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What an amazing teacher’s education! Ten days full of experiences and feeling the nature of Guadeloupe. I came here to learn language and aware my understanding of outdoorlearning. These two aims in my mind I can say I’ve reached those and got a lot more.

My language skills got better in numerous discussions with European group of teachers. We started by reflecting on our identity as human beings and at the same time expanding our understanding of national identity and ourselves as a European teacher. This course learned me how important is the way how person thinks and acts.

During the course I have also learned to fall into the moment while I was often in the situations and I didn’t knew where I’m going to. Feeling of jumping to the sea from the boat in Caribbean sea aiming to snorkle. I felt strong excitement but when you had done it, you got so much courage. It almost felt like you were winning a competition.

I also learned how positive teacher example affects to students. I’m going to concern that in my lessons at home in Helsinki. I hope that my pupils will have more positive and relaxed teacher after this course. I hope I got tools to avoid stress and most important avoid feeling of hurry at my workplace. I promise I will let them more time to wonder environment while we have lessons outside.

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This course raises very important questions. How to make your school more international and how to recognize your national identity in the global world. Some of the outcomes of this course were: improved management and staff competences, European dimension integrated into curriculum, modernized curriculum, organisation of teaching, training and learning on EU level. I found these outcomes very important for my school and for the aims that we want to accomplish.

All of the topics throughout the course were carefully selected and presented in a very creative way. I liked that every place Rita took us had a meaning for the topic and was an introduction to the topic. By learning about history and culture of Guadeloupe we learned a lot about ourselves. A lot of practical work makes this course interesting and inspiring. There will be so many things that I will be able to use in my classroom and share with my colleagues.

The most important part for me and my school is learning how to write an audit and how to internationalize the school’s curriculum. Advice that we got how to improve our eTwinning and Erasmus projects are a great help. A well explained role of international coordinator is something we really needed.

Overall opinion of this past two weeks is that this is one of the best courses I attended and I have gained a lot of knowledge.

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What did I learn?

Our first lesson at the beach was an awesome experience. I might say quite a powerful one. We had a nice conversation and delicious international meal and at the same time we could get to know each other.  We were talking about internationalization and national identity. The nametask was interesting. I am going to use it with my pupils and students as well.

I noticed quite soon that stepping out of the daily routines gave me much energy. I also felt more creative. I do have to learn to be more open-minded and flexible but I even started to do some plans for the springtime at school with my colleges.

I`ve learned a lot of the history of the island. And it is, for sure, touching. I`ve been thinking several times of the slavery. It was quite horrible to imagine that human cargo coming from the sea. It is very difficult to understand thinks that happened during those years but we do have lots of terrible things in our history made by human being. I do hope that my generation could do better and I do hope that my children could live in a better world.

Music is connecting people. We all had that experience when we tried to make music together. Quite challenging rhythms was not easy to learn but hard efforts were rewarded and we could reflect our huge (:D) success with each other. It occurred to me once again that listening is not my way to learn. I preferer seeing and doing.

Day after day we went to places I have never even dreamed of.  Scottham & al. (2009) says that a powerful experience in a supportive environment can promote deep learning which has a life-long impact. This trip has offered me plenty of powerful experiences. I have also learned many things but maybe the most important one is to understand that it is I myself with whom I have to start to work first. Before I can transform the world, I must transform myself. It won`t be easy but I am already on my way, although at the beginning of the journey.

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The course addressed the important issues raised by EU 2020. The aims were
1. internationalization and modernization of curriculum
2. early childhood education and early school leaving
3. key competences
4. teacher´´´  s continuous professional development.
5. language learning.

The aims of the participants were to analyze internationalization strategy and explore various methods and tools shaping internationalization policy to the needs of their school.
Alongside, interactive French language learning activities were supposed to provide participants insight into local community.

The most rewarding parts of the course were the session 1, 2 and 3. The basic theory of what is internalization and how it relates to national identity, multiculturalism and music: the cultural context.  It made you realize how big a part in your development does your culture play. These themes erased good discussions and new ideas for my school work when thinking of interacting with various cultural and ethnic minorities at school. And as a cherry on the top was the gwoka music session with the drums which made us again to remember the importance of the balance between theory and practice, studying and action. That should be remembered also in our daily classwork, too.

