Monthly Archives: March 2018

Week 1: Day 3

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14/03/18

Today is Mercredi (Wednesday) and in France this means it’s a half-day at school. The French have had a midweek break/half-day in primary schools on Wednesdays dating back to the 19th century. It is a government concession to the Roman Catholic Church, which wanted children to study the catechism (Catholic book) on their Wednesday afternoons off. In today’s secular (schools not connected with religion) France, Wednesdays afternoons are used for a mixture of sports, music, tutoring for families of means, or a scramble for working parents struggling to get by, who must either find a sitter or send their kids to a full day at a state-run leisure centre.

Despite long summer breaks and the four-day school week, French elementary school students actually spend more hours per year in school than average — 847, compared with 774 among countries in OECD. But the time is compressed into fewer days each year. They get about 2 hours a day for lunch and the French school day begins around 8:30 and ends at 4:30 p.m., even for the youngest, despite studies showing the ability of young children to learn deteriorates as the day goes on.

But many parents are afraid that the changes will force them to figure out extra childcare five days a week, especially at schools where the after-school program amounts to sitting silently at a desk for two hours or near-chaos in the play areas.

In the morning I arrived and was told I would be in the class CM1/CM2 with Agnés Courgeon. When the class came in I introduced myself and pointed to where I lived on a map. The children knew some English so during my introduction they asked me questions to help them find information out about me.

During one of their French lessons a boy came over to me, as he wanted to show me his English workbook. He showed it to me and I was amazed with how much English topics the class had covered. I compared it to my high school experience of languages in Scotland as they covered as much as I would have covered in 2nd/3rd year of high school. I was very impressed as I asked him questions about the different topics and he could respond correctly without looking at his book. The boy told me; he had two brothers, the colours and names of the clothing he was wearing and I pointed to different names of foods and he told me if he liked them or not in English, he loves sausages!

Clin D’œil Théâtre

After the class wrote down their homework we went to their local theatre, which was in walking distance. The teacher told me that a few of their classes in the school as really in to theatre and acting. Whilst we were there I got the watch them practice and perform their plays. They were very good at using actions as the same time as saying their lines, which was helpful to me as I was able to work out and paint a picture in my head as to what the play was about since my French understanding wasn’t so great.

Once they finished at the theatre we wentback to the school and it was 11:30, home time! I met Beth, Briony and Lauren in the centre of Orléans after for lunch in central square as it was a nice sunny day.

References:

Hinnant, L. (2012). School schedule: Reforming traditions in France. [Website]. The Christian Science Monitor. Available at: https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/2012/1005/School-schedule-Reforming-traditions-in-France [Accessed 21/03/18].

 

Week 1: Day 2

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13/03/18

*BEEP BEEP BEEP* 

6:45am, I wake up and the day is here. The day I’ve been so nervous but excited for. So many things are going through my head; what if I get the wrong bus? What if my teacher doesn’t speak much English? What will a French school day be like?

After a quick breakfast with my placement accompaniments I head for the bus stop, everything went smoothly and I arrived at the school in plenty of time, 30 minutes before schools starts.

I met all the teachers in the staffroom when I arrived, including the teacher who had been emailing me, Sylvie Lambert. I was paired up with a teacher called Françoise Monclere, who taught CP (ages 6-7). I spent the whole morning there. My paired teacher said she wasn’t very good at English but she definitely could say for English than I could French and she was much better than she thought as well, she even knew the word for photocopy! After we took the class in from outside I was introduced to the class, I wrote a little intro French speech, which including things like my name, age, where I was form and studied and what I was interested in, the night prior which helped me but I know I need to improve it as I will be jumping from class to class each day and will continually have to introduce myself to new classes. I was quite nervous when introducing myself as this was my first day and I didn’t know if my pronunciation was correct.

I was very impressed with how much English the children aged 6 knew, in Scotland I didn’t start to learn an extra language until I was age 10. They were able to say hello, ask how someone was and ask how old someone is.

In the morning they had French lessons, mathematics and a break. What I noticed in the French classroom is that the French teach in small periods of time, approximately 30 minute per lesson. They start a topic and move on quicker than teachers would in Scotland.

They all use black boards still. There are no white boards or interactive boards in the school, which gave me a sense of the culture here.

