Week 18, 14.05.11 – 20.05.11 (Cultural Blog) – Mandy Brown

This week I experienced more of Finland’s culture.  I visited another city (Tampere) with other exchange students, Finland played Ice-hockey against Sweden and I gave a presentation to Grade 8 students (14 year-olds).

Firstly, at the weekend I visited Tampere – the third largest city in Finland, and having knowledge of this fact, I expected it to be interesting and exciting.  It appeared to be a nice city and I saw the Finlayson Factory, famous for making textile machinery and then moved to cotton production.  I have noticed that Finlayson is branded on household cotton items, such as towels, so I suppose this is something to be recognised.  However it seemed there was not much to do in the city so I decided to visit the Sarkanniemi adventure park and observation tower.  This turned out to be expensive but worth experiencing as it is supposedly Tampere’s largest tourist attraction.  All in all, it was lovely way to spend time with what remains of the other exchange students.

In addition to this, Finland versus Sweden in the Ice-hockey championship final was a massive celebration for the Finn’s.  I watched the match online and Finland were awarded the World Championship 2011 title at a result of 6 – 1!  The players returned home to Helsinki where there was a large crowd of people to welcome them back.  There was entertainment and footage of the match shown.  Meanwhile, in Turku there was a television screen in the city centre showing this homecoming.  I found that although the Finn’s were out drinking alcohol (as they usually do for celebrations), there was not the same atmosphere as in Helsinki.  They waved their Finnish flags here and there, with a few cheers and chants.

In addition to all of this, I visited St: Olofsskolan, a school for Grades 7 -9 (13 -15 year-olds).  This school’s language of instruction was Swedish; however the students were fluent in English, with a number being bilingual.  I voluntarily participated in this as part of the Erasmus in Schools project and presented a talk about Erasmus, my experiences of the Finnish culture compared to Northern Ireland, and informed the students about the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  (Grade 8 had been learning about the United Kingdom). 

This was my first real experience of presenting and interacting with 14 year-olds, never mind being foreign students; so naturally I was somewhat apprehensive.  However in the end I realised there was need to be as it all went very well.  The students were well behaved, good humoured and appeared interested.  I look forward to visiting the school next week to continue these lessons.

Week 17, 07.05.11 – 13.05.11 (Professional Blog) – Mandy Brown

This week I completed my University work and visited two new settings.  

In terms of University work I have completed all work that I will submit next week.  My host University appears to have a more relaxed approach to meeting submission deadlines, as late submissions do not have a penalty like Stranmillis.  I dislike this approach as it lacks focus on self-discipline and in my opinion is a poor way to guide students into the transition of working life where meeting deadlines can be essential.  However, I have continued to work effectively and independently to meet relevant submission dates within good time.  Stranmillis’ methods have taught me to meet deadlines and perhaps as a mature student, I prefer this due to working full-time. 

This week I visited two different settings: a Children’s Centre and Turku International School.    The Children’s Centre was an interesting experience where the manager showed me around and had a discussion.  The centre cares for children aged 0 – 18 years old whom face difficult circumstances at home and/or school.  Currently it has seven places caring for adolescents; and they are encouraged to become independent young people.  The centre had an individual apartment attached for other cases, such as a mother and baby in need of help.  The facilities offered were excellent with a nice calm and relaxed atmosphere. 

During my visit to Turku International School I also experienced a relaxed atmosphere.  It was somewhat different to schools in N.I.  Firstly the children are not with one teacher for the entire school day, they move classrooms for different lessons.  They also tended to have a 10-15 minute break of free time in between lessons.  In addition to this I found (like the pre-school) that teachers were not under any pressure to make yearly, termly or weekly plans.  It is important to note that the teachers and children are clearly not facing the same pressures as of N.I.  The school has adapted its core curriculum to include part of England’s curriculum for teaching English.  Furthermore, on another note, Child Protection and security are not a major concern, as there were no fences around the playground and no security code system at the main entrance.  Even with these differences to N.I that surprise me, it all runs smoothly; and therefore I like the provision.

