Exciting visit to Denmark

“Emotions allow us to break boundaries” – this motto in the literal sense accompanied the participants of the teachers’ partnership visit to ZSP No. 5 Primary School with Integration Classes No. 5 named after H. Sienkiewicz in Vejen (Denmark). This is another element of the Comenius project, implemented since September 2013 in our school. Because the main theme is emotions, naming them, experiencing them, coping with them in different situations, forms the basis for creating artistic works, dramatic scenes, and multimedia presentations (short films) by the students. In line with the idea of the international program “Learning throughout life,” meetings of teachers from partner schools allow for the exchange of experiences in the field of language communication, didactics, and culture of individual countries. We got to know elements of the education system functioning in Denmark, including forms of special education and care for students with deficits. We were able to observe classes at a school for students catching up on program gaps, the so-called “10th class” – preparing for vocational education or continuing education in high school. We discussed ways of organizing students’ free time – examples of extracurricular activities. The performance of the school music-vocal group convinced us that emotions accompanying young people regardless of nationality are similar. The trip was also an opportunity to get to know the culture and tourist attractions of the visited regions. Thanks to the hospitality of the hosts, we stayed in teachers’ homes, tasted regional dishes. We also had the opportunity to visit the H.C. Andersen Museum in his hometown Odense and the city of Ribe, located by a canal leading to the North Sea, famous for its historic old town and Viking Museum. We experienced many positive emotions and returned convinced that it is worth participating in educational projects that contribute to improving the competencies of teachers and developing students’ creativity. This is how the participants of the trip summarized their impressions: deputy head Elżbieta Gocyła and project coordinators: Jolanta Pucek, Marta Szewczyk, and Agnieszka Zimna.