Schools in Sweden

My second blog in my series talking about differences must highlight the differences I've seen in schools. This was to be my main focus while I was here and I've noticed a lot of similar themes in differences as well as some small unique things from a number of schools that got my gears turning in regards to how to implement something similar in my own classroom or school.
I guess the first small difference you notice upon entering a school is that students in schools do not wear their shoes around the building. The people I have spoken to said that only Swedes and Japanese people use this custom. I thought it was a great idea though and cuts down on noise an d dirt in the classroom and school. Visitors have to do like I was doing in the below photo and put booties over their shoes if they want to wander the school building. The teachers had a pair of shoes they just wore instead (I saw lots of Crocs and Birkenstocks).
Another difference I saw in classrooms is that there is more time in which students are working than the teacher is talking. In all of the schools I went to, the most time I saw the teacher in front talking was about five minutes. I do not know if this is because I was in the room, but it did seem that tasks were more student focused and driven. In multiple schools the students had a composition book where the teacher placed typed forms each week with the individual students goals and assignments. I saw students working with atlas and maps, saw student doing projects. The only time I saw a classroom working like an American one was during English instruction. There the students listened to a tape and followed along in their book. Then the teacher asked questions about the text. That took about 10 minutes and then the students go into groups and had time to speak to each other in English to practice that skill.





That leads me to another main difference-the importance placed on learning a foreign language. In every school I was in, English was a main lesson. They learned English just as we would teach English in our own schools and starting in about third grade the students had daily homework in Swedish, English, and Math. The students I talked with were quite fluent by the time they were in 5th grade. Then in 6th grade they are offered another opportunity to take another language...spanish, German, etc. I think that once they are in highschool, there is also another opportunity to add a lanaguage. To think that our Swedish counterparts are learning up to four languages and in some cases the American students do not learn any languages! I really hope to make this a point when I return home. The Swedish children can in many cases speak as good or better than us and it is their second language. I will continue to be amazed by this. In talking with teachers they feel this is important both to communicate worldwide using English, but also as the thinking process of learning another language unlocks higher level thinking.



Another observation I had is in regards to the equivalent of highschool in America. In their highschool, the students are already starting to specialize in what they would like to become. There are specialty schools that will teach you trades in highschool such as forestry, agriculture, and animal care as well as humanities such as language. In speaking with a teacher about this, the students who wish to work in trades (loggers, farmers, etc) get the skills they need to move right from high school to the work place, while most of the students who study a humanity move on to University. But schools in Sweden are preparing students early for the careers they wish to have. As I reflect on this practice, I think that opportunities to experience different careers and explore interests should take place in my school so that we may also prepare our students.

Yesterday I went to another school for grades 7 to 9 and they told me about another opportunity offered to this age group throughout Sweden. They are given the opportunity to make a business plan and create businesses. Then their business can compete on a regional or national scale. The headmaster (principal) at this school gave me one groups product, some handmade soaps. I thought it was a great idea to spark interest in entrepeunership and also to learn handy life skills.



LUNCHTIME! I was able to eat in four lunch cafeterias in Sweden and wow was I impressed. First, the level of noise was always quiet and children seems to be very independent. In all cases the students used real plates, knives, etc. Maybe this is because Sweden seems to be more environmentally conscious, using only what they need and offering more programs to recyle. In Sweden the garbage man picks up trash, recycling, and scraps for composting. Anyways, we ate on real plates and were able to serve ourselves. I have already mentioned how Swedish people are healthier eaters and this was translated in their lunch meal. They offered lots of salads, fresh vegetables and bread, and a meal much like you would receive at home. I had ham and mashed potatoes in two places and... It was very comfortable eating in the cafeteria here. The noise was not loud and you could almost feel like you were at a resteraunt or rotary lunch. I very much enjoyed my lunch time experience.

Classrooms in Sweden seem to foster more student responsibility utilizing differentiation. One day a week, either Monday or Friday, the student plans out their studies (sometimes with the teacher) for the week. They have a booklet with their individual plan and goals, including assigments, for the week. The classroom setting seemed to have more time with students working and less time with teacher talking. There is also a serious focus on hands on work and application. At the last school I visited, there was an American student in 5th grade who had just arrived a few months ago. Her teacher spoke with me and said that while she was advanced in bookwork, she was unable to apply what she knew in real life settings and had been focusing on that since coming to Sweden. From this, I think mainly of Math and how next year I would like to do a segment at least once or twice a week in addition to the book math that is all application.

