Week 10; Cultural (16/04/12 - 22/04/12)

I spent some time outside of Poznan this week, as I was in Warsaw competing in the national finals of the Olympics. This was a great experience, as not only did I get to see the capital city, but I also got to witness how other cultures approach sport. The finals where held in a huge army base, and it was run with the upmost professionalism. I’m sorry to say, but I feel that if this event was held in Ireland, then I’m afraid it would have lacked the class and organisational skills that went into the event. There was a huge sense of pride that went into the event from all involved and I can say that it was a great honour to compete in it.

Our team was the only team made up of mixed nationalities as the other teams tended to come from the same countries. This worked to our advantage, as with the other teams, especially the Italians, Spanish and Portuguese; they were too competitive in the sense that they argued constantly with each other which had a negative effect on them. With our team, we had a great sense of teamwork. Although we had Spanish members who occasionally went ‘loco’, we had other members, such as three Romanian guys who would run through brick walls for the team. Overall, we finished 2^nd out of all the teams in Poland which we are very proud of.

Euro 2012 mascots

The trophy...... very far away

Sticking with the subject of sport, the Euro 2012 trophy was is Warsaw over the weekend and was paraded with a big festival. People had the opportunity to get a photo with the trophy; however the waiting time for this was 4 hours, so we just took photos from afar! Hopefully, the trophy will be visiting Poznan soon so I will get another opportunity. It was clear to see that the football tournament is giving the Polish people a great sense of pride and togetherness. We have been told by Polish people that you will see national flags flying from almost all houses and homes, something that hasn’t been seen since before WWII. This just shows how much of an influence sport can have, not only on a city, but on a whole nation.

Due to the event, we had very little time to see the centre of Warsaw, but for the short time we did, I was very impressed.  It is clear to see that it is much more business orientated than Poznan, with skyscrapers being erected all over the centre of the city. I knew very little of Warsaw before I went, but it was good to see some of the older buildings which held historical relevance, such as the ‘Palace of culture and science’ which was a gift to Poland from Stalin during the communist years. It was good to see that although Warsaw is a very modern city, it still has a certain sense of history surrounding it. Having said this, I got the feeling that Warsaw was less welcoming than Poznan is, which is mainly down to the sheer size of the city. On train journey home, I was asked if I would prefer to live in Warsaw or Poznan. The answer was simple; I would choose Poznan every time. It has more of a sense of togetherness and community than Warsaw, and although Warsaw can offer much more to do, I feel safer and comfortable living in Poznan.

Stalins gift

Week 9: Personal (09/04/12 - 15/04/12)

This week, we had several days off from classes due to the Easter break. I also had my best friend visit me from home and I was eager to show him the sights of Poznan. It was interesting to see his first reaction to being in Poland as I assume that it was similar to mine when I first arrived over two months ago. Although he really enjoyed his stay (no doubt helped by the cheap beer and fantastic company), he said he was surprised that I was happy living here due to the vast language barrier and the notable difference between Polish culture and ours. I surprised myself when I began to explain why the cultures were different and how I was able to inform him of the positives that Poland had to offer. In explaining this, it made me realise the progress I had made from the first day in Poznan and how comfortable I am here. My friend also made a shocking observation when he said “I can’t believe that you understood what he was saying.” He was referring to a conversation (mostly one-sided) I had in Polish with the receptionist in my dormitory. It was the first time I had noticed that my Polish language is developing with every day, maybe not to the standard that our teacher expects of us, but it is still developing. This was compounded when I received my first ‘A’ grade in polish class. Needless to say I was straight on the phone to my girlfriend to tell her the news…………….. She didn’t believe me though!

One of the many old buildings

I introduced my friend to the new friends I have made in Erasmus and was refreshing to hear him asking the same questions I had asked on my arrival. This allowed me to listen to the answers as an outsider and gain an even better understanding of my Erasmus friends. I was able to show him the old buildings around the city which are very impressive lit up at night, and we agreed that you can sense the history that radiated from these buildings.

We were then forced (not really forced) to sing at a karaoke bar and at long last, I was able to unleash my undoubted talent upon Poznan. I feel that the people of Poznan will be forever indebted to me for showing them what a real singing performance looks like.

What a performance

We also had time to squeeze in a visit to watch the local football team (Lech Poznan) play a game. The stadium is only newly built over the past few years and has a capacity of over 40,000 people. However, the stadium was only half full during this game, although the noise made by the supporters surpassed that of stadiums I have been in where there were 80,000 people in attendance. This is testament to the fabulous support the team receives and shows how passionate the supporters are towards sport. The team won 3-1, however, I have the feeling that if they had have been beaten, the support would have been as equally noisy.

My friends stay has been a real boost to me as I can clearly see the progress I have made in understanding the polish people and the language. I felt a sense of pride that I was able to show him around the city and explain the different areas that I have been accustomed to over the past load of weeks. I was also proud to explain the differences between our cultures and this only doused my appetite to learn more about the city and its culture…….. maybe I should have a visitor every week!!!