Finally this week I have also focused on updating my Curriculum Vitae and applying for employment back in N.I because I will need to return to work. 

Cultural Note: Finland’s Mother’s Day was on Sunday 8^th May and all the shops and supermarkets were closed for this holiday.  It gives the impression that the Finnish take advantage of whatever holidays they can get!

Week 16, 30.04.11 – 06.05.11 (Cultural Blog) – Mandy Brown

I mentioned at the end of last week’s blog that I had helped the children in my placement make ‘Vappu’ hats.  This was in preparation for VAPPU on 1^st May.  Therefore I was able to experience some of the Finnish culture over the weekend.  It seems Vappu (May Day) was traditionally ‘Worker’s Day’ and it has been an official flag-raising day since 1978 – ‘The Day of Finnish Work’.

Naturally, I was keen to experience this celebration so I went along to the town on the eve of Vappu where I met with other students (including Alex and Andrea from last year’s exchange).  We relaxed in the park and then headed to the Art Museum in the town centre; where an official-looking gentleman was giving a speech to the crowds that had gathered.  In today’s society the celebration of Vappu is mainly for secondary school graduates (past and present) to celebrate by bringing out their white caps.  After this speech the students put their caps on and continued to be merry with sparkling beverages (traditionally mead “sima”).

Following this, the crowds walked behind a carnival-like parade towards the Aura River where the statue ‘Lilja’ was situated.  It is a tradition, I am told (and have now witnessed), that the dentistry students clean the statue Lilja with an enormous toothbrush.  The students pretended to clean the statue followed by a politician’s speech, which was spoken in Finnish, Swedish and English.  From what I could grasp of the speech it seemed that the general public were not overly thrilled by what the man had to say.  Apparently, there has been a recent election of government politicians and people believe that the new parliament is not going to move forward with equality but go back to some traditional old way.  However as the speech means less to me, I was happy to experience the Finnish culture as it turned out to be a massive celebration.

On Vappu day I went to a park in Turku for a picnic with other students.  This was still a major celebration for the Finn’s, attending with their white caps and alcoholic drinks.  It was quite a different experience to see so many Finn’s out enjoying themselves, although I found that they do like to drink a great deal!  It was nice to see that even though alcohol was involved, there were no drunken fights and everyone was celebrating in harmony.

Prior to Vappu I had heard it was a massive celebration and that I must experience it while in Finland.  However I was somewhat disappointed, as with all the talking about it I must have had high expectations which were not met.  To end though, it was a lovely experience and another one to add to my memories of Finland and Erasmus.

Professional Note: This week was my last in placement and I was sad to leave.  I taught the children about ‘nature’ with a PowerPoint presentation and ‘nature trail’ as my final lesson.  This was enjoyed by all and a great way to end my time with the children.  To conclude my time there I visited the International School with the Pre-school children.  It was interesting to see how on the opening morning they go straight to a desk and undertake two lessons with the teacher.  I look forward to observing the full routines when I visit the school next week again.

Overall I have enjoyed placement immensely – the teachers, children and environment as a whole were great and I will miss it.  As a thank you and farewell gift I gave the setting a ‘Twister’ game for the children (which they were delighted with) and some Irish Linen tea towels so as to leave them with some memories of Northern Ireland.  The teachers were kind and gave me famous ‘Fazer’ chocolate and Salmiakki with a beautiful Finnish ‘Marimekko’ candle holder.

Picture 1: Speech given at the Art Museum



Picture 2: The crowds at Vappu

Picture 3: Parading towards the Aura River

Picture 4: Holding Flags around statue 'Lilja' before the toothbrush clean!

Week 15, 23.04.11 – 29.04.11 (Professional Blog) – Mandy Brown

This blog will discuss, reflect and compare my acquired knowledge of general aspects between Finland and Northern Ireland’s Early Years provision, education and curriculum.  My knowledge and understanding of each has developed over time and as my Erasmus experience is almost complete, it is important to consider these issues.

