Religious Values

Bill Cleary is an other guest teacher that we could heard during two days. He talked about the influence of religion on professional thinking. The power point that he gave us, starts with two questions: in which way does religion influence our concept of “education” and in which way does religion influence our concept of social work. At first, the class was a little complicate because in my country, Spain, there are religious institutions of course but by the time, there are less.

In Catalunya, were I live, there are also religious institutions but I had never been in contact so it is a little bit difficult for me to know in which particular way they work.

I know that in many countries, the religion takes a big place. In class we could talk concretely about the situation of Denmark and Ireland. I also could learn the difference between “social work” and “social education”. In Denmark the concepts are mixed but in Ireland are speared.

Its interesting to learn how any country understands the education and all that includes it (concept, values, professionals, etc.)

I also learned that there are many different social professionals between countries, who have a different name but their task its more or less or the same, etc. For example, in my country I'm studying for to be a social educator and here in Denmark is understand us a pedagogue. My study takes 3 years, including 4 months in a practical placement. In contrast, in Denmark the study takes 3 and a half year, includes 15 months work in a placement.

An other point that we have been talking about which I think it's very important, was the different personal approaches to social work. The teacher presented us 4 ways:

A vocation: to help humanity. Motivated towards the others/others.

A mission: to set a goal and achieve it. Motivated towards oneself.

A career: to develop skills and knowledge and to earn money. Motivated towards oneself and ones family.

A family tradition: to keep up a respected family tradition. Motivated towards ones family.

He ask us if we could choose one based in our personal experience but personally I think that I can't chose only one, I chose all of them.

I really like to be in contact with the others and help them us much us possible with whatever.

I would really like to change a lot of things of this live, like poverty, the equality, etc. but I know it's so difficult.

I want to develop my skills and increase my knowledge for to be more competitive

My parents support me in my decisions so if I want to study one degree or an other its my choice.

"Social policy and social work practice in Europe"

It was nice and really really interesting spending the time with two Danish boys and a friend of me, talking about the issues that we can find when we work as a professional like us, pedagogue and social educator.

Through the conversation we could find some similarities and contradictions between Denmark and Spain. We found that the figure of pedagogue and social educator, has some difficulties that we have to work and compete with.

For example we can work in a institution which some points of its philosophy or the way the staff work, we can't understand or we don't care. For example I have been working in a Children Home and in some cases was difficult to treat the child in a way that I wouldn't have chosen. About the staff I also have had some different views about our work but we could talk and met in the same point. I think that this international course is teaching me a lot about this. We are a lot of people and more over, we come from lot of different countries, so also, different cultures.

I'm strengthen my knowledge about the ways of see the life, ways of work and ways of communicate. I think it's fantastic this course in that way because in our future job and also in live, we are going to share experiences with a lot of kind of people so we have to have this experience for to be more flexible, competent and opened mind. Being with people from all over the world, not only because of the culture but also for the personalities that this culture can create.

The most different point that we found between of both countries was that in Denmark, if you want to get a job you have to present your criminal letter. In one way I think it's fantastic because you have to be secure if the staff its good but on the other hand, for example, one of the boys, was living in a squatter house. I can't believe that this is considered like a crime.

I think that's another way of live and why a man/woman who lives in a big an fancy house can be non-competitive for to be a pedagogue?

Connecting this conversation with the guest teacher Richard Lee Stevens, I would like to write about some of phrases that he mentioned in class: Is not enough be a social worker or pedagogue, you have to be real, respect yourself, your own experience and then, you can get in dialogue with people.

I'm really really agree with him. It's not enough study a degree or some kind of courses. In one hand, of course they can help you in your work but on the other hand, if you don't feel it, I think it's very difficult or impossible to get in real dialogue with somebody.

Many times I think that it's better to know yourself, your capacities, abilities and also, without less importance, your disabilities. Like Richard said, is also important to know your resources, which ones you can access or not.

I think that it's important because you have to offer to the other person, a realistic way. I mind, I can't tell him/her that I'm going to help him/her when I don't know if it's going to be possible or not, depending on myself or an external factor. How he/she is going to believe in us? I hope that us a professional, I never promise something impossible or not sure to other person. I don't want that he/she feels betrayed!

More over, I would like and I hope to have the feel inside me that the person who I work with is going to improve, solving his/her problems, etc. I hope to be quick, look after for the reasons, effective, etc.

Practical Visits

I would like to talk about my impression of the two institutions that I have visited with other classmates. The nursery, Hobitten, in Frederiksberg it was really nice and I could see much near, the way the staff work and the way the children learn.

After the first visit I could see and learn new things and aspects, I could compare their work with the Spanish one and I could get shock with some other aspects.