Week 8: Professional (02/04/12 - 08/04/12)

Energy posters

Although I am thoroughly enjoying my placement at the International School of Poznan, I can already see that there is a big difference between the how lessons are taught here compared to back home. The biggest area that is noticeable is the way lessons are planned here in Poland. In Ireland, there is a strong emphasis on individual lesson plans, thematic units and schemes of work. These are planned on weekly, monthly and term bases, depending on the area being taught. In Poland however, it seems to be a lot more relaxed. The teachers will have meetings to discuss what topics will be taught, however, these meetings seem to lack structure on how the pupils will develop throughout the topic. In my grade 4 class, the teachers follow one main area which currently is ‘Energy.’

Grade 4 'Energy project'

 They focus the majority of their time on working on this, and often at the expense of others subjects. This means that when the other subjects are taught, they tend to be rushed and often with no differentiation shown. For example, when a maths lesson is being taught, it is read from a textbook and the pupils are often told the answers to fill in. This differs greatly from the experience I have had in teaching maths on placement in Ireland. The Northern Ireland curriculum tells us that;

“Throughout the primary school, children should engage in a wide range of purposeful activities which should involve them in different modes of mathematical learning, including playing, exploring and investigating, doing and observing, talking and listening, asking questions, reflecting, drafting, reading and recording.” (NI Curriculum, 2007)

I have been told that once the pupils move to Grade 5 next year, the teaching will be totally different. This is because once they reach this age (p7) they are expected to be more independent. I was interested in seeing this, so I asked to be placed with a grade 5 class for a day. Even though they are only one year older than my grade 4 class, I was amazed to see the difference between the two.

Grade 5 'Space display'

Within the grade 5 class, there is an understanding between the teacher and pupil that allows the pupils to choose what they want to learn. When I was in the class, the teacher had spent a large part of the morning photocopying sheets and preparing resources for an English lesson about Space. However, when she was preparing to teach it, the pupils said they didn’t want to. Instead of continuing with the lesson, the teacher put it to a vote, and the majority of the children voted against doing an English lesson. I was amazed that the pupils could wield this type of power in the classroom; however I was impressed by what happen next. The teacher gave the pupils time to discuss what they wanted to learn instead, and they had to produce reasons why the lesson they wanted to learn would benefit them. The pupils were making valid reasons and connecting their ideas to different areas of learning.

I immediately began to wonder if this type of teaching would work in any of the classes I have had placement with and what the lecturers in Stranmillis would make of it.

I will be back with my Grade 4 class next week and teaching several lessons, so I will hopefully be able to implement some of my strategies and see how the class will react to being taught in a different manner.

Reference:

www.nicurriculum.org

Week 7: Personal (26/03/12 - 01/04/12)

This week has been one of the busiest weeks so far in Poznan. I have been juggling different things at the same time, including a Polish exam, several online tasks for a class, two presentations, school placement, competing in the ‘Olympics’ and of course continuing with my delightfully hectic social schedule.  Needless to say, I am very happy that it is the Easter break.

Working hard on our presentation

Reflecting back over the events of the week, I can see how much more comfortable I am living in this city and I can genuinely say that I am happy living here. When talking to people back home in Ireland, my friends and family always ask how I am coping living outside my ‘comfort zone.’ This is very easy to answer as I feel that I haven’t left my comfort zone in Ireland, instead, I feel that I have taken it with me and that Poznan is now my new comfort zone. As well as this, I feel that I am also expanding the boundaries of my comfort zone and exploring different areas that I would not have done in Belfast.

“If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness”   Les Brown

In Poznan, the highest number of students from one country is Spain. Having said this, the Spanish people are somehow difficult to connect with as they tend to stick together in one big Spanish clique. This week however, due to the Erasmus Olympic event, I got to know several Spanish people better as we were in the same team. It is safe to say that I have never met a more competitive bunch of people in my life!!! Even when we were winning a game comfortably but gave a point away, they would be shouting and cursing at each other and often look like they would come to blows with each other (don’t worry, they never did). They explained to me that they were taught this competitive nature in school and that they wouldn’t have it any other way. It got me thinking that maybe we should encourage our children to be more competitive in sports even if it’s not to the same level as the Spanish people I met. I say this because in sports, the Spanish are dominating. They are the World and European champions in football, World champions in basketball and have a very successful volleyball and formula 1 teams, so maybe being competitive can benefit children in the future.

Taking a ride on our tractor

This week, we also took a trip to a traditional Polish farm. This may not sound like a big deal, but personally, I have no interest in farms so it was a massive step for me to crawl out of bed on a Sunday morning to go. In saying this, I am really glad I went as it gave me a chance to explore a different side to the way Polish people live. We saw how a blacksmith worked and made horse shoes, held animals, milked cows and ate delicious fresh meat and cheese made that very morning. We also took a random trip on the back of a tractor and cooked sausages on an open fire. It was both fun and interesting, however, I felt like I was slowly going insane due to the girls constant ‘cooing’ over the animals. The most commonly used phrase of the day was, “oooooh, look at the rabbit/goat/dog/chicken/pig/cow, it’s so cute!” and seeing as there were a lot of girls and a lot of animals, this phrase was in constant use and I waas never happier to hear the silence of my single room that night!

Home-made BBQ and sausages

Reference:

www.speakersbureau.com