Aros Museum

Desi muzeul poarta numele vechi al orasului Arhus, ceea ce am gasit acolo este in totalitate modern. Voi incerca sa explic in mare ceea ce reprezinta pozele pe care le voi posta, dar nu pot sa nu apreciez iar calitatea saraca a imaginii pe care o prezinta o poza, comparativ cu realitatea in sine.
Unul dintre etaje este dedicat printului Frederik al Danemarcei si printesei sale, Mary, si incearca sa imite la o scala reala apartamentul acestora din Copenhaga, care a fost renovat recent. Mai mult, in fiecare camera, artistul care a conceput interiorul explica si arata felul in care a facut-o.
La primul etaj se afla celebrul 'baiat de ceara'.
Unele piese sunt socante, indecente, departe de capacitatea mea de a intelege arta sub aceasta forma, asa ca nu le voi arata aici, poate vrea Stefan sa le arate :D
Excluzand acest baiat de ceara australian (din cate stiu eu si nu stiu prea multe), preferata mea pot spune, a fost camera cu oglinzi. Un paradis al narcisistilor probabil, dar nici pe departe motivul pentru care mi-a lasat aceasta impresie minunata. Imi place deoarece exprima ideea de infinit si confirma faptul ca aparentele inseala. Atat. Poze:

Den gamle by

Una dintre primele curiozitati ale mele de cand am ajuns in Arhus a fost ce inseamna acest den gamle by, cuvinte pe care le intalnesti pe fiecare strada si straduta din acest oras, pe placute indicatoare. Initial am crezut ca inseamna un fel de strada principala, dar raspunsul corect a fost la doar un click distanta. Am accesat asadar Google translator si am descoperit ca nu inseamna decat The Old City, Orasul Vechi. Este un loc care de altfel se vede si din autobuz, doar ca la prima vedere nu pare o atractie turistica, ci doar niste cladiri vechi. Continutul insa este suprinzator, tragedia cea mai mare ar fi sa te afli in acest oras si sa nu ti gasesti timp pentru a te intoarce in timp si a descoperi pe cont propriu orasul 'Aros' al secolului XVII. Ba mai mult, In Den Gamle By you can taste, smell and experience history, deoarece, in cateva dintre cele 75 de cladiri ce se gasesc acolo, exista persoane care pozeeaza in ipostaza de bucatar, 'bunicuta' , etc. fapt ce te determina cu atat mai mult sa te simti o parte vie a istoriei acestui oras.
Imi pare rau ca urmatoarele poze nu pot exprima decat in masura de 20% probabil realitatea, ma bucur foarte tare insa ca am avut ocazia sa vizitez un astfel de loc si mai ales sa vad genul de societate in care a crescut idolul copilariei mele, H.C. Andersen.

What about that?

