Välkommen till Sverige
At the end of January, we travelled to Malmö for 12 days with 6 socio-pedagogical assistants (SPA) and 10 students from our vocational grammar school. There, the latter visited the Pauliskolan, while the SPA did an internship in various daycare centres.
Here are the reports from both groups.
Malmö - insights from the SPA students
Experience a fascinating journey into the world of Swedish daycare centres through the eyes of our six dedicated SPA students. For eleven days, we explored three different facilities run by the same organisation with enthusiasm and curiosity.
Anna, inspired by the warm support of the Swedes, found the evenings shared with new friends particularly enjoyable. The development of her social skills was a particular highlight of this trip.
Lis experienced a magical day in Copenhagen (Denmark) as a personal highlight. In the Swedish daycare centres, she not only discovered the calm atmosphere, but also the teachers' impressive methodological and didactic principles when planning activities and organising leisure time which had a lasting impact on her view of pedagogical approaches.
Noel took the liberty of conducting pedagogical experiments that sharpened his perception of the subtle nuances of human behaviour. His enjoyment of exploring the different concepts of daycare centres led to an in-depth exploration of structured and planned work. Modern approaches, such as educational television, whiteboards and technological integration, gave Noel a glimpse of contemporary pedagogy.
Paul enjoyed the variety of educational experiments and the conscious observation of human behaviour during the trip. He was particularly fascinated by the structured way of working in the Swedish daycare centres which focused on the joy of learning.
Lina emphasised the clean and well-chosen accommodation as well as the variety of activities that made the trip very diverse. She was particularly impressed by the children's independence and their ability to sleep outside. Overall, she really enjoyed the trip and would highly recommend it to others.
Laurin appreciated the good planning and flexibility of the trip. The excursions and shared meals created an atmosphere of social interaction and socialising.
Finally, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks: to the dedicated teachers at our German school who made this exchange possible; to the teachers at Pauliskolan School in Sweden for their hospitality and insights; and last but not least to the Erasmus+ programme for making this transformative trip possible.
This experience was not just a journey, but a bridge between cultures and a foundation for our pedagogical development. We are grateful for this unique opportunity
Malmö - insights from the vocational grammar school students
On the morning of 26 January, 10 of the vocational grammar school students in year 11 set off. The days leading up to the trip were very stressful because there was a train strike which meant that it was not possible to plan everything precisely. The journey was very adventurous, but we still arrived safely in Malmö. It wasn't far from Triangeln station and the hostel we stayed in was very nice and made us feel at home straight away.
The next day we went straight back to Copenhagen. There, our teachers Mrs Jouy and Mr Schartenberg had planned a visit to the Aquarium which was just outside the city. Afterwards we had free time and later had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant.
On Monday, the 10 of us went to the Pauliskolan for the first time. This was situated within easy walking distance of the hostel. We were all very impressed by the school because the buildings looked very classy and beautiful from the outside. We were welcomed with open arms at the school and were shown around so that we immediately knew where we could spend time between lessons in the coming days: for example, in the spacious library. During our time in Malmö and at the school, we were asked to work on a project on the topic of fast fashion. We all had lots of ideas, but we finally agreed on one and worked on it in small groups. We also attended English, peace and conflict management and maths lessons. We were also allowed to practise as teachers ourselves and plan and conduct German lessons in two different classes.
On some days we had planned excursions after lessons and on others we met up for dinner in the evening or cooked in the hostel's communal kitchen. We had a lot of free time during our stay and opportunities to get to know and explore new things. To summarise, I can only recommend everyone to come to Malmö next year.