About the objectives, they want to let them increase their knowledge by themselves. In Spain is obvious that they also want that they learn but the way they use is very different. Here in Denmark, like the pedagogue said, “-We let them to do whatever they want. And “-We put our self in their place”. I think that’s a fantastic way to learn and moreover, increase the curiosity children for the things that there are around them. Unfortunately, in Spain the mentality is not like that and in addition, there is a plan for every day so may be a lot of time they stop the learning in a minute for do another thing.

For example, in a playground of Denmark, so if somebody find a spider, the teacher, and shows everybody the animal any explain them what’s that, witch kind of animal it is, the characteristics. May be they spend half an hour, may be more, but for the staff it doesn't matter, they seize the moment.

In a playground of Spain, if somebody fined a spider, the teacher, in case that he/she paid attention, is not going to show it all the other ones and if it's time to do something else, he/she is going to let the spider in the floor and he/she will continue with the plan.

It could be nice to change this in Spain because I think that they learn more without plan, let them do, because the curiosity plays a good part of the knowledge. We know that the most things that we have to do because they require us, less we want to learn.

For some minutes I have been thinking in “send” my future daughter and my son in a nursery of Denmark. :)

Another thing that it was new for me was a kind of typical Danish method: “Anerkendende pedagogic”. I understood like “Respect an accept”. In Spain obviously, exist the mean but we don't have an specific words to mention! 

The thing that surprised and shocked me a lot, was that the children sleep outside, sheltered but they sleep outside! Now, when I walk in the street and I'm freezing and I see a Danish man/woman walking with much less clothes than me, I can understand and in the same time, I think it’s a good idea to hold the cold what are they going to live with.

As a professional I could like that in future, the way of educating in Spain change and the State and the professionals take more attention in the importance of the curiosity. In case to work with children, I would like to be able to let them do it, also let them learn how we use the knife for example. For me it’s so difficult see a child with a knife in his/her hands and don't take it. Another point is that in Spain, the child doesn't put the food on their plats, the teacher do it for them. When we stayed in the nursery I could see a child who was serving his food very very good! And he was only 2 years! So I could learn more and more by this little things that we have to let them do it!

The other institution was Children's Home, Josephine Schneiders hus and I also liked. Last summer I have been working in a Children's Home and it was really really fantastic! In Catalunya, this kind of institution we call CRAE (Centre Residencial d'Atenció Educativa) approximately translation, “Home Institution of Educational attention”.

The place Josephine Schneiders Hus it was very very nice and big! Unfortunately we couldn't stay with the children and teenagers but we could get a lot of information from the staff. It was nice to see that there weren't many differences between that institution and Catalunya's one. The most important thing for me is that both of the institutions want to make them institution, as much as like a family house. They want to “normalize” the place they live as much as possible.

Unfortunately some of the neighbours complain about the children’s home positions because they do not want problems such as broken Windows, fighting etc… I can´t understand because if anybody wants have problems and they aspect a “good behavior” from this child and teenagers, how can they being a part of the society if they are not good considered from the people? I think that we socialize while we are in society! Personaly I think that it can be useful for some of this neigbourhoods see the house to understand

what pedagogs do there, but I think that everybody have to think that it is a house like other one, it’s not a zoo and the children and teenagers who live there haven’t got less privacity then other person! In my opinion, it’s not fair for them because in addition their problems, they have to live with the fact that they are not good considereds from a part of the society.

As a future professional, specially working with this target group, I want to be consent that everybody has to know the true about his/her live. The staff who we have been talking with, explain that they always let the children and teenagers know the history of their parents because they have to grow up knowing that. I think that's very important for example because when this young people leave the Children's home, they have to be consent who is waiting or not for them, with who can go, etc. to make their live. Moreover, I want to be able that they feel a part of the society being active and respected by all the people, without prejudices or feelings of sorry. 

The Camp

I liked the days that we spend all together in the Camp. At first it was difficult because I felt a little bit shy, I thought that my English isn't enough good to speak with all the people that I would like but step by step I could speak more and more.

I liked the days because apart from the fantastic food, I could start to speak with people that I haven't done before!

About the classes I want to say that it was good for me because in Catalunya, in my University we have been talking about the culture so more or less, it was easy to understand the class. On the other hand, for example, about the concept of being an specific culture, we don't think that the class is a culture even the habits for example like: “the timetable, the breaks, etc” all that onces that we can related with class. I think that every body have a culture and he/she shows his/herself, he/she thinks, etc. as your minds, values, as his/her culture but I don't think that in class we create an other culture. I also think that maybe we don't like an aspect of one culture but above all, we have to RESPECT.

