was a worthwhile experience and I am glad that I did it despite the fact that I still thought I was on a boat after two days of returning to land!
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