Also session 4 What does it mean to be a global citizen? gave a lot of topics to think and rethink of the matters concerning civic skills once again. Actually nothing new but reorganizing once again your thoughts. What is needed to do to sustain our planet for everyone here now and also for the becoming generations? The phrase “Think globally, act locally”  expresses the most important main idea in a nutshell as well as the five global themes for international learning:
- identity and belonging
- sustainable living
- conflict and peace
- fairness and equality and
- rights and responsibilities.

Session 5, audit template showed us that is our school so much has already been done. And very many of the acts have become already very natural and obvious, as parts of our everyday life. It is always good to think and rethink what has already been done for to continuing it. That template will be a good tool to build on when thinking of the possible future acts.

Session 6, internationalizing the curriculum was also something to take right away to your daily work for just to evaluate the curriculum of own school. And the international policy template was again a good tool when starting an international project.

Session 7 included key competences. It was clarifying to discuss activities that develop key competences. It came out how many different things you can include into your international projects. Just your imagination draws the line. So many subject related things as well as matters related to the transversal skills. The smaller units as well as projects that last for years. This brain storming was a good beginning when thinking of beginning of an international co-operation project.

The theme getting into international school projects included important information which comes in use when starting a project. We got a bigger picture and some important details also.

The aims 1-4 were fulfilled in this course as I expected. Much to think about, a lot of reorganizing your thoughts and valid information to use.
The aim 5, was language learning. My English skills got some very good practice during this course when reading the materials, discussing with the others during the sessions and while interacting with the others during the free moments. It was funny though that even the pupils at school gave us more opportunities to speak English than French. They were so eager to show the English skills of their own, like greeting and counting the numbers. The French quiz was great fun although I could have payed more attention to my French studies during the course. Self studying was maybe not the best way for studying a language for me.

So, my feelings after the course are very positive. It was worth to come as far as to the beautiful Guadeloupe to have in-service training after working for almost 42 years at school. A good boost for the rest of the years.

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A classroom with a door to the world:

Internationalization and modernisation of curriculum.

Aims of the cource:

Early childhood education and early school living.

Key competences

Analysing internationalization strategy

Explore various methods and tools shaping internationalisation policy

Language learning and teachers continuous professional development

French learning activities

Lots of ambitious goals that I went to experience and achieve here.

At the same time it feels awful and good that our courses have now been completed. There have been so many different things that could not even be imagined in advance. Being away from home far away gives you the necessary distance to your life and your own culture.

The nature and lifestyle of Guadeloupe impressed me. Heat, sun, small country, homely, opposites, joyful people, unstressfull lifestyle…

Rita, you had a fine and versatile course. You demand a lot from us and maybe because of that we got a lot of it too. All the preparatory work was done well and for the best of all of us.

There is already a lot of internationalization in my own school. Making it visible is important. A lot of thoughts, ideas, as well as a strengthening of the work in own school and the other schools on a larger scale, arose from the discussions.

In my opinion it was lovely to work in different learning environments. On the other hand it is a small thing but on the other hand everything in the student's life.

Thank you Guadeloupe. I got a lot of what I can share.

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The dichotomy "national identity vs. internationalisation" is a very important subject for our school. So I was really looking forward to the course and I arrived with big expectations.
As a start Rita turned all individual participants into a real group. All of the lessons led us to more depth concerning our topic. It was very well conceived starting with lots of practical cultural experiences before getting to more theoretically based work.
Then it was quite useful to be given some time to work on our audit template and our school policy: now we have the perfect base to go on with the establishing of Global Learning in our school.
This course was surely the best I have ever had. All of the activities were so well planned, thought through and perfectly set to an arrangement by Rita. All of the places we visited with her were just overwhelming. I loved to work together with every member of our group: so also the networking was a huge success.

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This has been the best course I have ever done as well for myself as for my school. I have been doing projects for a long time always being under stress to find out what I am expected to do and feeling some kind of blurriness in my head when it comes to getting a golden thread into the project. Rita was the best person ever to explain all the little bits and pieces going from personal identity to internationalisation of the curriculum. I know project life will get a lot easier for me by getting colleagues on board. I know I will be able to get them involved. I know students, teachers and the entire school will profit from this course.
Furthermore I once more met colleagues from other countries who are as devoted to teaching as I am. We set up contacts and decided on further little meetings. Somehow teachers all over the world seem to have a common aim: making an impact on young people to make the world a better place.