I also saw more student responsiblity because in many of the schools, there was very little adult monitoring. There were many schools that didn't need an adult in the cafeteria and students were traveling within the school on their own. I never saw a class traveling together in a line...students, no matter what the age, had more freedom that way.

Overall, I think I gained many insights and how that I will be able to apply some of these ideas to better my own classroom!

A week in Darlana

This week we have been in the region of Darlana. A brief re-cap of what we have been up to. On Tuesday we had our vocational day in Borlange. I toured two schools...one older and larger school and an recently built school. Both offered some more ideas...but more on that to come.

Tuesday night we joined our host at his local gym for an aerobic class and then had a delicous dinner and relaxing evening.

On Wednesday we headed West where we stopped at an optics factory to learn how eyeglass lenses are made. We had lunch at a gymnasium, which is equivalent to a high school in the US. In their highschools, students are able to pick a specialty in which they will take classes pertaining to that area. There are such things are language, sports, etc. This school was unique because they also offered four specialties in the areas of agriculture. So this school had horse training as well as learning about different aspectes of farming. We saw the milk house...all of it was automated. No longer do people have to milk the cows. When the cows are tired they have to pass through this walkway to the sleeping area. A machine reads whether they have been milked recently and if they haven't a door opens and they are forced to go into a milking maching. When we were done there we moved on to looking at the small city. We were still a little unsure of where we were staying, but enjoyed visiting a local church.

We also did some shopping before departing to our evening at a remote cabin in the area. We enjoyed a peaceful and scenic meal as well as some activities that included orienteering (map reading) and listening to an exchange student from Australia sing and play the guitar (she was amazing).

The next day, my teammate Mike and I went on a morning hike at 6:45am. We got some great views of both nearby lakes. Then we went to the factory that makes the hard bread that is so famous in Sweden. It was really interesting to see how they make the bread, starting with grinding their own flour..to making dough...to rolling it out by machine and baking it. The warm free samples were also much appreciated. After that we had a rotary lunch and presentation and afterward we went back to the cabin grounds to rest before our departure to Mora.

In Mora that girls slept at one host family and the boys at the other. We ended our Thursday night with dinner at our host family. A delicious meal of fish, salad, and potatoes. Anna Britta, our host mother, told us that we had to eat all the food so that there would be good weather. Needless to say, everyone had went home with a full stomach that night.

On Friday we started the day by going to the museum that is all about the famous cross country race they have that ends in Mora. The Vasaloppet is the longest cross-country ski race in the world, held every year at the beginning of March. There are about 15,500 skiers that competed in the main event, which is held over a distance of 90 kilometres between the village of Sälen and town of Mora. A total of more than 40,000 participated in one of the seven different races held during the first week of March. The race was started in 1922 being inspired by the run that the future King Gustav Vasa had made in 1520. The winner of the first race was Ernst Alm from Norsjö, 22 years old, who is still the youngest ever winner of the race.The Vasaloppsmuseum in the Sports Club tells the story of the race.

After that museum, we also saw the art collection and home of a famous Swedish artist name Anders Zorn. People in America may be familiar with him because he painted some paintings of early American presidents. We saw several watercolor as well as oil paintings that he completed. We also toured his home which itself was like a museum with all the collections and old furniture.

Lastly, we went to the place where they make the famous Dala horses. Here is a blurb about the horses taking from Wikipedia:

A Dalecarlian horse or Dala horse (Swedish: Dalahäst) is a traditional carved and paintedwooden statuette of a horse originating in the Swedish province of Dalarna. In the old days thehorse was mostly used as a toy for children; in modern times it has become a symbol ofDalarna as well as Sweden in general. Several different types of Dala horses are made, withdistinguishing features common to the locality of the site where they are produced. Oneparticular style has, however, become much more common and widespread than others. It is stoutly carved and painted bright red with details and a harness in white, green, yellow and blue. Dala


