デンマークの小学校（Folkeskole）。
Hej! 今日は先日訪れたデンマークの小学校について書こうと思います。
（English Ver. below! Please take a look☺︎）
デンマークでは義務教育課程の0年生（幼稚園学級）から9年生をFolkeskoleという学校で過ごします。（9年生の後にもう1年Efterskoleに通うことも可能）就学するタイミングも、卒業するタイミングも親や個人の選択で遅らせることが出来るので、日本のように同じ学年の生徒がみんな同じ年とは限りません。そのような「遅れ」にネガティヴな印象は持たれず、あくまでも「個人」に合った進路が重視されるんだとか。
今回は1、2、4年生の音楽のクラスを見学させていただきました。「さすがデンマーク！」と思わせるようなカラフルでおしゃれな音楽室。椅子や机はなく、先生を含めみんなで円になって地べたに座ります。楽器は本格的で種類も多様！
（扱われる楽曲はデンマーク語のものからビートルズの曲まで！ここでも「英語の身近さ」が感じられました。）
みんなで歌を歌う機会がたくさんあったのですが、ただ歌うだけではなく、身体を動かしたり、劇を演じながら歌います。子供たちの楽しそうな姿が印象的でした。
中でも驚いたのが2年生の授業。今学期のテーマは「中国」（音楽の授業だけでなく他の授業でも一貫して本テーマで授業が構成されているそう）今回は「iPadのアプリを使い中国楽器を用いて自分で作曲する」というなんともクリエイティブな授業。小学2年生にしてみんなiPadを巧みに使いこなし、思い思いの曲を作っていました。（ちなみにこのiPadは自治体から一人一人に支給されているそう）他の学校を見学した際も、みんなパソコンを用いてノートをとったり作業をする姿を目にしました。デンマークではすでに教育現場におけるIT技術の導入が「当たり前」になるほど浸透しています。日本でも一部の学校でタブレット端末が導入されたりと、これからますます「教育＋IT」の流れが進むことが予想されます。デンマークにおけるIT技術の導入方法や授業での活用方法など、参考にできる点が大いにあるのではないでしょうか。
（先生もiPadを使って授業。授業の準備や時間割の管理なども全てiPadで行うそう。）
自由でクリエイティブな反面、話を聞かない生徒が多く、授業では先生の注意が飛び交います。（中には廊下に立たされる生徒も）授業後担当の先生が「これがデンマークの問題よ」とおっしゃっていました。「個性」や「個人」が重んじられるあまり、親のしつけが行き届かず、「わがまま」な子供達が増えているんだとか。
『日本の秩序やルールを重んじる教育』に『デンマークのクリエイティブさ』が加われば素晴らしい教育になるのではと今回改めて感じさせられました。
協力してくださった皆さん本当にありがとうございました！そして最後まで読んでくれてありがとうございます！それではVi ses☺︎
Today, I would like to write about what I saw in schools in Denmark.
In Denmark, compulsory education starts from 0 grade (which is the pre-school year) to 9th grade at Folkeskole. There is also 10th grade called Efterskole, which students can select optionally.
I’m interested in education system in Denmark. It’s very different from Japanese one. Therefore, I think it’s quite unique. They attach more importance on practice than on theory. The class is student-oriented form of teaching through discussion, group work and so forth. I think Japanese education is the other way around. We focus more on theory. The way of teaching is basically like a lecture and the exam is memory-based. However, I think it has to be changed because I doubt if students can really foster the necessary ability of surviving in the real world from the recent Japanese education.
Let’s think about English. In Japan, we start to learn English from 5th grade at elementary school. Within compulsory education (primary school and secondary school), we learn English for 5 years in total. Afterwards, most of the students choose to enter high school, and we continue to learn English for another 3 years. In the class, teachers mainly explain about grammar. We memorize a lot of vocabularies and read texts. So, most of Japanese people can read and write in basic English. However, we are not good at speaking English because we don’t have so many opportunities to practice speaking English at school.
Whereas, I’ve been impressed how fluent Danish people can speak English, even the old generation. The other day, I asked my Danish friend “Why can Danish people speak English so well?” and she answered, “We practice speaking English a lot at school.” A teacher says, “Danish school is a lot about “getting hands on”-learning by doing, especially language. First speak, then learn writing too.” Of course, when it comes to linguistics, Japanese and English are completely different, while European languages are more similar to English. So, I understand it’s easier to learn English for Danish people than Japanese people. However, I believe that if we put more focus on the practice of speaking English at school, the situation will be better.
Therefore, I would like to learn some clues from Danish education to improve Japanese one.
So, I asked my friend to show me Danish school to see how it is. Thanks to him and his Danish host family, I had a chance to observe some classes at Folkeskole. I attended music class for 1st, 2nd and 4th grade.
First of all, I was surprised at the classroom’s environment. (What a colorful it was!) There was no desk. Teachers and students could sit on the floor and it’s easier to move freely. Furthermore, there were various music instruments! We played music with these instruments.
We also sang songs with using our bodies such as doing some exercises or performing a play. It seemed more exciting than with just standing as I experienced in Japan.
Especially, the class for 2nd grade was very interesting. The theme of the class was “Chinese music”. Students created their own music by using iPad! These iPads are given by the municipality. The teacher also used iPad and Power point. In Japan, we still use paper materials and black board (In some schools, iPad or other electronic devices are getting introduced), so using these devices seems more progressive and practical.
Overall, comparing to Japanese education, Danish schools provide more creative and independent study of teaching.
Looking back to my own music class at elementary school in Japan, I also sang songs and played instruments. However, it was in a different way. Everybody stood up in a line and sang songs. The teacher attached more importance to how to sing better in a group of people. The quality of singing is the most important element. When it comes to play instruments, playing the recorder was the main subject. There was a required piece of music and all students played the same song. I had to pass the test of playing the piece of music with recorder, so I practiced very hard, even at home.
As for me, Danish way of teaching looks more exciting, while Japanese way is a bit lack of creativity. However, Japanese schools also have many good aspects. For example, students are so disciplined and well-behaved. They put a great deal of effort to pass tests. The point here is not which is better or worse. We can learn from each other and introduce advantages. I think if we can combine Japanese and Danish methods of teaching, it will be great!
I learned a lot from the experience and it inspired me a lot! Thank you for giving me such a great opportunity☺︎