Their lunch is 2 hours and they have another break after this between lunch and home time. This means they have 3 breaks a day. Between lunch and home time I was with 2 more classes, firstly CE2/CM1 and then CE2. These children were aged 8 – 10. Sylvie Lambert taught both these classes. There were 2 other students at the school with me but they were French students at the university. They worked with the older classes in the school.

Something I experienced that is different in Scotland is the way they give sanctions. They are more hands on wit their sanctions in France. In Scotland you wouldn’t be allowed to aggressively pull a child by the arm, of which I witnessed in the French classroom.

Multicultural

The first thing I noticed about the pupils in the French school is that there are a lot more different races percentages of pupils than in Scotland.

In 2011, In Scotland 96% of the population was white and only 4% of the population were from ethnic minorities, which includes minorities such as, African, Asian, Black, Caribbean and mixed groups. In   , In France

This also leads to the different religions and ethnic backgrounds that are in the area. As I have spoken about previously, the school I am in is a ‘Laïque’ school so there is no sign of any religion allowed. There is without a doubt loads of different religious beliefs in the school but I would not be able to tell which pupils believe in what as they show no sign through clothes, accessories, personal objects, etc.

References:

Scottish Government. (2011). Summary: Ethnic Group Demographics. [Website]. Scottish Government. Available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Equality/Equalities/DataGrid/Ethnicity/EthPopMig [Accessed 13/03/18].

Week 1: Day 1

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12/03/18

School of teachers and education Academy of Orléans – Bourgogne Centre

After arriving on Sunday to the ESPE teacher-training centre in Bourgogne, Orléans, our first proper day in Orléans was on the Monday (12/03/18). We woke up on the Monday morning ready to meet our host of the programme called Nina Huss, at 10:30am. Nina told us she would help us sort our bus passes for the duration of our stay, give us a tour of the centre of Orléans and take us to a University of Orléans ESPE course, in the teacher training centre in Saint Jean, about the French education system.

We took the bus to the centre and strolled into the centre square where the statue of Joan of Arc stands. Joan of Arc, nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans”, is considered a heroine of France for her role, leading France to victory, during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years’ War and was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint. Nina showed us a bookshop, which is great for children books and suggested we get one before we leave for our future students back in Scotland. She took us to get our bus passes and gave us helpful maps for the bus lines. On our way to our Orléans University course we walked past Joan of Arc’s house.

School of Teachers and Education Academy of Orléans – Tours Loire Valley Centre

We got lunch at a French bakery beside the ESPE School of Education training centre in Saint Jean and then went to our course. Claudie Grenet (corresponding relations international) in French greeted us after some chickens chased us into the building and we began the course.

Claudie first spoke about the French education system and how it is different from the Scottish system. In France you start school at age 6. This is different in Scotland as we start at age 5. The French also have nursery like us in Scotland, “école maternelle”, but they have three years of this starting at age 3 to age 5 (PS, MS and GS). This is cycle 1. The French have 5 stages in the primary school, “école élémentaire”, called cycle 2 (Scottish early stages) and cycle 3 (Scottish upper stages). Cycles 2 goes as follows; CP – age 6-7, CE1 – age 7-8 and CE2 – age 8-9. Cycle 3 goes as follows; CM1 age 9-10, CM2 – age 10-11 and then cycle 3 carries on into their collége (secondary school). Collége is four years long, starting with 6éme –the last in cycle 3. This then follows with 5éme, 4éme and 3éme in cycle 4. Finally cycle 5 is lycée (secondary school) for four years. During cycle 5 there are different exams to go onto to do different degrees at university. The French finish school at age 18, which is the same as in Scotland if the pupil decides to stay on through all the years.

If one decides to go on to do a Primary Education Profession at university the course is four years, the same in Scotland.The ESPE have models to follow just like we do in Scotland when training to be a teacher. The organisation model includes factors such as; time management, classroom space, classroom resources and grouping in the classroom. Education aspects they think are important are; how the pupil’s work is evaluated, making sure the pedagogical steps are being implemented, the displays in the classroom, the organisation of the class, carefully suited class projects and the teacher’s own interventions. Along with these other factors such as; the teachers posture, the classroom rules, the relationships in the school and the trade in the classroom are also important.

