Course Syllabus

Child Development in Scandinavia Practicum B 

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Semester & Location:

Fall 2019 - DIS Copenhagen

Type & Credits:

Core Course Co-requisite - 3 credits

Major Disciplines:

Child Development, Education/Educational Studies

Faculty Members:

Heidi Vikkelsø Nielsen - heidi.nielsen@dis.dk 

Program Director:

Neringa B. Vendelbo - nb@dis.dk

Program Assistant:

Julia Magnuson - jma@dis.dk

Time & Place:

Thursdays

 

Description of Course

This course emphasizes and integrates application of research, critical reflection, and hands-on experience in Danish pedagogy and/or teaching strategies in order to explore the connection between pedagogical approaches and professional practices with children. You are placed in a Danish childcare or school setting, one day a week for a total of 45-55 hours. This course builds the bridge between the theories you explore in your core class, and the experiences you have in practice.

Note: Criminal clearance from state or local authorities prior to leaving the U.S. (or your country of citizenship) is required.

Learning Objectives

In this course, students will examine current research and assessments in relation to pedagogy/teaching strategies in a Danish context. By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate a knowledge of the major elements, theoretical perspectives, and interdisciplinary approaches to the field of ‘pedagogy’ and education
  • Gain experience in actively participating in the everyday life in a Danish children’s institution or school
  • Understand and reflect on current challenges and debates within Danish pedagogy and education and see these in the light of theory and research presented in the core course
  • Assess practical observations and experiences through the development of observational, analytical, and creative thinking skills

Faculty

Instructor Information:

Heidi Vikkelsø Nielsen

Cand. Pæd – Master in Educational studies (DPU, Aarhus University, 2014). BA School Teacher, (Blaagaard Seminarium, 2004). School teacher 2004-2011, union representative 2005-2011. Teaching vulnerable, bilingual teenagers in extracurricular topics at Ungdomsskolen (2011-2013). Volunteer counselor at the children’s phone, Børns Vilkår (2012-2013). Student assistant in a research project on the Danish dagpleje (home care) at Aarhus University (2013). Member of the ad hoc group across researchers and practitioners called “community teachers”, focusing on inventing “the community Didaktik” as a tool to prevent school bullying. With DIS since 2013.

 

Readings

Readings are uploaded onto Canvas. Readings must be completed prior to classes, and students must be prepared with notes and reflections to contribute to group discussions.

  • Heckman, J. J. (2006). Skill Formation and the Economics of Investing in Disadvantaged Children. Science, 312(5782), 1900-1902.
  • Kragh-Müller, G. (2017). The key characteristics of Danish/Nordic child care culture Nordic social pedagogical approach to early years (pp. 3-23): Springer.
  • Larrivee, B. (2008). Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Reflective Practitioners. New Educator, 4(2), 87-106.

Approach to Teaching

Aside from your independent visits to your practicum site, this course is structured with classes as well as advising sessions. The classes will include theoretical and practical topics and activities to help foster learning at the practicum visits. The advising days are centered on central concepts and themes from your experiences at your site, and are designed as an opportunity to use your faculty and fellow students as professional resources.

 

Expectations of the Students

In this course, each person has the equal and unique responsibility to facilitate the most optimal learning outcomes. You are expected to:

  • Be a positive role model for the children at your practicum site with high engagement and initiating behavior
  • Be a positive representative of DIS at your practicum site showing respect and engagement with children and staff
  • Be punctual and attend all classes, advising sessions and visits on time
  • Complete all readings prior to classes and advising
  • Be respectful and inclusive to faculty and peers
  • Contribute to discussions and group activities
  • Draw upon your interactions and observations from daily life in Denmark to the theory, research, and practices of Danish pedagogy presented in the practicum course as well as your core course
  • Use your logbook for written experiences, observations and reflections at every practicum visit

Practicum

Students are placed in a Danish Børnehave (preschool/kindergarten), or Folkeskole (public school). Students are expected to immerse themselves at the site and will observe and interact with children each week, working under the guidance of a supervising pedagogue or teacher. Although students will be appointed a practicum supervisor at the site, you are also expected to consult the other staff to ask for help, instruction and guidance when needed.

