Študijná návšteva a tréningový seminár - Helsinky, Fínsko

REFLECTION ON MY DEVELOPMENT DURING THIS PROGRAMME

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

This Reflective Journal is a useful means for your language and professional development. Please take a moment to reflect personally on the programme and write a few lines everyday on your thoughts.

Possible areas of reflection: My professional development today, Cultural understanding, Participation in and Understanding of Debates, Talks, Visit to School, Sharing of Expertise and Building of Future Partnerships (Dissemination Strategies), European Dimension, etc.

NAME: Renáta Lavková                                              Country: Slovakia

Date: 6^th October 2019

• Getting to know people, it was great opportunity to meet people from 10 European countries, different schools, various subjects they teach and areas they are interested in
• I´ve increased my familiarity with English matters, I have learned more about others as well as new programmes that this institution offers which enables me to consider how to implement and use such programmes for working on future projects
• The lecture on Finnish history, society and culture provided me with loads of new information I´ve never heard before, and it made me think about how in a relatively short period they managed to reach ” this standard of living” and how people themselves are important in society to push the borders and create such positive atmosphere .

Date:7^th October 2019

• The field project – images of Finnish Society was determined to experience all the theoretical basis we were provided with the previous day. In fact it was the example of Finnish Education – cause we could taste the city and discover and compare the knowledge we gained during the lecture in terms of architecture, influence  of the historical background, industry and economy and way of life including saunas, fishing and sailing. This experience was meant to complete the picture of Finnish society .
• I liked the professional approach of lecturers, we were provided with detailed information about education in Finland and thus we were prepared to visit schools and ready to prepare questions to complete the missing information and go deeper to find  the secret of happiness and success of Finnish education.

Date: 8^th October 2019

Alppilan Lukio – Upper Secondary School was founded in 1959 but due to the renovation it looked like a completely modern school and we have learned that architects designed it in cooperation with school and teachers which could be seen in every single detail, flexible places, space for relaxation, furniture and equipment that supports cooperation. We became familiar with upper secondary education in Finland, matricular exams and could choose from variety of subjects to observe lessons. As an English teacher I chose languages to find the answer to my question what to do to improve our system and get such good results. And I really appreciate I could talk to teachers as well as students ” our ambassadors” who accompanied us and were willing to answer all our questions.

Date:9^th October 2019

Another day to discover the secret of success, but I found out that it is not the latest pedagogical methods, the IT , gadgets and all the equipment, but it is people who proof what is behind the secret, their independence,  status of teachers in the society, freedom they both have in this process , the learning environment , a balanced curriculum and the option to choose for both students and teachers.

Date: 10^th October

Today we had another insight into Finnish education and I appreciated that I could choose the lessons I was mainly interested in and now again this is the approach they use in education – freedom. For me the way languages are taught was in the centre of attention. The fact that they all use laptops was quite new to me as we do not find it important in our countries in teaching languages cause sometimes it can distract students´ attention. But we had enough opportunities to talk to teachers to discuss methods, books and approaches they use and thus enrich our findings.

In the afternoon we moved to the library which is a very impressive piece of architecture and continued working on our presentation which resulted into nice chatting and discussing our countries similarities and contrasts, the things that might be implemented in our education system.

And yet it was not the end of the day – the farewell party in the pub where again our fruitful discussion continued and new partnerships were being discussed.

Date: 11^th October

Field work in Tallinn – was one of the impressive moment I experienced, the atmosphere on the ship when all / or most of/ Erasmus + group were dancing together was unforgettable. Together with the information about the country, beautiful sightseeing  we could get a complete picture of the country and its relation to Finland.

Date:12^th October

More than 100 people involved in the last activity – presentation of the most important facts we have learned and noticed about Finland, its society, culture, values and traditions, education – schools, people , teachers. If we want to find what is hidden behind the secret of successful education and results of students  – we  all realised that it is freedom, well being, autonomy, independence, people, option to choose , trust.

We discussed activities, dissemination strategies and ideas to share with our colleagues and students.

A final overview of my experience in this European training programme:

 

For me it was a meaningful week which I could spend with more than 100 new friends. Of course, it was impossible to meet and talk to all of them but the meetings, discussions and talks were inspiring for all of us. Of course we would definitely need more time to share, compare and discuss. Anyway, the lectures were really professional and broaden our horizons, cause I bet that even if we had prepared for this course, we were not familiar with such information that was presented during the course. I would say that school visits were well organised,  starting with transport (with useful instructions how to get ….- thank you Eduardo) , the opportunity to observe classes and question teachers and students was wonderful experience.   Thank you.