Week 1 at Tornhagsskolan - Clarise's Experience
At Tornhagsskolan, I had the opportunity to observe students from a large age range. My supervising teacher, who is in charge of English and Textile Crafts, teaches students from 2nd grade to 9th grade. Many of her students have been taught by her since 2nd grade, and thus treat her as a maternal figure.
The class sizes at Tornhagsskolan are rather smaller than that of Singapore, with 2 teachers to 20 students in an English class, and around 1 teacher to 10 students in a sewing class. The students come from a diverse racial background, and as there is no streaming, every class is also a mixed-ability class.
I had the opportunity to observe students doing needlework in Textile Crafts. These students are extremely talented in sewing, and each semester, they will not only learn different sewing techniques, but also learn the jargon used in sewing (e.g. yarnball, bookmark, pedal, sewing machine etc.). At the end of every needlework class, students will have 15 minutes at the end of the class for reflection. The teacher will write down a series of 4 questions meant for the students to answer in their reflection journals. The teacher explained that reflection is meant for students to take responsibility for their progress in class, and also practice using the jargon to talk about what they have done. Before leaving, they are to submit their reflections to the teacher, who will evaluate and pass them, or ask them to redo the reflection. Students leave their journals in class, overcoming the problem of them forgetting to bring journals to class.
With the students' and teacher's permission, I took pictures of them with their impressive creations:
Values are emphasised in every way teachers interact with students. When chiding students for misbehaviour, my supervising teacher would emphasise "How do you think your behaviour has made me feel as a teacher?". This manner of reprimand is very good in my opinion, as it does not solely focus on the student's wrongdoing, but encourages the student to think further, and think about how their actions affect others, thus teaching them empathy.
Looking forward to Week 2 at Tornhagsskolan!
The class sizes at Tornhagsskolan are rather smaller than that of Singapore, with 2 teachers to 20 students in an English class, and around 1 teacher to 10 students in a sewing class. The students come from a diverse racial background, and as there is no streaming, every class is also a mixed-ability class.
I had the opportunity to observe students doing needlework in Textile Crafts. These students are extremely talented in sewing, and each semester, they will not only learn different sewing techniques, but also learn the jargon used in sewing (e.g. yarnball, bookmark, pedal, sewing machine etc.). At the end of every needlework class, students will have 15 minutes at the end of the class for reflection. The teacher will write down a series of 4 questions meant for the students to answer in their reflection journals. The teacher explained that reflection is meant for students to take responsibility for their progress in class, and also practice using the jargon to talk about what they have done. Before leaving, they are to submit their reflections to the teacher, who will evaluate and pass them, or ask them to redo the reflection. Students leave their journals in class, overcoming the problem of them forgetting to bring journals to class.
With the students' and teacher's permission, I took pictures of them with their impressive creations:
Values are emphasised in every way teachers interact with students. When chiding students for misbehaviour, my supervising teacher would emphasise "How do you think your behaviour has made me feel as a teacher?". This manner of reprimand is very good in my opinion, as it does not solely focus on the student's wrongdoing, but encourages the student to think further, and think about how their actions affect others, thus teaching them empathy.
Looking forward to Week 2 at Tornhagsskolan!
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