Hej! So this week I actually spent a little bit of time outside of Copenhagen. One of my favorite things about DIS, and part of the reason why I chose the program, is that travel is built into the semester. There are four major travel breaks: Core Course Week, Travel Weeks 1 and 2, during one of which is your core course's Long Study Tour to another country, and then Thanksgiving break which you can use to travel or not. This past week was Core Course Week, so I'm going to share with you all of the things that made this past week really fun, an great learning opportunity, and an amazing bonding experience. It was an insanely busy week (and I'm still very tired from it), so I'll focus on a few key takeaways/favorite moments from the visits each day. Day 1 We got up bright and early to leave on the bus at 8:30 in the morning. We didn't actually leave at 8:30 however, as one of our classmates, Mark, was around forty minutes late. "Where's Mark?" was definitely a recurring theme of the trip (shoutout to Mark, aka the dad of CMC :P). Then we drove for three hours to get to our first site, Bakkeskolen, in Kolding. We got to talk to some fourth graders and help them practice their English, got a tour of the school from a few seventh graders, and then sat down with their class for a good ol' conversation about the American presidential election (because unfortunately there is no escaping it, even when you leave the country). Two main takeaways from that site: 1) Danish school's really value the child's environment as an important part of their education. Though the school was low SES, it was a very nice building with nice classrooms and relaxing lounge spaces for the students. It was interesting to see that priority 2) Though the school was labeled as an international school, neither the student body nor their curriculum met my expectations for what it means to be international or multicultural. It definitely sparked some interesting discussion in my class about what a multicultural space should be. After the school we visited Koldinghus, a royal castle from the 13th century. We got to learn a lot about its history and see some of the beautiful rooms inside it too! Day 2 Now we were in Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark. Our school for the day was Søndervangskolen, a school where 85% of students have an ethnic background other than Danish and many nationalities are represented. We got to talk to some of the students during a tour, and later during a session where we talked with them about being young in America vs being young in Denmark. My main takeaways: 1) In Denmark bilingual is often used as a synonym for not ethnically Danish. What does that mean in a country where everyone also speaks English and usually one other (Western) language? What does that mean when my fifteen year old tour guide, a Muslim boy who honestly looks more like me than an ethnic Dane would, speaks five different languages, something I wish I could do? What does it mean for these students to be minorities in Denmark? 2) In this school all students are given an iPad for use during their entire schooling. In the US, something like that might be seen in a private school where students pay a hefty tuition. Here, it was reasoned that these students should be given an iPad because they were from low SES backgrounds and were less likely to be able to afford this learning tool on their own. 3) School lunch in Denmark is significantly better than school lunch in America. While fourth grade me was eating mediocre pizza and some corn off of a plastic tray, these students were served rice and curried chicken on actual plates, and it smelled delicious! Next we went to ARoS, the art museum in Aarhus. We didn't get as much time in the museum as I would've liked (so I definitely need to plan a trip to go there again), but the exhibits I saw were amazing. It's also just such a beautifully designed museum. I'll share my favorite moments from here in picture format. For the night we stayed at a hostel, which was actually more of a really nice campsite. We ate dinner and then a few people went canoeing. Then we made a fire to make snobrød, which was literally us roasting bread on a stick. It was kind of hard to get the bread to be cooked all the way through without being burnt, but it was still a lot of fun. My cabin mates and I then spent the rest of the night watching Danish iCarly and some German soap opera about a guy we're pretty sure was an Amish pirate. Good way to end a great day. Day 3 Today was a very nature-filled day, and we started at a cool nature center that showed us a lot about how much kids can learn and benefit from being in nature. We then split into two groups to visit different schools, and I got to visit a Danish forest kindergarten. This one wasn't actually in the forest (although some actually are), but it was such as cool place. My top favorite moments from here: 1) Just watching children be free and playful. The moment we drove up we just saw a group of kids running around in nothing but their underwear, simply enjoying life. I could definitely learn a thing or two from them. 2) I got to practice my Danish with a couple of four year olds, and even though I couldn't engage in any longer conversation with any of them, I could introduce myself and learn their names. Honestly I was happy that they understood me and actually responded! After the forest kindergarten we hopped back on the bus to spend the last two days back in Copenhagen. Day 4 was just our normal practicum visits. I promise I'll do a post on that soon, but just a sneak preview to let you know how that's going: On Thursday I had to break up a fight between a couple of first graders. So...
The final day of Core Course Week was mostly a debrief, talking about all of the things that stuck with us during the tour. Some of it was the fun moments, the good food (we ate at really nice restaurants). Some of it was the problematic things we noticed in the schools, especially regarding multiculturalism. All of it was really interesting and helped me to even more shape my personal interests in child psychology. This was such an amazing week. I saw some really cool schools, saw some different places in Denmark, and I got to spend a lot more time with my classmates. I really love my CMC class, and I felt the bonds really forming during this trip. Hopefully these will be lifelong friends, even though we are all from all over the place. This was a really long post, but it was a really long week filled with lots of amazing moments. Hopefully it was interesting. I definitely can't wait for my Long Study Tour in London. For now I'll look forward to my may adventures in Copenhagen until then. Can't wait to share some more with you guys! <3 Vi ses!
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AuthorOn ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. Part of my heart I'm leaving behind in the United States. Join me as I take the rest on an amazing adventure to Copenhagen, Denmark! ArchivesCategories
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