Week six: (19/03/12 – 25/03/12) Kultura

Toruń

 Last weekend my Erasmus friends and I took a day trip to Toruń. Toruń is two hours north-east of Poznań and is famous for being the birth place of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). Copernicus undertook the research which discovered that it was in fact the sun that was the centre of the planetary system, not the earth. Unfortunately, the museum (Muzeum Koperinika) was closed the day we visited, so we had to settle on exploring another famous aspect of Toruń... its gingerbread! In Toruń there is an opportunity to visit a ginger bread museum (Muzeum Piernika) where visitors can discover how it was made five hundred years ago. Polish gingerbread is different to ours, as it is much less dense, tasting more like a cake.

There remains of the old buildings which were destroyed during the war are still visible throughout the city. During WW2, Toruń had been subject to systematic Germanization after being captured by the Nazis. However, in the twentieth century Toruń was returned to Poland, and liberated in 1945. I thought that it was interesting that the city had kept the remains as a reminder of what had happened. In contrast, the rest of the buildings were very grand and colourful, similar to those in Poznań. From visiting Wroclaw and Torun, it seems that a number of cities each have a signature staues dotted around the city, for example, Wroclaw have gnomes on every street. Toruń, have novelty statues of knights, peasants and maidens, throughout the city, which represent the history of the Castle, when Toruń was ruled by the Teutonic Knights.

 My cousin has lived in Toruń for two years now teaching English in a private primary school. I really enjoyed getting to explore the city he now calls home and began to understand why he wants to stay there for the imminent future. It was good to see a familiar face and hear a Northern Irish accent after two months!

 Find out more:

The history of Toruń: http://picturesque-poland.com/torun.html

 Burning the Winter Witch, Marzanna!

 On Wednesday, we arrived at school to see the children dressed in brightly coloured clothes and carrying armfuls of food for their spring festival. Last week, during the children’s art class they made a giant puppet, which represented Marzanna, the Winter Witch. Marzanna is the Polish incarnation of the old Slavic goddess of winter, plague and death. Each year on the first day of Spring, (21^st March) the school burn their puppets, to say goodbye to Winter and welcome Spring. Although this is a Pagan tradition and Poland holds strong Catholic beliefs, this is a ritual they have held onto. In the past they would have drowned their puppets, however, as this is now seen as an environmental hazard, they settle for burning!! It was a very bizarre sight to see these puppets burning in the playground with the children only a few metres away. This would definitely not be allowed in schools back home! They also played drums and sang different songs. For example: Już wiosenne słonko wzbija się po niebie | W tej wezbranej rzece utopimy ciebie! (Translation: As the spring sun rises in the sky of blue | in this swollen river we are drowning you!) However, as our school is English and they could not drown the witch, their song went a little differently, which you can hear in the video. It was a cultural experience I won’t forget in a hurry.

Find out more about Marzanna: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzanna

Week five – (12/03/12 - 18/03/12) Professional

I cannot describe how happy I was to walk into my Kindergarten class on Wednesday morning. I always look forward to starting placement and having to wait patiently for a month to begin was not easy. However, we have to be up at 5:30am to arrive in our classroom for 7:45am, but I personally think it is worth it!

Our placement school is called the International School of Poznan, with a population of 350 pupils, aging from 4 to 18 years old. I work with the Kindergarten class (4-5 year olds) which is similar to our Primary One class in Northern Ireland. An immediate difference is that every class has two teachers who share the teaching responsibilities, acting as one another's classroom assistant. Both my teachers are called Kasia (or Miss Kate and Miss Kasia) and have been extremely welcoming.

Although it is an English speaking school, my Kindergarten class are still learning the basics, meaning I have to try and translate what they are telling me through their actions or by reading the current situation. I was surprised at how frustrating I found not being able to communicate with them. It makes me feel helpless when they come to me with a problem. During the lessons my teachers only speak in English (and translate the children’s Polish answers into English and get them to repeat it) therefore, it will be easy for me to teach, with some help for translation at times. It also means I will be learning Polish at a greater rate, as I want to communicate with them!

My class are currently learning about life cycles; fish, butterflies, frogs, elephants and turtles. I found this topic rather advanced for 5 year olds; however the whole school has a strategy towards teaching I have never seen before. Each month all teachers come together and chose a key concept (shown in the picture) which they all base their lessons upon. For example: This month it is surrounding the concept of change, so the Kindergarten class is being taught life cycles, Grade 1 are learning about seasonal changes whilst Grade 2 are learning about how the body changes etc. This system is based upon the Primary Years Programme (PYP) which is located around the world in different schools.
The lessons are then based around the attitudes and skills the children will learn (shown in the other pictures). These are similar to Northern Ireland Curriculum (CCEA, 2007) Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities (p. 8-10), trying to equip children with life skills. I like that my teachers are very creative and find fun and interesting ways to teach the children the different concepts. It is also very strange to hear the children saying more complicated words like ‘inquirers’ and ‘communicators’ when they don’t understand more simple English. I did observe a number of strategies that were similar to those in the ‘Toolkit for Diversity: in the Primary School’ (2007) for example, picture displays, using multiple language labels and celebrating other cultures holidays. This has helped me form a better grasp of how to include children from multicultural backgrounds.

During the last hour of school all the children are taught Polish. This is important as 70% of the children are Polish and without these lessons they would not be at the age appropriate level of their mother tongue. In my class there are three pupils who come from International backgrounds and therefore cannot speak Polish, so are taught ‘Polish for foreigners,’ which I joined. It was embarrassing that I had the same level of Polish as four/five year olds but it was beneficial nonetheless! I have already learnt some useful ways of teaching the topic of life cycles and can see this will be a worthwhile experience!

