Bonjour!
What do teachers do on their holidays? They travel to different countries to visit schools, of course!
Niittykumpu school is an Erasmus+ Accredited school, and our accreditation project runs from 2022-2027. Our project has a three-fold aim; to improve and gain more insights into team teaching practices, fostering and supporting a feeling of belonging in school, and recognising early signs of exhaustion and burn-out. All three aims have risen from needs noticed in our every day school life.
In the past few years we've had the opportunity to be hosts as well - we've had numerous job-shadowing visitors from various countries around Europe, but perhaps the most visitors in all have come from different schools in Calais, France.
Calais is a coastal town in the very north of France, and on clear days the coast of Great Britain is easily visible. There is frequent boat-traffic between the countries, and the Tunnel entrance is quite close to Calais. These factors were part of the decision that saw Calais being part of a pilot project - all schools will begin to teach in English as well, in order to increase the English language levels within the whole city, from small children upwards.
Thus we've had a lot of groups coming in to see how we do bilingual education in Niittykumpu, Espoo.
And now it was time for a return visit!
Our delegation was modest, consisting of two teachers; Maria Björkenheim and Mikko Taskinen. Our aim was to go visit different schools whom we've had the opportunity to host, and to gain insights into bilingual teaching, as well as keeping our three goals in mind for our own project (team teaching, feeling of belonging, recognising signs of exhaustion).
Job-shadowing and culture visits are both important parts of the mobility experience, so we began our tour with familiarising ourselves with Bruges. Prior to this most of our knowledge of the city was based on the Irish film In Bruges...
We walked the city streets, and climbed the Belfort (with a few pauses for breathers on the way...). We happened to step on to the top level at precicely 6pm, and thus were greeted with LOUD bells! Once the bells quieted, we were able to enjoy the panoramic views of the city. Bruges felt very clean and safe, with centuries of history everpresent, and people speak various languages at ease. Our boat-tour on a chilly Sunday morning showed another view of the city connected with channels and bridges.
And then it was time to head to France. From medieval history in Bruges, we now began to see mementos of more recent history - monuments of the WW2 were along our drive. Europe is varied and multifaceted, and one can only hope that we have learned enough from our past to keep building a strong, unified future. Even with driving from one country to another with no border formalities along the way, this has not diminished the uniqueness of the countries, people, or languages. A shared European identity does not mean giving up or lessening national identities - these can exist simultaneously.
In Calais we visited 7 schools within our 5 days. We had a chance to visit three different types of schools - Maternelle, Ecole Primaire, and College; so pre-school, primary school, and junior high. The youngest students we saw were 3-year-olds, and the oldest up to 16, so quite a range!
On Wed 16th Oct we visited the Cote d'Opal area - Fort Cap Gris Nez, village of Wissant, Cap Blanc Nez, Jetee de Calais, Compagnie du Dragon.
Reflecting on our three aims; sense of belonging in school, development of team teaching, and recognising early signs of exhaustion. We saw many ways in which students feeling of belonging and being part of the school community is supported and built. There is an active effort put into ensuring that students learn each others' names very early on; students see their own names and pictures in various places in the classroom; students are involved in organisational tasks within the classroom - just to mention a few.
Of the other two aims we noted that they need to have structural support from the school organisation and leadership. Team teaching does not happen accidentally on its own, and it does not flourish if it is left to be done just based on coworkers willingness or friendships. Team teaching requires a systematic structure and support, and a whole-school-wide effort for the benefits to be seen. How is this will to be found?
Teacher wellbeing is an area that needs to be recognised as valuable, and worth investing into. Teachers' jobs are demanding physically, mentally, and emotionally. Recognising this, and the reality of exhaustion and the risk of teachers dropping out of their field of work, should be seen as a fact. Teachers deserve support in their work, and their overall wellbeing - in the form of occupational health services and mental health support that for example don't exist in Calais schools for teachers.
Thank you to all schools, teachers, principals, and school inspectors for welcoming us!
And thank you to EU, Opetushallitus, and the Erasmus+ system for making all this possible.