As previously stated, my placement training in Turku is in a Daycare and Pre-school setting.  The organisation cares for young children aged 3 – 6 years old.  However for the purposes of this blog the focus will be on the Pre-school facilities (caring for 6 year olds) as children in Finland begin basic school education at 7 years old.  The general routine includes four hours pre-school teaching in the classroom (9am – 1pm and an hour of this includes ‘resting time’ and lunch-time), with the afternoon session as daycare.  According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2004), the level of education a pre-school teacher should hold in Finland is a bachelor or master’s degree in education; or a bachelor degree in social sciences with an additional pedagogical course.  Pre-school entry is government funded, however private daycare costs are the responsibility of parents/guardians.

In Northern Ireland (N.I) daycares generally follow the same routine as my experiences in Finland.  On the other hand, the organisations somewhat differ in that 4 year old children may attend Pre-school or Nursery School (non-compulsory); 5 and 6 year old children attend Primary school (compulsory).  In Pre-school it is less structured with a focus on ‘learning through play’ with curriculum guidelines for government funded settings, {Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA, 2006)}.  At age 5 in Primary One, play-based learning is still important with a more structured approach to the curriculum.  In recent times the school curriculum for Primary 1 and 2 has changed to incorporate the ‘Foundation Stage’, linking more so with the Pre-school teaching methods.  The day is from 9am until 2pm for the first three years in Primary school, without any ‘resting time’.  Teaching staff must hold at least a Bachelor of Education degree, or a Bachelor degree and Post Graduate Certificate of Education.  Support staff such as Classroom Assistants should have at least a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level three in Early Years Education.

According to the Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) (2010) pre-school/pre-primary education is voluntary, however all municipalities of Finland are required to offer and provide the free service.  N.I is similar, attempting to provide this however I find it does not quite match the high-quality provision that Finland is providing.  I reflect this to N.I and it seems that Finland provides many Social, Health and Education benefits.  For example, education is free for all residents of Finland, including University students!  I find that N.I and indeed the United Kingdom (U.K) are seriously lacking the high-quality services that this country offers.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2004), states that a beneficial strength to the Finnish system is well-educated and multi-disciplinary staff.  It is therefore questionable if the educators and pedagogues in N.I are encouraged sufficiently to become well-educated.  Certainly from previous experience in N.I daycares I have found that staff are not motivated to study and achieve a higher qualification.  Furthermore – this has encouraged me to consider if educators back home are not well-educated themselves, it seems impossible to educate children (the future generations) to the highest of standards.

Moving on, although the countries differ on the school starting age, they both follow a curriculum with seven areas of learning/subject fields.  On reading relevant literature {N.I Curriculum: Foundation Stage (2006), and the Core Curriculum for Pre-School Education in Finland (2000)} I found that Finland’s Pre-School curriculum divided learning into Language and Interaction, Mathematics, Ethics and Philosophy, Environmental and Natural Studies, Health, Physical and Motor Development, and Art and Culture.  In addition to this, municipalities and individual Pre-School providers can further prepare and approve a curriculum for education in compliance with the Core Curriculum.  It seems that pedagogues in Finland have more scope with their teaching therefore it this appears to be another strength for the country’s education system.  It may be worth considering if these differences help result in the findings and reputation of the Finnish being recorded as one of the top achievers in education.

This blog may seem lengthy; however I consider it all to be of relevance and importance as part of my Erasmus experience.  In truth I have read and learned from practical placement much more than I have written though unfortunately the word count does not allow for this.

References

CCEA (2006) Understanding the Foundation Stage, Belfast: CCEA.

Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) (2010) Pre-Primary Education, Helsinki: FNBE.  (Accessed from http://www.oph.fi/english/education/pre-primary_education on 29 April 2011).

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH) (2004) Early Childhood Education and Care in Finland, Helsinki: MSAH.

National Board of Education (2000) Core Curriculum for Pre-School Education in Finland, Helsinki: Yliopistopaino/University Press.

Professional Note: This week in placement I worked with the children, encouraging creativity to make ‘Vappu’ hats in preparation for the May Day weekend.

Personal Note: This week the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton took place and I decided to watch the celebrations on the Internet.  This was a nice way to experience the happenings of the UK and history in-the-making.