All in all I expect to get a wider knowledge and understanding of the world I live in seen from a pædagog(educator) perspective.
- And I think I have. Both from a pædagogs perspective and from a personal one too.
Many students attends this course if they are going abroad for their placements. They are told that this course will be a good way to prepare mentally and it will also give them some basic tools when working in an intercultural environment. But this course is also relevant for students who are staying home for their placements. I am staying here i DK and I really do think that I can use a lot of what I have learned in my daily work here in Denmark. Both because you don't have to leave the country to meet other cultures or nationalities and because in working with people its basically about communication and trying to understand where the other individual comes form emotionally, culturally and socially.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Post FOUR
I also expect to develop personally by attending this course - interacting with teachers and my fellow students who comes with different cultures and ways of doing things than me.
- Hmmm...I definitely have learned a lot about my self and how I react to different things. The example in the last post (post three) is one of the things I have learned.
Another thing that has been an interesting challenge and an opportunity to learn and grow is when you have to produce a product in an intercultural group. You have to take into account the language barriers, the different understandings of how to write an assignment and the commitment to the group and the process. I experienced the frustration of trying to balance or uphold all aspect and still write something worth reading at the end. In all group works you learn that you cannot get it exactly as you want – you have to give and take. That can be difficult in a ”normal” setting but in an intercultural group setting it is super difficult..well at least it was for me. Then try and imagine children from different cultural backgrounds in a daily setting where they have to negotiate, try and convince the others that this game is better than the other or ask for different things – I tell you, it can become a battlefield! The frustration of not being understood or being looked down upon because you think differently can blow up and create conflicts. Its the same for all of us.
- Hmmm...I definitely have learned a lot about my self and how I react to different things. The example in the last post (post three) is one of the things I have learned.
Another thing that has been an interesting challenge and an opportunity to learn and grow is when you have to produce a product in an intercultural group. You have to take into account the language barriers, the different understandings of how to write an assignment and the commitment to the group and the process. I experienced the frustration of trying to balance or uphold all aspect and still write something worth reading at the end. In all group works you learn that you cannot get it exactly as you want – you have to give and take. That can be difficult in a ”normal” setting but in an intercultural group setting it is super difficult..well at least it was for me. Then try and imagine children from different cultural backgrounds in a daily setting where they have to negotiate, try and convince the others that this game is better than the other or ask for different things – I tell you, it can become a battlefield! The frustration of not being understood or being looked down upon because you think differently can blow up and create conflicts. Its the same for all of us.
Part THREE
I know that we will compare differences and similarities a lot and that's going to be fun.
- Ha! The thing is that it is fun to compare and discuss but there are also days where you just don't want to hear other peoples opinions about your country. I experienced to my horror that in me there is not just a hint but a great deal of nationalism!! I have always thought of myself as an open and curious person towards other nationalities and cultures and I can always find many things about the danish society and government that could need severe improvement or change. But there are days I find myself defending how we do things in Dk!! Of course it can have a lot to do with the tone of the discussion that day, if its a heated discussion where we point fingers at each others countries or something but that is just plain silly too. Even though it is not a pretty thing to admit, I'm happy that I learned this about myself because it is useful insight and knowledge to both my personal life and my future work with other people.
- Ha! The thing is that it is fun to compare and discuss but there are also days where you just don't want to hear other peoples opinions about your country. I experienced to my horror that in me there is not just a hint but a great deal of nationalism!! I have always thought of myself as an open and curious person towards other nationalities and cultures and I can always find many things about the danish society and government that could need severe improvement or change. But there are days I find myself defending how we do things in Dk!! Of course it can have a lot to do with the tone of the discussion that day, if its a heated discussion where we point fingers at each others countries or something but that is just plain silly too. Even though it is not a pretty thing to admit, I'm happy that I learned this about myself because it is useful insight and knowledge to both my personal life and my future work with other people.
Part TWO
I hope to get a better understanding of how things are done in other countries and why.
- As explained in the passage above it is limited how much you can learn on such a short course but I definitely have got new knowledge of how things are done in other countries and why.
This is both from being in a class with different nationalities but also because of the different guest teachers from amongst others Greece, the UK and Norway, who has given us lectures on various topics.
I think that what I like about the teaching in the international class is that it almost always revolves around the sociological aspect. The relation between individuals, groups and society.
Let me high ligth; the course in the beginning of the semester where our own teachers taught about intercultural communication. A guest teacher from a social adviser school located around the corner of our school. He taught us about the danish well fare system which we got to compare with the social systems in other countries. Finally a guest teacher from the UK. From him we learned about the present situation for the social workers in the UK and the problems they are facing because of changes politically and socially.
