iConnectED2: Marina and Ana jobshadowing in Ylitornio

Julkaistu: 22.11.2019 klo 18.43

Marina Neves and Ana Faria from Portugal have been job shadowing in Ylitornion yhteiskoulun lukio 18. - 22. November. We sit in the teachers´ room and discuss the past week. Marina and Ana are satisfied with their week in Ylitornio. They have attended different lessons.

Misunderstandings about Finland

- We were told beforehand that people in the north are not so friendly. This is not true. This has been a wonderful week and we are grateful for it. We have felt very welcome here, Marina and Ana explain.

-Another rumor is that in Finland there are no exams and no homework. Now that we have been here we can say that it is not true, either. You have a good balance since you have both books and pupils can take notes and work on iPads. The methods are versatile and creative.

There are still exams in Finland.

- There are two major things we would like to take with us home back to Portugal. It is possible to differentiate the teaching like you do it here. Different students need different assignments. Now we can say that it is possible since we saw what you are doing here.

-The other thing is that teachers should be respected and given the independence to plan and practice their work. This seems to happen in Finland.

Many schools in Portugal are international and have many projects. Portugese teachers want to change the school and are looking for different solutions.

- We think that the whole society should change in Portugal. Teachers should be respected in the society. All problems are not teachers´s fault. Of course also the teachers need to develope their work but they need also the support of the society. Soon there will not be enough teachers.

20 - 30 years ago teachers were important but now there are many people who believe that teachers do nothing. They don´t understand the amount of home work. Of course we love our work and that is why we are here, Marina says.

Nice moments of talking with the staff.

Head teacher Sari Lantto is telling about Finnish delicatesses.

Enthusiastic teachers

Ana and Marina work in a secondary school Agrupamento de Escolas Emidio Navarro in Almada Ana is a special education teacher and Marina is a mother tongue teacher. Marina´s pupils are 10 - 12 years, and Ana gives special education to pupils 10 - 18 years old. Marina teaches a group of 20 pupils while Ana has in special education 1 - 3, 4 pupils at the most. She is helping pupils with different disabilities: intellectual, physical and emotional. Ana was earlier a history teacher.

- The best part of my work is when a student starts loving something new and acquires a new skill. I just got a job to one of my pupils and she was so happy that she cried. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to help a person, says Ana. It is a demanding but very rewarding job.

Marina says that she loves languages, literature and kids so it was easy to decide to become a teacher. When the pupils learn and grow, it is something wonderful to see. Both guests are enthusiastic teachers and love their work.

The whole school gathered together in the lobby both on Monday and on Friday.  - Thank you for this week and welcome to Portugal! 

Christmas village Ylitornio

- Ylitornio is a beautiful landscape. It is so beautiful, like a fairytale. I am always looking for the elfs.

- This seems like a Christmas village! The only defect is the lack of sun. In Portugal the sun shines 12 hours. We miss the sun here.

- This job shadowing has been great and wonderful, we have learnt from your methods. We are going to tell at home about your methods. The government trusts the teachers in Finland and you are respected, Marina says.

- You can do different work in a class. It is possible, says Ana. -We have got a good impression about your school. Since your school is small you can give more attention to each student. In a bigger school like ours (400 pupils) it is harder. It was surprising that you had no walls around your school and no guard on the gate, like we have.

- Students and teachers are like a family here, in Portugal there is a bit more distance. In Portugal the kids are all the time inside and there is lots of screaming and noise. Here the pupils seem to go out to play even if the weather wouldn´t be good, the teachers say looking out of the window to the playground of Ainiovaaran peruskoulu.

- We have talked with some students. At the beginning they were shy but they are not so shy any more. They say hello.

We agreed on skyping afterwards so we´ll keep in touch. 

Thank you for your visit! 

Text and pictures Mirjami Hyttinen

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