You are required to go to your site at least 10 times and attain between 45-55 hours of practical experience.

Make-up hours: Visits to the sites will take place on 10 scheduled Thursdays; however, if you need to make up hours, you are responsible for scheduling them with your site. There are 11 possible Thursdays over the course of the semester – it is your responsibility to arrange with your site directly (in advance!) which 10 of the 11 Thursdays you will be present at your site. If other days than Thursdays are not in conflict with your other DIS classes or the site, you can arrange for other days as well. Beware that you might end up needing the extra 11th date in case of illness during the course, so be aware of all 11 days.

Advising

Through the semester, you will attend Practicum Advising twice. The content of the meetings will be to discuss any topics related to your practicum experience. There will be ca. 15 minutes per student per advising session. It is a good idea to consider how you want to spend your time, so come prepared.

Advising 1:  Sign up for either Wednesday September 18 or 25

Advising 2:  Sign up for either Wednesday October 16, November 6 or 13

Evaluation

Generally

  • To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work.
  • You are required to submit a completed ‘time sheet’ with the signature of the pedagogue or teacher at your site to confirm that you have completed the required hours for this course (45-55 hours) distributed over 10 visits. Take a photo of your time sheet and upload it on Canvas at the end of the course. It is the student’s responsibility to get this sheet signed by a staff at the practicum site during each visit.
  • Deduction of grades: Late submissions and attendances will be graded down.
  • For more details on assessment and assignments in the course, please use the Assignment Guidelines document found on Canvas. This document will be your guidance on all assignments during the semester.

Assignment

Due Date

% of grade

Attendance

·         Advising

·         Workshops/classes

·         Timesheet

Ongoing

 

Timesheet due December 9

10%

Learning Journal A (Entries 0-2)

Friday September 6

25%

Learning Journal B (Entries 3-6)

Friday, October 4

30%

Learning Journal C (Entries 7-11)

Friday, November 29

35%

Total

 

100%

 

Attendance

Attendance is mandatory for all scheduled classes and field studies. This grade includes presence in class, being on time, and handing in papers on time. The final attendance grade will build on the system presented below:

Unattended with notice

15%

Unattended with unexused reasoning (e.g. personal travelling)

20%

Unattended without notice

25%

Late without notice

10%

Late with notice

5%

Late submissions without notice. If a submission is more than one day late, the instructor may grade it further down.

5%

Late submissions with notice – if arrangements are made with instructor

0%

Absence will only be excused in serious situations, but informing your faculty regarding your attendance is always necessary. Unexcused absences include travelling or an absence that has not been discussed with the faculty. Regardless of whether lateness is excused or unexcused, it is still disruptive to the class and you miss out on relevant information. Please note that since this course meets very seldom, missing classes are highly problematic and therefore counts down more than usual.

 

Learning Journals
Following each practicum visit you will work with specific tasks that you enter into your Learning Journal. These Learning Journal entries will be uploaded three times during the semester. Your submissions should reflect your learning process as well as active participation at your site. 

 

Additional Policies

 

Confidentiality

Please note that you must respect confidentiality at your site, so it is forbidden to put names of institutions, children, parents or staff in assignments or on the internet or discuss any cases outside of the core class community. 

DIS has the following guidelines for students regarding taking images of children while they are at their practicum site, field study, or study tour visit, which distinguishes between academic use and private use.

DIS students may not take any images or videos of children for their own private use, including publishing on social media. DIS students may potentially take images of children for academic use if all of the following conditions are met:

  • They receive approval from the practicum site, field study, or study tour visits before taking any images or videos
  • No children are identifiable in the images or videos
  • Images or videos are only of children in a group setting, where the situation is the subject of the image rather than any individual children
  • The images and videos are only used for in-class presentations, or for assignments submitted online to a password-protected online learning management system (i.e. Canvas at DIS, or the relevant system at your home school)

 

Use of laptops or phones

Students are expected to be fully present and engaged during the entire class period. This entails that all phones must be turned off and put away, and laptops are allowed only for note taking.

It is not allowed to use your phone while being with the children at your practicum site. It will affect your final grade if practicum sites report any use of phones etc. during time spent with children. 

 

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org

Course Summary:

Date Details Due