We were able to see how they make the horses. First they only use Swedish pine and someone cuts out the basic horse shape. Then they are widdled and shaped by hand. They have people who work in their shop as well as some locals who do this at home. They are not sanded because the way they are carved makes them smooth. After they are crafted, they are dipped in a red paint. If there are any crack or imperfections they are filled in and then sanded and re-dipped into paint. Then after that paint dries, there are people who paint the horse by hand. It was amazing to watch one woman do the painting and see that even though the horse is painted so intricately, she is able to do it very quickly. I guess practice does make perfect in this case. We were told that each painter has their own unique style so that the people who work there can actually tell who has painted each horse. When the horses are died then they are dipped in a varnish as the final stage. It was amazing to see all these horses, which by the way, are a bit expensive! I did purchase a small black horse to take home. The evening ended with a dinner of friends and one of the most interesting presentations we have done. Today will be a day of relaxing before we depart tomorrow to our last region and our last week in Sweden!

Anybody Hungry???

I am going to start a series of blogs about some things I find different than the USA and some of the daily life I've come to enjoy in Sweden. Todays topic is one that I've encountered several times a day...drum roll please....

FOOD

First, and foremost, breakfast. Breakfast in Sweden is similiar to a typical European breakfast...but that is not quite like a American breakfast. I've had a variety of different things in the four homes I've stayed in thus far, but many commonalities. First, breakfasts are always a hardy meal. I think that breakfast here is a bigger meal, but healthier. We always have some type of bread (not Wonderbread, more home made with grains). Many also serve "hard bread" at every meal. I would compare this to a Wasa rye crisp. I think of it more as a cracker than bread, but now look to have one with every meal. On the bread few put jelly...more often to have cheese, turkey, tomato. I know you may be thinking..."what? that is lucnch" but that is typical. Also, they cut their cheese with these awesome cheese cutters. They look like pie serving utentsils, but they have a slit that allows you to carve finely sliced pieces of cheese. Not more cutting big hunks to put on things. These are delicate and perfect. Next, with this bread you may also have some yogurt or A-fil. The literal translation of A-fil is sour milk, but before you turn your nose..it is quite delicious. I would compare it to plain yogurt. But unlike the consistency of yogurt, it is a bit more runny. Having a bowl that is part A-fil and part flavored yogurt with granola on top is my absolute favorite here. I've also had hard boiled and scrambled eggs, but the toast and yogurt/A-fil I find most common. Don't forget to add in the coffee as I have never seen more people drink coffee so much as while here in Sweden. Breakfast is served!

Mid-morning, as I have spoken about before, Swedish people partake in Fika. This coffee time is a time of sharing, both coffee and treats, as well as ideas, stories, and personal refelection.

Lunch and Dinner offer many options. I will say that almost all courses of meals these meals that I have had, potatoes are always present. Normally boiled potatoes are always service. Fish is also very popular and I have been happy to eat lots of salmon while I'm here. One tradition of food that they do enjoy, but I did not, was the herring. It is served as an appetizer, sometimes pickled and sometimes in diferent sauces. It tasted a bit fishy to me. It was normally served with those boiled potatoes and hard bread. Overall, I would say that people here eat much healthier than Americans. I've been in the country of Sweden for three weeks and have only had three sodas, all which I sought out for. I have had chips on only one occasion here. And most importantly, I haven't seen anyone I come in contact with eat fast food. No McDonalds or Max's (there popular hamburger chain). People just don't eat that kind of thing on a daily basis. There isn't a lot of snacking aside from some sweets served at Fika. I really have felt good with what has been going into my body.

Normally meals are served with water. The most popular being the water that is carbonated (think like LaCroix or those diet waters). Loka is the brand we have seen everywhere. On one special occasion I also had the treat of a typical birthday cake which translates into "princess cake." This was a yellow cake with whipped cream in it. However, it should be noted that the whipped cream used in Sweden is not like ours. THey must put far less sugar into it, because it really doesn't have as sweet as a taste. It was good, but it isn't overdoing it. Then this cake is covered in marzipan. This was a yummy treat!

So this concludes Swedish meals...anyone hungry?

Music and language, language and music

We are now in the county of Dalarna, in the city of Borlange. It has been a very fulfilled last two days learning about the city and also their schooling. If I could say anything I have learned to take back with me, it is the importance placed in Sweden on music and language. We talk about how being skilled in these areas helps with higher level thinking and I think Sweden is an example of this that we should follow (hint, hint, hint CWA).

