A Professional Blog is appropriate this week. I attended placement and a trip to Saint Petersburg in Russia organised by University (the main purpose of this was to tour children’s homes).
In the pre-school setting I find that as time passes, planning and organisation of work for the children is different to that of Northern Ireland. The teachers are not pressured to the same extent with large amounts of paperwork; in fact it seems more relaxed and that they can use their time more effectively with the children. I favour this approach as I would suggest from previous experience that teachers are constantly required to complete excessive amounts of administrative duties, hence creating a de-motivated atmosphere.
During a lesson this week I helped the children make their own paper clocks this week, in keeping with the current topic of time. This was an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere and following the activity the children used their individual clocks autonomously, telling the time.
In addition to this I attended an information meeting from Turku International School which was primarily for the prospective parents to learn more about the school. It was a great opportunity for me to learn about the school and to request some placement days so that I can experience the Finnish schooling system for children above seven years-old. The teachers were happy to welcome me to the school and I will be observing some lessons in May.
Finally this week I visited Saint Petersburg in Russia to tour some children’s homes with a mix of sight-seeing opportunities. This was an enjoyable way to gain course credit! Whilst there I visited two children’s homes which was an interesting experience. I was informed that the most common reason that children (3 – 18 year-olds) were living there was because of poor social welfare backgrounds, for example, parents could not care for them properly. The homes were similar in that both provided mini-apartments for the children to create a homely atmosphere that the children could feel comfortable in. I was told that they encourage the children to be independent with day-to-day activities as they would do at home, for example cleaning and tidying their dinner dishes. According to the owners, a child’s length of stay in the home can range from one week to one and a half years. I questioned if they had outdoor play facilities because I think this is an important resource for children (as I did not see any outside); they did not have any however the indoor facilities were impressive.
To end my time in Saint Petersburg I explored the cultural surroundings. It appeared to be large and extremely busy with traffic. In the beginning I found this city unattractive because the buildings and pavements tended to be unkempt, smoking is permitted anywhere and the fuel fumes from traffic was quite disgusting. However I filed this to the back of my mind and found some lovely architecture with beautiful, colourful cathedrals. I also visited the Russian Vodka Museum as I am informed that vodka is very popular in Russia and that people tend to drink it straight by itself and often!
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