One of the general principles for the education system in France is that public schools are “Laïque”. The laïque principle was introduced to separate the civilian for their religion whilst in school. Laïcité, literally “secularity”, is a French concept of secularism. It discourages religious involvement in government affairs, especially religious influence in the determination of state policies. The aim was to equalise every pupil, there is respect for all beliefs equally. In school is there should be no recognition of any of them. By not showing any signs of your religion everyone is seen as equal, there are no differences and discrimination and racism is avoided. Religion is kept to ones private life. The Catholic church (Christians), make up the greatest majority of those living in France. Because of this principle, Religious education is not a subject taught in school.

This is a great contrast to Scotland as a large majority of public and private schools let you show your religious beliefs openly and freely through any ways, may that be how you dress. They have religious assemblies and do work in class about religious holidays and ceremonies. But I believe this isn’t defining equality as in Scotland we teach mainly about Christianity and don’t touch on other religions, forcing those who don’t believe in Christianity to sit in and listen. It is only in the topics of R.E. that a school may touch on other religions around the world.

References:

n.b. (2018). Laïcité. [Website]. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laïcité Accessed [12/03/18].

Frenchentree Staff. (2017). La France : un état Laïque. [Website]. Available at: https://www.frenchentree.com/living-in-france/culture/la-france-un-etat-laique/ Accessed [12/03/18].

History.com Staff. (2009). Joan of Arc. [Website]. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/saint-joan-of-arc Accessed [12/03/18].

n.b. (2018). Joan of Arc. [Website]. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc Accessed [12/03/18].

https://www.univ-orleans.fr/espe

http://www.eduscol.education.fr

http://www.education.gouv.fr

Placement Provider Overview

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École Louise Michel

Nature of Organisation

The organisation I am working with for Learning from Life in a French Primary School called École Louise Michel in Orléans, France. It includes a nursery and a primary school. It has 7 classes and 7 teachers including an art room. They go to the local secondary school for their gym.

To become a primary teacher in France you go through the education and teacher training centre called ESPE (School Superior of the Professor and the Education). ESPE are in charge of my stay here and organised my placement, accommodation and school.

The ESPE centres are situated in Bourgogne, Orléans and Saint Jean, Orléans. The heads of the ESPE programme are Nina Huss and Claudie Grenet.

 

Structure

In France you start school at age 6. This is different in Scotland as we start at age 5. The French also have nursery like us in Scotland, “école maternelle”, but they have three years of this starting at age 3 to age 5 (PS, MS and GS). This is cycle 1. The French have 5 stages in the primary school, “école élémentaire”, and called cycle 2 (Scottish early stages) and cycle 3 (Scottish upper stages). Cycles 2 goes as follows; CP – age 6-7, CE1 – age 7-8 and CE2 – age 8-9. Cycle 3 goes as follows; CM1 age 9-10, CM2 – age 10-11 and then cycle 3 carries on into their collége (secondary school). Children leave Primary school at age 11/12.

The primary school has a wide range of subjects, covering all educational needs. In cycle 2 these include:

  • French
  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Art
  • Music
  • Physical Education
  • Teachings of morals (values, equality, knowledge and practices)
  • “Questioning the world” (Exploring the world around us, science)

In cycle 3 these include:

  • French
  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Art
  • Music
  • Physical Education
  • History
  • Geography
  • Science
  • Technology

In cycle 2 they get 10 hours of French per week and 1.5 hours of English per week. In cycle 3 they get 8 hours of French per week and 1.5 hours of English per week.

Their day starts at 8:30am and ends at 3:45pm.

They have 2 breaks, one from 10:00am till 10:30am and one 2:30pm till 2:50pm. Their lunch is 2 hours long from 11:30am till 1:30pm.

 

Teachers and their Roles

Françoise Monclere – CP

Benjamine Duplouy – CP/CE1

Axelle Holef – CE1

Sylvie Lambert – Head teacher/CE2

Laura Bellout – CE2/CM1

Agnés Courgeon – CM1/CM2

Christine Aué – CM2

 

Cover Letter

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Mrs

Dundee

Orleans, France

30th September 2017

 

Dear Mrs

RE: Placement Opportunities

Through my learning from life module at university, I write to enquire about the possibility of working in Orleans, France on a short placement.