Borlange has a thriving music scene. They host the Peace and Love festival which is Sweden's largest rock festival with 40,000 visitors each year. Not quite as big as Summerfest, but a great thing for this small town.

On Monday we started the day at the Borlange music school. In Sweden they believe everybody should and can have an equal chance and music is one thing that everyone can play if they choose. The school was only about $100 a term and in this small town there were 1,500 students enrolled. There were some students who went to the actual school building we visited and some teachers who did outreach in local schools during the day. We met with a very skilled man named Marcus Mossny who allowed us to learn a little piano ourselves. We got to sit as if we were six years old (that is when you can start an instrument) and play the piano. It was a lot of fun and inspired me to want to learn. Then we also got to hear Marcus play and if you listen to the clip you can hear what was so inspirational.

Borlange Musikskola starts students at age six by playing the recorder. Then as the years advance, students may take up piano, violin, guitar, keyboard, woodwinds, and even choir. This school is unique in that they have a full symphony made up of 60 youth. It was very impressive and definately continues to show me the importance Sweden has for music and their belief in its ability to help students learn. As one rotary memeber said on our visit, "No one who plays the piano becomes a gangster."

After our visit and a lunch and presentation, we headed to another music school called Boom Town. Boom Town is a new idea in Sweden and is a school (unversity level school) that teaches its students how to get into the music recording business with classes on lighting, managing, and sound. We got to tour this facility and see some of the recording in action. Here is one such studio and the two guys were helping to record one students debut albumn. The school had 8 recording studios, with one commercial studio. The school has many sponsors from music equipment companies and so they have some of the best equipment in the world for their students to use. Each year 100 students try out for the school, but only like 15 are chosen. The students in bands get their own practice studios to use in the time they are there.
After this tour the group headed to the Peace and Love cafe to learn about Sweden's largest rock festival. I, on the otherhand, had a different direction to go...the dentist. In sampling some gummy candy from the factory the week before, I had broken a filling and had to go to the dentist to get a cavity filled again. Lucky for me there were two rotarians in this group who were dentists and they had me fixed up in no time...and for free I might add!Things were very much the same as in the United States in that chair. They fixed me up quick and off I went.

When I arrived home, Jessica and I went for a short walk around our host family's home. We are out in the middle of nowhere, but near a horse training facility because the day before when we were having tea, some people on horses went trotting by.

We ended the night with a pleasant dinner at a place called the Officer's Saloon. It was the old dining place at a military base that has been closed for about 100 years. They are using the buildings now for other things, and a fantastic dinner was one of them!

A day in Stockholm

On Saturday we had a day trip to the capital of Sweden, which is Stockholm. It was about a two hour drive from Gavle and we left early in the morning. Our first stop was the Vasa museum. It held a ship called the Vasa that was built in 1628. It was the greatest ship of its time with two gun decks and more than 500 sculptures on it. However, it only last 20 minutes at sea because it sank!

The pulled the ship up from the bottom of the sea in the 60's and restored it. The only part of the ship that was still in tact was the wooden base. Many of the sculpture were made of iron, which over time eroded in the water. It was amazing to see this thing in person and it weighed many tons. After a tour about the ship we were able to explore the museum and look at the model they had of what the Vasa would have looked like before it sank.

After that we had lunch at a cute place called The Blue Gate. Then we took the ferry over to the Old Town of Stockholm. This was cobble stone, narrow roads and looked more at Stockholm would have looked back in time. It was fun to step back in time and go into the small shops that led towards the castle. Here is one such shop. It's a chocolate and sweets shop. Look at all the lollipops hanging in the windo. In Stockholm they still have a king and queen. All of Sweden is a buzz because the princess is getting married this summer. In every tourist store there is something you can buy in regards to this upcoming event.We then got to have some free time shopping. Mike, Jessica, and I walked to a local pub before we all met at the Stockholm Ice bar. It is a bar that is all made of ice. They give you ponchos to wear and the glasses they serve you drinks in are even made of ice. It was a great day and nice to relax before we move to the new area of Dalarna on Sunday.