 As some of you may know, i have done my practice in a Youth Club. For a short presentation of the place, i can say that it has everything it needs. It is a big building, having a large number of designated areas like the computer area, the playstation and table-tenis area, the "creative room", the music room, a gym, a big common room and the kitchen. There are 14 people working there, and belive me, they are quite a mixture, ranging from former soldiers to rock-band members. Who would of thought? It is quite something to see a tattoed bass-guitar band member or a soldier that has seen the batlefields of Iraq spend time with the kids. It has something to do with their way of being. I say that because i have realised that you have to be born with the skill of being a pedagogue in order to function in this colorfull place. The kids coming here are as different as their pedagogues : rich famillies or poor famillies. Coming just to have fun or to seek answers. Danish or imigrant.
 The Club has a perfectly defined set of aims and values. The aim and the reason for it to exist is Crime Prevention but also to give comfort to those that need it, like children from disfunctional famillies. When it comes to values, i can only quote Lars, former soldier and the nicest person i have ever met : "Never say No, always try to do what the kids want. And be there to listen! ". Is there any need for more values?
 Observations are hard to put into words. I have seen a lot of things there, but i will tell you only one of the things that impressed me. During the first day, as we were given the "grand-tour", i stated that the kids are playing Warcraft, as i was walking around the computer area. There wasn't any sort if intention in my voice, but the next day i was aproached by Zack, an imigrant kid, asking me if i wanted to play Warcraft with him. I played everyday that week, i even saw videos of his cousin and i got beaten at playing pool. It confused me because i thought i didn't do anything to develop a relationship with Zack. I got my answer later from Jakob : "You stated a common interest. It's all these kids need. It is the basis of friendship and Zack needed it ". As days went by, and the kids got familiar with us i played pool with some of them but that was it. The language barrier was too big.
 My role in the institution is very hard to judge. The Club has very few rules and the kids are free to do almost anything they want so i didn't have a specific role like i would of had in a more structured environment. I have been playing he same stuff they played, like soccer, pool, climbing, but i was more of an observer.
 As i described my relation to the kids, i will do the same with my colleagues. A good start was the fact thay everyone accepted us fast. I could spend hours talking to Lykke or Jakob (our supervisors) on any subject. They friendly and always ready to help or answer questions. I was surprised by the fact that they told me persoal things, but i found out that being close and confortable with your co-workers creates a better environment for everyone. With them being so open, i got to understand more about the Club, because it is the sum of everybody there. We compared sistems in out countries, we talked abou social problems and a lot of other things, maybe not related to this at all. I have a great respect for them and for what they do beacuse they are passionate and it shows.
 My positive resources were in the line of playing anything with the kids and being open to dialogue. Again, the language issue was present, but i think i did ok.
 I wish to thank Shirley and Mateja for having the brilliant idea of cooking on Thursday. I saw a difference in the way the kids looked to and at us after that. And the fact that they helped us cook, the fact that they thanked us for the food and that they liked it (no meat, very rare in the Club) was of great satisfaction to me. There is nothing negative in this Club. Everyone is doing their part and it is ok. They don't succes everytime but they learn from their mistakes.
 As for what i would like to do with the kids...I think it is about what i CAN do with them, the language problem being the issue here. But, there are so many posibilities, it is impossible to say NO.
 At the end i would like to thank Niels for the best U-Turn of this course, the staff at the Club for being so friendly and open, and ofcourse Shirley and Mateja for being such great colleagues.

Reflections

We come to a Youth Club for our practice. As for the building itself it consists of a big common room, a gym, a computer area, playstation area, offices and kitchen.The establishment has some land that they plan to use. The building also has a music room. There are 14 adults working here, the 3 of us being "extra-hands". In the most crowded days there are about 40 children coming here. The Youth Club opens at 12 PM, but everyday from 11 to 12 the staff has a meeting and some breakfast. The kids stay until 5 PM but on Thursday they stay until 9 PM. The kids get a snack at 2 Pm and a dinner on Thursday. We will continue with each one´s opinion on this, having more than one point of view.

SHIRLEY : I was very surprised the first day when padagogues explained that there are not many rules here, kids are free and can spend the whole time as they want. One of the questions i asked the staff was about the role they have with the children. Answer : "We have to be here, to listen to them if they want to talk". Another question for me is if i could work in an institution like this one, and i can not really answer because i don`t feel really helpfull here but i know the fact i don`t speak Danish is one of the reasons. Children are afraid to talk to us in English and i think the time of the work placement is too short to have a relation with them.

STEFAN : As for me, it is a bit hard to get everything in because i did not come across a place like this before. I can understand thea reason for this place to exist but i think we came in a bad time. I say this because all the kids know the adults and the trust and respect and attention is already here so everything goes smoothly. Sometimes i feel a bit in the way because we can not really get involved beacuse of the language and the short time we are here. Even if there are only a few rules the respect is mutual and the kids behave realy nice. But i absolutely love one thing, and i know this from Lars : never say NO, always try to help and do the things the kids want. Coming from Romania, things look great, and they are, but unfortunately everything i learn here will never be used outside my personal life because clubs like this do not exist back home. All i can do is observe and play the same thing they are playing but i can not get too close to the kids beause of the language and because they do not know me. And there is another thing that concerns me : does the school have any expectations from us? Another good thing is the fact that we talked to a "street worker". He told us about how things work in the street and what he had to do. I think that his work is very important as well because he is the first to come in contact with reality. He explained how the system works and what it means to try to balance a good relationship with the kids on the street and expectations and ways of approach by the police and the state. My observations will continue this week and i will keep you updated as often as possible.

