5 weeks at Skovbrynet Skole

Hello, there!

We are Teresa and Adeline, Year 2 student teachers who went to Skovbrynet Skole in Copenhagen, Denmark. We would like to share with you some of the highlights of our experience we had at our 5 weeks international practicum.


5X and 5Y
We were attached to two Grade 5 classes - 5X and 5Y.
This is 5X!
This is 5Y!

We were under the guidance of two teachers, Klara and Helene who taught Math and Science respectively. In the first two weeks, we observed and were exposed to the different nature of the teaching as well as the culture of the class and school. We took opportunities to get to know each of the kids better by having recess with them, heading to the school club with some of the kids after school etc. This really helped us to ease better into our teaching from Week 3 onwards.

Spending time with some students during recess

Our key observations

Here are two main discoveries we have made that differentiate the Denmark and Singapore education.

1. Teacher-Student Relationship
There appears to be a stronger and closer teacher-student relationship in Denmark as compared to Singapore. Firstly, the teachers are addressed by the students by their first names. No need for salutations like Ms/Mrs/Mr! This helps to break down any barriers there might be between teachers and students, hence seeing students and teachers as equals.

Secondly, the teachers in Denmark set aside more time to get to know the students on a more personal level and allow the students to open up about themselves. As seen in the picture on the right, Klara is having weekly breakfast with the students from 5X. She sets aside the first period every Wednesday to spend time with the students and get them to share any updates about their lives or even discuss real-life topics like smoking. According to our CT and also based on our observations, students from 5X have a closer relationship with Klara as compared to those from 5Y (they do not have weekly breakfasts), where they are more participative in class and dare to ask questions.

2. Varied abilities within a class
Besides providing free education, Denmark does away with examinations (which begins only in Grade 9) and homework is hardly assigned to the students. With no banding or streaming practiced, students stay and grow up in the same class from Grade 1 till Grade 9. As a result, we can see students with varied learning abilities and needs within a class, where some are stronger academically than another.  This is unlike Singapore, where streaming is a common practice in schools, or at least, students of the same abilities in the respective subjects are grouped together in the same lesson.

Our Teaching Experience

From Week 3 onwards, we were given opportunities to teach English and Science to both 5X and 5Y. We co-taught in Week 3-4, and solo taught in Week 5. We could even put what we have learnt from our CS modules into action. 

Through our 5 weeks experience teaching and learning, we were also tasked to do a mini research project from UCC, where we had to come up with a focus topic that was of interest to us to find out more about. Attached is the link to the powerpoint slides that covers more about our research topic, as well as our main takeaways from this international practicum. Feel free to check it out! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16w_YkVbv1uFsbFv7TQ9SxbU6kZvWdAwNhJlG-Yb3zvk/edit?usp=sharing 

Teaching in Skovbrynet Skole was definitely fun and enriching. We had a pretty positive experience teaching the students, where we could learn from them as they learn from us as well! Our teachers provided us feedback after our teaching to give us advice to improve and help us grow as a teacher. 

However, teaching in a different country that practices different cultures and in English (a second language to them) were added challenges! We did face difficulties such as the language barrier, but our teachers eased the process by helping to translate our instructions to Danish whenever the kids could not understand us or required clarification. 

Teresa teaching the Water Cycle

Overall, we had a great time in Skovbrynet Skole. We are thankful to be given such an opportunity that has widened our perspective on education overseas and on teaching. We definitely miss the school, the students and even the few cycles we did to school!


Thank you for reading!





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