I am very keen to work with and gain experience in your French school, as I am interested in how teaching English to a different mother tongue nationality would impact and improve my English knowledge and skills. I also want to experience how foreign students pick up a new language, in particular English.

As part of my university degree in Primary Education, I am sourcing a placement in a different school setting out of Scotland for 6 weeks in March to April 2018. I believe I can be a great addition to your school because of my extensive experience with working with children in schools in Scotland.

For my degree, I have undertaken a placement in the biggest primary school in Dundee. Due to my large class size I learned to importance of behaviour management and making sure each lesson was engaging and interactive for all pupils. I learnt how to organise group lessons for all capabilities to make sure all pupils were doing work that suited them but pushed them to achieve their full potential. I had a primary 4 class and we did a lot of our daily routines in French, so I got to see how a second language is first introduced to children. I taught 4 English lessons a week, which was great as I got to progress and build on language patterns and comprehension each week with the children. These experiences will be very useful for teaching English to a different nationality, as I have experienced how children are introduced to a new language and have lots of English language experience.

In addition, I spent my summer working in a nursery with children ranging from 6 months to 5 years old. This was a key experience as I taught the very basics in the early development of learning English. From understanding letters and the alphabet to reading books, working in a nursery showed me how toddlers start to learn English through reading, writing, listening and talking.

Therefore, my range of experiences equips me well for teaching English to pupils in Orleans, France and I hope you consider me for a position. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Yours sincerely,

Miss Erynn Sangster

CV

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CV: Erynn Sangster

Personal Statement

Personal Profile

I am an enthusiastic individual who supports the idea that Primary School Pupils need an exciting classroom teacher to help them with their development of English.I am currently at Dundee University studying MA (Hons) Primary Education. I have passed and finished my first year and during it I experience 6 weeks of placement in a P4 classroom where I had full responsibility for lessons, safety and organisation. I have accumulated high teamwork, communication, patience, reliability and responsibility skills through my education, extra-curricular activities and work experience.

Skills

Communication/Teamwork

  • Through my experience in being a dancer/choreographer I use this skill to instruct and work with other dancers effectively.
  • My previous part-time jobs involved using this skill to deal with customers and to work along side other employees smoothly.

Thinking

  • I have great thinking skills to find solutions to problems, I used this a lot during my previous jobs if we would get customer complaints or questions.
  • In my school placements and dancing I am able to come up with new ideas and to be creative to make the lessons more engaging.

Organisation

  • I built up my time management skills when doing lessons so I would not run over or under the allocated time. Also making sure I stick to deadlines set by the university.
  • Making sure my lesson plans matched up and followed the experiences and outcomes of the Curriculum for Excellence.

Interpersonal

  • I approach things in a positive way and I have enthusiasm for working with children.
  • Promote positive behaviour in the classroom through praise and rewards and use sanctions for poor behaviour to encourage/remind the pupils of the rules and expectations.

Education

Kemnay Academy            August 2010 – June 2016

National 5: Business Management (A), German (A), Maths (B), English (A), Art & Design (A), Biology (B).

Higher: English (B), Art & Design (A), Biology (C), Business (A), Drama (C).

Advanced Higher: Art and Design (Expressive) (B)

University of Dundee                                                          September 2016 – 2020

MA (Hons) Education

Education modules have included, teaching across the curriculum, values, pedagogical, discovering mathematics, languages and educational studies.

Work Experience

Sales Floor Customer Assistant August 2014 – December 2014

Marks & Spencer

Customer Assistant                                               February 2015 – September 2016

Michael Howden

Co-operative

Communication and teamwork skills were used when working with customers.

Primary School Student Teacher March 2017 – May 2017

Alison Macgregor

University Primary School Placement

During my 6 week period of working at the school I had a lot of responsibility over children to uphold while working alongside the classroom teacher. I had to plan lessons for each day and make sure I was organised with resources for each of them. I had the responsibility whilst planning lesson to make sure my l time management was correct and making sure each child was getting the help they needed, for the care and well-being of each child and supporting each individual with their needs.

Nursery Assistant                                                             June 2017 – August 2017

Rachel Farman

Wee Rascals Summers Nursery

I practised my discipline and praising skills along with experiencing very early development of reading, writing, talking and listening skills from the children. I worked alongside a couple other assistants in each room and worked with children ranging from 6 months to 5 years old. 