MATEJA : My first impression of the place was that it is realy big. I started to compare it to similar places we have in Slovenia. We have only 2-3 rooms, not the whole building. Also here there is a lot of materials available for kids to use. It surprised me how meny possibilities they have, they can do a variety of things. Also i found it interesting the level of the freedom they have here. Kids are responsible for themselves, they need to choose wnat they want to do and they can also run around the place, be loud, scream, something you would not see in our youth club institutions where kids go after school. We allways want to give them activities during the day and pedagogues decide today where are going to do this, next day this etc. Kids do not have to participate in activities, we do not force them but pedagogues try to include kids eveytime. About relationships pedagogues have with kids - it is realy relaxed and based on friendship, what i realy like, because i agree that it is easier to work with kids on this level and it is easier to talk to them about problems if both sides see they are equal. About our work here, i have problems sometimes because i do not know what to do. There is allmost no structure, only lunch and dinner are served allways at the same times, and i am used to working in organizations where structure is very important. So i found that realy hard at start and now slowly i am getting used to this sistem they have here.

Experienta continua!!!

Danecult group from VIA University College, Silkeborg

&

International students from Viborg Gymnastic School

Am reusit sa imi recuperez parola pt acest blog si in sfarsit mai aproape de "scoala mama" in Silkeborg ca sa pot scrie cateva randuri cu ce s-a mai intamplat pe aici! A fost destul de greu in ultima perioada pentru ca am fost mai mult plecati, mereu sa te acomodezi cu locurile si persoanele iar cand credeai ca ai reusit... alta scoala, alte cadre didactice, alti elevi! Mereu au fost probleme cu internetul pt ca fiind wireless functioneaza greu, sau lipseste o zi doua... In Romania nu avem asa wireless peste tot dar ce avem functioneaza, poti folosi acel serviciu suficient de bine pe cand aici mereu acces limitat, parole peste parole, mereu schimba cate ceva si tot asa! Singurul loc unde poti folosi intr adevar internetul este aici la scoala din Silkeborg, si unde ne-am cazat, mereu sunt probleme asa ca de multe ori incerc sa uit ca "avem" internet acasa.
Dar in ultima perioada am avut parte ca de obicei de experiante din care am invatat foarte multe, ne-am facut prieteni, am pus in practica anumite cunostinte.
La Skals-Efterskole am avut un program de armata: mic-dejun, ore, pranz, alte ore, sport, gimnastica, dans, inot, canoe, cantat, verificare teme acolo unde se putea (pt ca nu ai cum sa verifici elevii la o tema la limba daneza), cina, apoi timp liber de socializare, impartasit experiente etc. A fost o perioada fulger perioada petrecuta la Skals-efterskole dar totodata si una de bun augur! A fost foarte interesant cand am avut de tinut ore, singuri!! Geografie, istorie, matematica, engleza, etc... sau cand a trebuit sa vorbim despre tara nostra.
Acum alta practica in predare la o scoala din Sejs dar este mai mult un prilej de a le vorbi celor de aici despre tara noastra si despre sistemul nostru de invatamant! ;) Despre turismul nostru, despre tinerii din Romania, despre sistem si asa mai departe! Isi doresc sa vina la munte la noi in tara sau la plaja, vor sa ajunga pe Transfagarasan sau in cluburile de pe litoral! Sunt curiosi, stiu foarte putine despre Romania dar vor sa cunoasca, intreaba si iti vorbesc cu placere despre tara lor si despre modul lor de viata! Scoala din Sejs este la 6 km de aici asa ca in fiecare dimineata este un bun prilej de a merge cu bicicleta!
Timpul trece foarte repede pentru ca mereu ai ceva de facut! Deja suntem in a 4 saptamana de practica, de predare, de observare; cum profesorii invata elevii si cum elevii invata! Profesorii de asemenea sunt curiosi cum este sistemul de invatamant la noi, cum se preda, ce metode avem, cata libertate, modalitati de evaluare si asa mai departe! Am asistat la o testare la matematica a unor elevi de clasa aVIIa, o testare individuala, test cu variante de raspuns, pe calculator iar rezultatele se puteau vedea in timp real la un pc central din clasa iar apoi erau trimise la Copenhaga la computerul principal, la baza nationala de date. Este ceva nou si pentru elevi si pentru profesori dar deloc greu sau de speriat! Au facut acest lucru pentru a-i controla atat pe elevi cat si pe profesori! Sunt niste profesori fericiti si elevii de asemenea!
Dupa aceasta saptamana urmeaza saptamanile de realizare si sustinere a proiectului, trebuie sa lucram in grupuri de cate 2 persoane cu cineva din alta tara. Proiectul trebuie sa fie legat de experienta nostra aici, despre ce se poate imbunatati aici sau/si la noi, despre sistemul de invatamant danez, romanesc, grec, olandez sau cel din Ucraina!