Professional Development
"It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is." (Desiderius Erasmus, unknown)
The 'Erasmus Programme' derives from the great Desiderius Erasmus (1466 - 1536) who is recognised as being one of the greatest intellectuals of the sixteenth century. Erasmus lived and worked in several parts of Europe, in quest of the knowledge, experience and insights which only such contacts with other countries could bring. Thanks to the legacy of Erasmus today we have the chance to travel across Europe and develop culturally, personally and in this case professionally. I do firmly believe that this exchange programme will be one of the greatest culture, academic and character building programmes that I will have in my whole life and within this blog I will inform you of just how I am developing in a professional context.
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| Pictured at the Europaschule, Linz |
As I have mentioned previously I have been placed at the Europaschule, Linz where I will conduct my teaching practice for the next few months. I have to admit that so far, I have been genuinely very impressed with not just the facilities here but the strong teacher/pupil relationship and family ethos that seems to exist within these walls. On Wednesday my fellow Erasmus student Semra and I had the task of presenting the city of San Francisco to the class as this would be their topic for the next few weeks. A colourful and informative PowerPoint seemed to interest the pupils and please our class teacher. Although I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my teaching practice here, I feel one day a week is perhaps not enough. Teaching practice in Northern Ireland is always a period which I find to be extremely satisfying and beneficial, a time when hard work really does pay off and crucial experience can be gained. Getting to spend at least six weeks in a school environment gives you time to settle in and develop that strong rapport with your pupils, something which is very important to me.
My university courses are also proving to be very enjoyable and diverse. This week Warren and I had to invent, design and create a children's story for our 'Language and Cultural Awareness' module. Lots of planning, brainstorming and coffee finally led to the creation of 'Warren the Leprechaun and his search for Gold'! This story tells the tale of 'Warren the Leprechaun' and his search for the 'pot of gold' which he hopes he will find at the end of the rainbow. It was our aim to promote qualities such as kindness and generosity with a multi-cultural twist and a few jokes thrown in too! Although time-consuming, this really was a fun task that went down very well among our peers and tutors. Our tutor even wants to include this video on the university website, great!
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| 'Warren the Leprechaun and his search for gold' |
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| Mum outside the Hofmann Bakery... |
This week was rounded off in style with the visit of my parents to Austria. As this was their first time visiting the country, I really wanted to give them a trip to remember and I think we achieved this. In just a few days we managed to fit in many activities, see some beautiful sights and eat large quantities of apple strudel! A true culture-filled weekend that will live long in the memory, despite my mother's sore legs!
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| My parents enjoying a stunning view of Linz... |
- Rees, F., (2006) Desiderius Erasmus: writer and christian humanist, Compass Point Books, Minneapolis
- Europaschule (2012) The Europaschule Linz, available at: http://www.europaschule-linz.at, [Accessed 06/04/2013]
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