Week Nineteen

Cultural

Most of this week has been dedicated to meeting work deadlines, the past few months haven’t really been filled with a lot of work because they were waiting for our last two weeks. After finishing an eight page report about my school practice, a 1000 word essay about global citizenship and a group project on diversity I was very happy to celebrate Darren’s twenty first birthday

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We discovered while searching for stuff for Eimear’s birthday that twenty one isn't a hugely celebrated birthday like it is back home. We could not find a lot of things with twenty one written on them like shot glasses, cups, keys etc. so this for me is a big cultural difference. We managed to pull off a jungle themed party in our kitchen and I used my skills at face painting to make everyone look like a jungle animal. It was a

lot of fun for everyone and it was a strange feeling looking around the diverse group of people how much we know about each other now and how our opinions have all changed from the first meeting, I understand more about each person and where they come from, I have a new respect for everyone and have definitely made friends for life. Any prejudices or stereotypes that I may have had on a conscious or sub-conscious level have disappeared and I can now tell others a little bit about the different cultures that I have met, I know how to greet people in Dutch, Basque Portuguese, Belgium and French and that is something not a lot of people unless they have been on Erasmus can say.

I was researching on-line why I was feeling so strange all the time while being here and it seems that I am experiencing what is known as ‘Culture shock’ it had never really seemed like a real thing to me before but the more I read about it the more I thought that this was something that I was experiencing more than anyone else. I think I have definitely moved out of the ‘honeymoon stage’ When you first arrive in a new culture, differences are intriguing and you may feel excited, stimulated and curious. At this stage you are still protected by the close memory of your home culture. I never thought that this would affect me as much as it did, but it is a huge learning experience and one which I will definitely appreciate in the future.

I got an interesting phone call from home this week where I learned that my sister was getting to go meet president Obama and listen to a speech by both Obama and Michelle. It was very exciting for me and I am immensely proud of her getting to be one of six picked from her school for her academic achievement. I am a

little disheartened that I wasn't there to see the TV coverage but I can see all the pictures when I get home. It seems while I have been away a lot of things have happened and changed both in myself and at home, it will be interesting to catch up with people and adapt back to the old way of life after being in the Netherlands for so long.

Quote found at ; http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/info_sheets/culture_shock.php

Week Eighteen

Personal

This week was my last week of placement in my practice school, it was a wonderful experience to have and I learnt a lot from my time there that will help me grow as a teacher. It was brilliant to be welcomed into a school and made to be part of a class, even if we didn't speak the same language I feel that my few months in the school taught them a lot. I enjoyed telling them about my home and what life is like there and how different and also similar it is to life in the Netherlands. I will have a lot of memories from my time there especially the children laughing at me saying the names of the day of the week in Dutch and also them mimicking my accent.

On the last day I taught them the game heads down, thumbs up, and Silvia brought them outside to play a few games in the sunshine, they had a lot of fun running about and climbing on things. We made popcorn for them and had a class party, then they presented us with wonderful and thoughtful gifts and each of them said

thank you to us.

Also our two friends from home came over to visit us; it was brilliant to see Shonagh and Rukaya it was like having a little bit of home here. We caught up on all the gossip form back home and the different things that had happened while we have been living in a little bubble in Nijmegen. We spent on day in burger zoo in

Arnhem which was massive and was absolutely amazing, they had an indoor Australian outback and aquarium, it was like being a child again running around, climbing over things, crawling into caves and swinging over streams, I would love to go back again and explore some more. On their final day here we went to the lake which has a beach and water sport facilities, it was a beautiful sunny day and it was nice to relax and take a break before the final assignments and packing to go home.

My week ended with a trip back to Den Haag to retrieve my emergency passport, myself and Michelle celebrated by trying lobster croquettes and iced coffee by the beach and then taking a walk along the pier, it was nice to see the city again as it is one of my favourite places in the Netherlands. I found it very strange sitting on the trams and hearing English being spoken in several accents, it reminded me of how well we have become accustomed to the Dutch language and how easy it is to pick up on certain words and have
a rough idea of what is being said. It was sad to know that travelling to The Hague would be one of the last trips I would make while on Erasmus here, the last four and a half months have flown in as it seems like just yesterday we arrived here preparing for snow and excited about the experience that we would have here it scares me that in just two weeks time we will be leaving in the sunshine, bringing a suitcase full of memories home.

Week Seventeen

Professional

This week in my placement school I had the opportunity to observe a group four class (primary four), it was an interesting experience because I have seen the youngest class in the school, have been working with one of the older classes and now have looked at the middle class, this gives me a good range of comparisons for the education throughout the whole school.

The experience highlighted to me the importance of the role of the teacher and how his/her methods can really shape the way the class responds and interacts with one another. My mentor on practice in the Dutch school has shown me that having a good relationship with the pupils really affects the behaviour in the room.

The primary four teacher used the tone of her voice to command attention, she raised the pitch and tone of her voice to make what she was saying more interesting, she showed great enthusiasm for what the children were saying and then that in turn kept them engaged in the lesson.

In the Netherlands they also have a lot more freedom in what they teach and organise in the classroom. The group four children had the opportunity to watch the news or sports on the smart board and break time while they were eating. In P.E they were engaging in a gymnastics lesson, this was a continuation from the week before where they had been learning to balance with a partner. There were three stations set up for them to work through and one included a small trampoline and a crash mat, the other involved the children balancing on each other’s knees, backs and shoulders to create different symmetrical shapes. Needless to say I was very shocked and intrigued by this as at home this would be a nightmare to do due to the health and safety issues.  The Northern Ireland curriculum (2007) states that within gymnastics at key stage one children should learn to explore a range of movement skills, including travelling, jumping and landing, rolling, climbing, transferring weight and balancing. The children in the class were definitely achieving all of these but it made me wonder if I would be confident enough to use a trampoline with children back at home during a P.E lesson, therefore I was very impressed with the teacher and how the class was managed.

In our own classes this week we worked on the topic of teaching children how to deal with diversity, we looked at many techniques in which to do this, however the one that stood out the most for me was the line game, we watched a clip of the film 'Freedom writers', which is based on a true story, and watched how the line game works. We then did the game for ourselves, asking various questions, if they applied to us we stepped up to the line, if they did not we stood away from it.

We discussed how to use this technique at home and why it works, I find it works because everyone can see each other and can feel a sense of community with those who they are standing on the line with, they can see that although other people are from different places to them and have different backgrounds, they can go through the same emotions and experiences as each other. I find it would be a brilliant activity to bring back home it could be used as an ice-breaker and also as a way to ease tension and probe discussion into heavy topics, especially in a PDMU lesson as the PDMU framework states that children should develop an awareness of the experiences, lives and cultures of people in the wider world and in their own community. Northern Ireland curriculum (2007)



CCEA (2007) Northern Ireland Curriculum, Belfast, CCEA.