I liked the Camp too because by games, a fantastic way of learn, we could remind that the communication between people is very important for many reasons. The most important reason is because we can talk and understand to each other, sometimes more or less. Also we can met people and we can transmit the culture and all the aspects that it have. (values, symbols, etc.) We can compare a different ways of see and feel the live so we can learn a lot, it can be easier to be in others shoes and why not, “we can paint a lot of views of live, with a positive color, a color of other culture”. For example, I think that I'm going to “paint” the Spanish education with an other color because by the time, unfortunately I think its worst. Nowadays we are living in a big financial crisis and the State, the first thing that cuts from the economic budget, is the education. I think its not fare because I think that the EDUCATION is the future of the society. How we are going to organize all the aspects like Wellfare Sistem, schools, comercial sistem, the celebrity days of the city,

An other thing that I want to write about it is: by the games we conform that the communication face to face, its much better than the communication back to back. It's useful and nicer to see the eyes, because I think that the eyes sometimes speaks and says true things, more than the mouth. The position of the body its very important too, because sometimes you can understand more what the other one is telling you. At least, the body language its very important.

The third thing that I want to write its about the culture and the religion. I saw that sometimes we've got some problems with the different between religion and culture. Some of us think that the religion is all that includes the god and the culture all the rest like values, mind, ways of acting, etc.

My question is: can we separate this concepts? Why don't they go together?

On one hand I think the culture we have today its the result of the history that we have behind us and reflects the religion. Thats what define people from Spain, Sweden, etc. and from all over the world.

I think that nowadays, depends on the country, the religion is losing importance and people do their live, feeling the aspects of the culture. For example, when my grandmothers and my grandfathers were young, every Sundays the church was full of people. Nowadays, the church is empty.

I think that by the time, I'm going to know much more to say about between culture and religion.

My expectations about the course...

I wanted to come to Copenhagen for many reasons: first of all because I want to come to study an other way of educating. I am also attracted to climbing subject because I think it is a fantastic way to overcome different aspects of live.What is more, I am interested because they are all based on child and young collective and I worked and actually too and I have always liked them.

The second reason is for meeting people from different countries all over the world. For me, that means knowing lots of mentalities, values, new ideas and knowledge about many aspects of live. The third reason is because I have been learning English for a long time, and here, I would improve it. Gaining much more vocabulary and specific words to speak English more fluently. I think it is the best way to increase my knowledge, because of the classes and the live with the local and foreign people.

I am convinced that this experience would enrich my future studies and help me in my prospective profession. I could learn a different ways of educating, discover new practices and effective alternative of it and learn about each other's culture and compare working education.

In addition I think it would strongly be profitable for myself because I could be more critical, my discernment could increase and consequently become more confident for educating me and the other people in future.

My first impression...

Last February I have spent five days in Copenhaguen with some people of the class and three teachers. We came here to visit a big institution, Kofoeds School, for homeless people. It was fantastic and we could learn a lot about the way they work and treat the people. The staff don’t ask what they don’t have, they ask what they want and what are their expectations.

After a week of the trip, when I was in the class, two girls came and explain us that they have been in Copenhagen studying in the course that we are staying now. We show us a lot of pictures and explain us a lot of histories that they lived here. I thought that I wanted to live this experience too so I send a request and fortunately I’m here!

I arrived with three other girls on the 25th of August. Mia came to pick us up in the airport! It was fantastic because she helped us a lot! We are very happy and grateful to her because if she hadn't come mabye, well I'm sure that we would have lost.

The four first days, Cris and I were staying in a hostel. It was nice because it wasn't expensive and the most important, we met a lot of people from all over the world!

Every day we have been looking in dba.dk a place to live but it was more and more horrible by the time! Everybody who we called, told us that the flat or the room which we were interested, was rented. This days we lived some nice histories that I would like to explain.

This is which I like most:
Cristina and I were walking on the street and we asked to a man with his little son, the street that we were looking for. Suddenly Cristina asked him if he knew something about a flat for rent. He was thinking a minute and told us to follow him. We did and he invited us to go at his home and talk with his wife. When we arrived, Marta, his spanish wife, was surprised but we don't know how, in a minute we were sitting in their living room with a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate cake made it for her. It was all delicious but unfortunately they couldn't offered us a flat...

We were continuing looking for but sometimes it was so stressful. We stay in a new country, with a new language, new people and it's very hard stay far away from your home without a place to live. Before this experience, obviously I have never expressed indifference for homeless people but it's true that now I'm more consequently. I know that first of all I'm healthy and I've got a big support of my parents and the university too but I was really worried about.

Fortunately, now we are living in a nice flat in Vanlos so I'm ready for live as much as possible experiences and increase my knowledge of live!