Reference

·         CCEA, (2007) The Northern Ireland Curriculum Primary, Belfast, A CCEA Publication.

·         IILT and SELB, (2007) Toolkit for Diversity: In the Primary School, Dublin and Armagh, an IILT and SELB Publication.

Week four: (05/03/2012 – 11/03/2012) Areas of culture

Now that we have settled into our new environment and have our classes organised (even our placement!) it is has been easier to focus on the different aspects of Polish culture. This week there were a variety of events which allowed me to participate and understand this side of Poznan. I have found that although it is a highly developed country, it retains its traditions.

                                         Kasimir Festival

On Sunday (4^th March) DarÓma and I walked around the Old Square, (Stary Rynek) with some of our Erasmus friends, where the Kasimir Festival was being held. This happens once a year, having different stalls of food, flowers, jumble sales etc. There were different performances of Polish culture throughout the day; dances, choirs and small plays, which were very entertaining to watch. Although I am unsure of why this event takes place, it was a pleasure to see different aspects of Polish culture on such a grand scale.

Dzien Kobiet

Thursday (8^th March) was International Women’s Day (Dzien Kobiet). During the time of the communist regime, this holiday was meant to commemorate women’s, economic, social and political achievements (as well as to spread the communist ideology). On this day women received scarce gifts (such as tights, make up, flowers) and there would have been lectures held stressing the importance of the woman on the national economy. Unfortunately in 1993, the holiday ceased to be celebrated on this grand scale, but the tradition of giving the much-loved women in your life flowers (or chocolates) has largely survived. I personally feel that Northern Ireland should take up this tradition, as it was lovely to see men walking around with a single tulip or rose for their special ladies. DarÓma and I each received a chocolate bar from a man coming out of class. It definitely makes you feel special!

                                                                                    Language

During a class we were asked to write down things that shocked us about Poland when we first arrived. One of the things I wrote was that I was surprised that the receptionists at our accommodation didn’t speak any English, seeing so many Erasmus students stayed there. The tutor explained to us that if someone is forty years old or above, they would not have learnt English at school. At this time it was beneficial for Polish people to learn Russian or German as they were neighbour countries, whereas young people are now taught English from an early age. Poland joined the EU in 2004; this change made the English language more relevant to Poland, however, some people are still not confident with using the English they know. She described Poland as being a ‘closed’ country before, with little multiculturalism, but is now getting more diverse. It has made me think about the languages that are taught in our schools. Most schools teach French, Spanish or German, however, I think Polish lessons will start to be introduced in our schools as more Polish and Northern Irish people immigrate and emigrate.

Skiing

Something you can definitely not find in Belfast is skiing! I had been very excited to explore this aspect of culture when I had first heard I would be coming to Poland and it did not disappoint! Although I cannot say I was great at it, it has been one of my favourite experiences during my time here in Poznan so far!

DarÓma and I when we were good at skiing!

DarÓma and I when we weren't so good at skiing...

Week three: (27/02/2012 - 04/03/2012) Professional reflections

Michael and me outside our university building (O'Grody)

This week had been our first ‘official’ lesson in our class, ‘Teaching Strategies and Education in Poland’ and it was based around the topic of group work. Our professor explained to us that in Poland children are taught to compete in every subject. The teacher would often set tasks based on who can finish a task first. She said that this results in students not being able to co-operate and share ideas, making group work more difficult. This also creates a bad environment between teachers as they do not co-operate themselves, or share ideas with each other, as even teachers compete to be the best (meaning their pupils score the highest). One of my class mates also added that in Spain they do participate in group work (especially Primary school) but he felt they should be more competitive to achieve better, (which I disagree with!) My friend Birsen added that Turkish schools are also set up to have this competitive nature. Our professor however, believes the opposite; she thinks motivation and encouragement are vital for helping children learn. I would agree with this opinion as from my own experience in Northern Irish schools, competitiveness can have a negative effect on pupils, “We learn to see others as obstacles to our success...We are encouraged to win at any cost. A competitive agenda makes winning the ultimate goal. We focus not on learning, challenging or supporting others but being the one to win.” (Sapon-Shevin, 2010:28) This lesson made me realise the relevance of the NI Curriculums (2007), Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities and the skills we are teaching children through the likes of group work and various strategies. Next week we will be meeting with the ‘International School of Poznan’ to organise our placement. I am looking forward to seeing how this International school differs from Polish /Northern Irish schools and if they also have this competitive atmosphere.

International School of Poznan

(Link to see the school: http://isop.pl/en)

Polish lessons

Polish lessons have allowed me to witness firsthand what it feels like to be a child in my classroom who cannot grasp the concept of what is being taught. It feels like every time I have begun to understand one section of the dialogue, something else is taught which makes me feel like I am five steps behind again. I need to become more aware of the children who feel like this when I am teaching. However, this class is encouraging me to find new strategies to assess this e.g. giving each child traffic light signals, so they can indicate if they understand (green), need more help (amber) or don’t understand (red). It is also important to use fun methods when teaching, children (and adults) shouldn’t be talked at and expected to learn. Although, I do struggle with these lessons I do see the importance learning this language has for helping me create a welcoming environment for future Polish children in my classroom.

Reference

·         CCEA, (2007) The Northern Ireland Curriculum Primary, Belfast, A CCEA Publication.

·         Sapon-Shevin, M. (2010) Because We Can Change the World: A Practical Guide to Building Cooperative, Inclusive Classroom Environments, USA, Sage Productions.