Ways of teaching: ENCBW - UCSyd

After a month here in Haderlsev, I want to compare how I live my course here (at UCSyd) and how I lived my courses in Belgium (at ENCBW).

The contact with the teachers.

Here, we call all our teachers by their first name. It is typical from Denmark, not only at University. In Belgium I used to call my teachers by their family name with “mister” or “missis” in front. But if we forget the way of calling our teachers, the contact between students and teachers are the same: the teachers are open minded and present for the students; the teachers talk to the students more like equals, there is no feeling of hierarchy.

The timetable.

In Belgium, I had usually 6 or 8 hours a day. We started at 8:30 in the morning, we had two hours with a teacher, then 15 minutes break, then again two hours with the same teacher or another one (which would mean we then have another subject). We had break for lunch from about 12:45 to 14:00, then two hours again, 15 minutes break, then sometimes another pair of hours. So we finished at 16:00 or sometimes at 18:00 (once a week). This is a general timetable, it sometimes changed.

In Denmark, we start at 8:15 with a teacher, and we usually have lesson with that teacher all morning, from 8:15 to 11:45 – 12:00. We then have a lunch break, and we start again at 12:30 until 14:00 or 15:00. We often finish our school day at 14:00. And during the lessons, we usually have a break every 45 or 50 minutes. We have a lot of breaks in Denmark actually. But short lunch breaks (usually 30 minutes, sometimes 45).

The lessons.

We have here in Denmark lessons where the teachers alternate lectures and talks & reflections in smaller groups. The main base is a person, different people, an idea, a theme,… And the main things to be done during the lessons are to think, say what we think, discuss and listen to other's point of vue.

In Belgium, we have also those kind of lessons, but only sometimes. Usually we have lectures and works. The teachers give their theory or give tasks so that we students discover things and think about it by doing a paper work or a summary. We write and produce more than we talk. My feeling is that we have more “theoretical knowledge” in Belgium, and more “reflections and discussions” in Denmark.

It certainly is because I'm more used to it, but I prefer the belgian way, it gives me a stronger feeling of learning.

All in all, the two ways of learning and teaching are very different, and they both have their good parts and less good parts. And wherever you go, the teachers always make the greatest difference. We always find some more interesting than others whatever their subject or language of teaching are. I find myself lucky to live this experience and I enjoy discovering so much differences in a country so close to mine.