new ideas and new do's

This week we have been getting a lot of expose in our area of work. Today I went to the University of Gavle. It was two blocks from my host family's house. Actually my host mother works there in the Math department, but on this day she was going out of town. I met with the Dean of students who told me a lot about the school, specifically the teaching department. University is free in Sweden, except that you do need to pay for books and accomodation. This University had about 13,000 students with half of them actually attending the campus and the other half doing distance learning. She told me that the school has been changing its teaching program as per the government. Normally education students take 1 1/2 years of general courses, followed by specialty courses based on what area of education they are interested in. This was similiar to the USA. But now they are starting to reorganize the program so that you start off specializing right away. Where before a highschool and a preschool teacher would take similiar classes to begin, now they will be separate. They will separate into 0-5 years, 7-9, 10-13, 13-16, and 16-19. To me this seemed a very small window and I wondered how limiting that would be for getting a job. She said that there is shortage of teachers in this area, but I dont think I personally would like to be that limited in what ages I could teach.



She said that schools do a PISA evaluation which compares them to the rest of the world in education. This gives them direction on what courses to offer students interseted in education. Another difference I found out about in education is that schools here don't do as much testing. So in Sweden there is no WKCE, but she said that it was coming.



After meeting with the Dean, I had a brief tour of the campus, and then met the lady in charge in international relations. She was in charge of helping the international students at the university. She also had two children similiar in ages to that of my students so our conversation really steered towards that. I learned that it is custom in Sweden to have the same teacher for three years (1-3, 4-6, 7-9). She couldn't believe that was not normal and asked me how students adjust to so many teachers. She also told me about how each student at her son's school gets weekly goals which tell which pages they will have to do each night for homework. They have to do some planning on Monday and have to tell what they learned on Friday. I thought that was a very good idea. I asked about homework and it sounds like we have a similiar amount. Her son received 3 pages of Reading homework a few nights a week and the same with Math. He also had his English language homework.

In the afternoon I decided to do like the Swedes do and get my hair dyed blonde. Many people here are blonde haired with blue eyes, so I fit in great. I knew I was blending in when I stopped in H&M afterwards and had a transaction with no English spoken! We finished the night with a symphony performance at the concert hall a short distance from my host family.

A day at Vikingaskolan

Today I was at Vikingaskolan or "the viking school." I spend most of my time in a 6th grade classroom. First I met with the headmaster or principal. I found out that schools in Sweden don't do suspensions or expulsions. However, his school did do detentions, which the community was not always happy about. I found it interesting that again this school didn't allow the children to wear shoes in the school. In talking to the 6th grade teacher I found that this is the norm in Sweden.

I observed a Social Studies class where the students were working with atlases and different maps around the world. During the students morning break I was able to talk more to the teachers. One role that they had in this school that I thought would also be effective in my own school, is the position of student coach. It was a teacher who didn't have a classroom, but instead went around the school assisting teachers with difficult children. It was someone that all students looked to as authority. I saw him walk by the room several times in the hour I was observing and found out that his job is just to help with students when they leave the classroom or when they need encouragement/discipline to do the right thing and ultimately to get them back to working again. This particular guy also helped coach/teach some sports but his main job was just to free up the teachers from having to take class time to work with students who were having difficulty. It was more a work with character than with academic challenges.

After break I observed a textiles class consisting of woodworking, sewing, and weaving. The students had a lot of choice in this class. THey had to make a plan of what they wanted to make in a sketch book...then the teacher would assist them in learning the skills they needed. Students were making everything from wooden shelves and boxes, to placemat on a weaving maching, to bags on a sewing machine, and even one girl was knitting a scarf. I loved the selection and opportunity offered to these students.

I spent the rest of the morning talking to a Grade 5 student. They wanted me to chat with him because he was one of the best English speaking students and really loved learning about the USA. I was so impressed with his English skills. HE didn't have to pause for words..it was like talking to an English speaking native. He was almost more well spoken than most Americans. I really see how much of a priority learning a second lanaguage is in Sweden.

The students had a half day because of a teacher inservice, so I left at lunch time to attend a rotary meeting and presentation. In the evening we had what is known as an "after work." It's a time when working people stay in town and meet out for a drink at a local pub. It was nice to get to talk to all the team members and regroup after our long week. With three days of vocational visits, it almost felt like a work week :).