Interests & Achievements

I do dance and lacrosse at university; these sport support teamwork and communication.

Costa Rica Outlook Expedition                                                                       June 2015

A 3-week expedition to Costa Rica with a team from my school. Whilst there we were in charge of our food, travel/accommodation and money. It was up to us to get us through these 3 weeks. We had 3 phases, a turtles project, trekking and rest/relaxation. It really tested our teamwork skills and made us all more independent as individuals.

Prefect & House Captain                                                                               August 2015

I was a prefect at Kemnay Academy. This involves setting examples to younger years and keeping the school grounds in order. Managing queues at lunch and break and presenting ones self as a responsible citizen. Being as House Captain made us work as a house team to earn points and be enthusiastic towards the younger years.

Dance Leadership Level 4                                                                     November 2015

Grade 5 Saxophone                                                                                         March 2014

Grade 5 Tap                                                                                                        May 2016

Rock Challenge                                                                                           February 2015

 

Identification of Learning Opportunities

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Learning Opportunities

  • Teaching English to French pupils.
  • Teaching English in all subjects – Mathematics, Art, Music, Physical education, Science etc.
  • Learning about the French school system.
  • Identifying the similarities and differences between the teaching in France and Scotland.
  • Learning the French language and vocabulary through listening and observing pupils.
  • Communicating with French pupils in both French and English.
  • Going on school trips to the French theatres and cinemas.
  • Learning how French schools deal with behaviour.
  • Learning how the French structure their class lessons.
  • Through experience, learn how French pupils’ pickup up English as a second language.
  • Responsibility of different stages in the school.
  • Learning about the culture and values of the school.

Placement Proposal

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The placement that I am applying for is in a primary school Orléans, France. I will be an English language assistant in a French primary school, which will involve me teaching the French pupils how to speak English.

I chose this setting as I wanted to keep working with children in a school setting but was interested in teaching English to a totally different mother-tongue nationality and in a new cultural setting, together with the experience of the opposed classroom set up and routine.

The benefits of this placement I hope to gain are, being able to experience how to teach the very basics of English and also learn myself from it which will benefit working with young early years children back in Scotland. I hope to gain an understanding on how a different nationality picks up a new language, in particular English, as English is thought to have very difficult rule to remember and follow. I have only ever learnt in German in depth so I also hope to pick up a bit on French whilst living over there for 6 weeks, which will be a benefit when teaching in Scottish schools if I have to teach a bit of French. I will get to opportunity to be part of and experience a foreign schools way of working, including their routines, work patterns, outdoor learning and meal times. This will be an interesting comparison so what I am used to in Scotland and from that I will be able to see the advantages and disadvantages form both sides.

When I go over to Orléans I hope to bring my previous extensive experience in schools and nurseries over the past couple of years. My summer job in a nursery will be useful as I got to teach English from the very early stages of learning to write, read and talk in English. I got the opportunity to analyse how children pick up English and what activities aid them on their way. I was lucky in 1st year to get a primary 4 class, which is an advantage as they were still learning a lot of basic patterns of English; therefore I can bring my knowledge to the French school. I hope to bring my knowledge of behaviour management to the school, as I am unsure on how the behaviour in Orléans will compare to here in Scotland. I will be able to being my creative personality to the school as I think it will benefit my lessons to make them more interesting and engaging to aid the French pupils learning and memory.

Identification of Skills and Knowledge to be developed

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Skills

  • Improve French oral communication.
  • Improve French written communication.
  • Improve self-confidence teaching in front of a class.
  • Improve interest in pupil’s lives. French pupils daily lives and hobbies.
  • Improve responsibility for pupils. Schools trips.
  • Improve organisational skills.
  • Improve team-working skills with the teachers.

 

Knowledge

  • Knowledge of the French school system.
  • Knowledge in how to teach English as a second language.
  • Knowledge on how to break down the English language.
  • Knowledge on how to simplify sentences.
  • Knowledge on the French language and vocabulary.
  • Knowledge on how the French teach their subjects.
  • Knowledge on how the French deal with behaviour.
  • Knowledge on how much English is taught in the different stages of the school.
  • Knowledge on the similarities and differences in teaching France and Scotland.