In the second year of my studies I decided to do my final internship abroad, because I wanted to get to know a different educational and cultural environment. Therefore, I spent my four-week internship abroad in a Swedish international school that taught in Swedish and English.
During the internship it was not always easy because the people at the school were not very welcoming or seemed not interested in me. They were always friendly, but I felt lost sometimes.
My own experience has taught me how important a welcoming classroom culture is.
For my future class I will put more emphasis on students who recently migrated to Switzerland or kids who moved from a different canton. I am aware of how they feel and will consider this in my own teaching and interaction with students. I also noticed the appreciative and respectful way of dealing with each other. Although the school placed great emphasis on structure and discipline, there was always quite a strong bond between students and teachers.
I can only recommend such an experience. It has helped me a lot both personally and professionally.
**please note that the participant was part of the proof of concept project at the FHNW PH and organized her internship abroad by herself without the support of Backpack2school.