I like!
That will hopefully help me be more clear about what we are doing of good tings in Dk and what things could/should be changed.
- It has. Learning about other countries and comparing it with what happens in my country, Denmark, definitely helps one see what works and what could be done better.
- As explained in the passage above it is limited how much you can learn on such a short course but I definitely have got new knowledge of how things are done in other countries and why.
This is both from being in a class with different nationalities but also because of the different guest teachers from amongst others Greece, the UK and Norway, who has given us lectures on various topics.
I think that what I like about the teaching in the international class is that it almost always revolves around the sociological aspect. The relation between individuals, groups and society.
Let me high ligth; the course in the beginning of the semester where our own teachers taught about intercultural communication. A guest teacher from a social adviser school located around the corner of our school. He taught us about the danish well fare system which we got to compare with the social systems in other countries. Finally a guest teacher from the UK. From him we learned about the present situation for the social workers in the UK and the problems they are facing because of changes politically and socially.
I like!
That will hopefully help me be more clear about what we are doing of good tings in Dk and what things could/should be changed.
- It has. Learning about other countries and comparing it with what happens in my country, Denmark, definitely helps one see what works and what could be done better.
Part ONE
I'm very exited about this course and I expect to enlarge my understanding of other cultures and societies.
- I guess you could say that I now have a larger understanding of some of the different countries in the UN, their culture and society. What i found though through this course is that learning about other countries is like a Pandora's box – there is always much more to explore, dig into and learn about different countries cultures and societies. I often have the feeling after lectures that I only got a small taste of that country's DNA, so to speak. There will always be much much more to learn which three months can not cover. This course is kind of like an appetizer for possible further studying in the future.
- I guess you could say that I now have a larger understanding of some of the different countries in the UN, their culture and society. What i found though through this course is that learning about other countries is like a Pandora's box – there is always much more to explore, dig into and learn about different countries cultures and societies. I often have the feeling after lectures that I only got a small taste of that country's DNA, so to speak. There will always be much much more to learn which three months can not cover. This course is kind of like an appetizer for possible further studying in the future.
Let's get startet for real!
Okay, well..this is how I'm going to do this ppl. Instead of writing one long blog about my experiences, reflections and learning outcomes I have decided I will break it into 5 blog posts. Well, 6 including this one.
Before we started the course we had to write down what our expectations were to the next couple of months. I have divided what I wrote into smaller sections and for each statement I will reflect upon how things has turned out since then. Does it make any sense? Hopefully it does once you are reading through my following post
:-)
Before we started the course we had to write down what our expectations were to the next couple of months. I have divided what I wrote into smaller sections and for each statement I will reflect upon how things has turned out since then. Does it make any sense? Hopefully it does once you are reading through my following post
:-)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
A little more information:
The school I go to, Frøbel pædagog seminarium located on Frederiksberg, gives the students the opportunity to attend an international course during the 5. semester.
The course runs from the beginning of September until Christmas where after the international student returns home to their respective schools. In January they have a long distance assignment they have to write and send to the teachers.
In our class there are 5 nationalities represented with a majority of Spanish people, 6 of them to be exact:-) And then the Danes, we are 4, then two from Finland, 1 person from the Netherlands and 1 from Italy.
I think we are a small but good group. It would have been even more good if there had been more countries represented just for the sake of greater diversity. Also the more countries the more insight to other cultures and societies. So the base for my little complain is just an interest and curiosity for how other people live, think and learn.
Okay that will be it for now.
I think next post will be a brief explanation of the different teachings we have had. Let's see.
Later
The course runs from the beginning of September until Christmas where after the international student returns home to their respective schools. In January they have a long distance assignment they have to write and send to the teachers.
In our class there are 5 nationalities represented with a majority of Spanish people, 6 of them to be exact:-) And then the Danes, we are 4, then two from Finland, 1 person from the Netherlands and 1 from Italy.
I think we are a small but good group. It would have been even more good if there had been more countries represented just for the sake of greater diversity. Also the more countries the more insight to other cultures and societies. So the base for my little complain is just an interest and curiosity for how other people live, think and learn.
Okay that will be it for now.
I think next post will be a brief explanation of the different teachings we have had. Let's see.
Later
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
One two three-testing testing...
This is an assignment for my international cource - create a blog then write about your experiences so far with studying alongside and together with other students from different parts of the world.
So, this is the first step - my blog is up and running.
A more in depth introduction will follow later and so will my thoughts and reflections from the last 2,5 months.
Cheers
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