My mobility report
A week in Goteborg
1st – 7th October 2007
International Teacher’s Exchange Week and Comenius Projects

First of all, I want to thank you Mrs Maria Grazia Cupini for the opportunity to take part in the ITEW and to collaborate with Swedish teachers on the subject of “safety in work places”. During this exhausting week, with my Principal, who paid a study visit about the differences among educational systems all over Europe, we travelled across all Swedish school organization. We visited Barckegymnasiet, both departments, the one concerning building and the other with the training of light and heavy vehicle drivers in Goteborg. We also took part in the International Teacher’s Exchange Week, organized by Goteborg Council, speaking about the future European and international integration, with teachers coming from all over the world, including Iran and Turkey. The week began on Sunday and ended on Saturday, when we came back to Italy. We even met our German partner from Lubek. We compared our different school organizations, trying to find out the point of contact in order to establish international collaboration on new projects. We also visited the beautiful city of Goteborg, and we spent a real good time in a ancient place cold Mastrand, in which we had a Viking dinner (see the photos below…)

The landscape of Goteborg… We also had an international dinner in the Town Hall of Goteborg.
I think it was a very interesting experience, except for my role of “simultaneous translator” for my Principal, work I did in a very good way…
 

Teacher placement in Finland 8-14 October 2006

written by Maria Grazia Cupini

8th October Sunday

The flight to Finland usually takes 2 hours and half and it is incredible to see the Baltic sea and its small islands from the plane.Nature is all around you and you don' t notice the houses but only green areas and blue lakes. When the visitor lands at Vantaa international airport he is welcomed by the kindness of the people and the perfect organization. In fact I was welcomed by the project coordinator Juha-Ville Makinen who took me to my host family Rose-Marie Etholen, head department at Vantaa Institute and her husband Borje. They kindly offered me hospitality and the opportunity to learn more about the Finnish way of life.

9th October Monday

At 8.00 o'clock I was in school learning about the Finnish educational system. Children start school at the age of 7 after attending the kindergarden- children' s day care centres and 1 year pre-primary. Education is compulsory until 16 years.

Basic education includes primary, low secondary, plus an additional 10th voluntary year which gives pupils the opportunity to clarify their career plans. After 9 years in basic education the students can decide which educational branch is suitable for them.

There are two alternatives: general upper secondary education ( including the gymnasium, arts oriented, sporting ) or vocational upper secondary education training.

According to the Finnish law pre-school education, basic education and upper secondary education are free of charge( tuition, welfare and school meals are provided free of charge at all levels).

Vocational education and training include 7 sectors of education, 52 vocational qualifications: for example technical (mechanical, electronics, telecommunications, housing ,IT, electrical) cultural ( catering, painting, printing, styling) transportation and so on. About 8 years ago the technical school was included in the vocational one so the students who want to get a technical know.how prefer attending vocational education. The vocational course lasts 3 years, the first year includes 10 weeks for general learning( maths, English, Swedish, P.E.) and 30 weeks dealing with the basic skills( 1- 5 modules) including 4 weeks on job learning in companies too. During the second year the on- job learning includes 8 weeks and the students have to choose 3 different courses,while it gets to 24 weeks for the third year as the students have the opportunity to face the real working life and understand what the companies need from the workers. Students' skills and knowedge are assessed after the end of each study module. At the end of all studies included in the individual study plan students get a qualification certificate. At the beginning of the course the teacher decides which is the student's personal study program. At the end of the third year the students have to get through a skill demonstration assessed by a committee( depending from the Council of Vantaa- the company manager and the teacher). The students know in advance what they are going to do ( agreement among the teacher, the company and the student). In Vantaa about 2,500 full time students atten courses, about 200- 300 are part-time students, in the technical department about 500 students attend courses too. The teachers contact parents during parents evening if the students are not 18 years old, for international projects they contact the parents too. Accoridng to safety regulations the teacher is responsible for the accident happened in his workshop but he is covered by an insurance. If there is an accident on the job learning, the company is responsible but insurance is included too.In the technical department teachers are usually recruited among the people who are working in companies . Vantaa vocational institute gets funds from Vantaa council and teachers can collect extra money with students by selling crafts created by them in order to guarantee everyone the possibility to take part in projects such as Leonardo or Socrates. After this exhaustive explanation I visited the technical department including the well equipped workshops and labs. The English lab is provided with the latest technologies ( projector, dvd player, and so on )

The teachers Students
Students usually start at 8.15, they have a break at 11,30 wich lasts 1 hour where they can have lunch in the school canteen run by the students and teachers from the catering department then back to the labs until 4 o' clock. As you can notice from the pictures they have the latest computer generations and the teachers are teaching to classes of no more than 17 students. Every student is carefully trained and the teacher has his office close to his lab. He doesn' t have to walk around the different classes, the students get to him from the other labs
The English lab As you notice all the equipment including the tools are located in proper places and every student has to wear the overall , googles and gloves if they are needed. During the English class the teacher Arja Voss gives all the necessary glossary and gets to the workshop giving instructions for the right location of the safety signals in English

10th October Tuesday

The visit to the company Hakaniemen metalli was very interesting and fruitful. The operative manager Mika Vakevainen welcomed us ( the teachers from the technical department Mauri Immonen and Tiero Yuusisto who were my tutors) and first of all showed the machine tools and the staff working there. It is one of the company in which the vocational students work 4 weeks according to the on job learning for the first year, 8 weeks on the second year and 24 weeks the third year. The collaboration between the teacher and the company is very strict. The company is specialized in laser welding and cutting mainly for stainless steel products.

The English lab About 40 employees work in the company and among them one student on the third year is training, during his working experience he is equipped with gloves, an overall , he works from 6 to 2 pm. The company gives him free lunch and coffee break. The school teacher is in strict contact with the company; in fact at the beginning of the course he explains the different working procedures while the employer has the duty to explain the safety procedures by giving him material about first aid rules, timetable, safety equipment ( for example how to do when an accident occurs, how to manage tools, how to manage the occupational safety, how to cooperate with the people)
The English lab At the end of the experience the employer meets the teacher and gives a comment on the trainee. In the evening I enjoyed the Finnish hospitality eating an excellent salmon cooked by the coordinator and learning about their traditions, love for the nature and sports activities such as ice-hockey, cross -country in winter and walking in the wood in summer. Houses are usually surrounded by trees and people like living there so after work they usually like walking along the lakes and relaxing in sauna the typical Finnish habit. Families meet together and they avoid stress and the hectic rhythm of working life

11th October Wednesday

Mecomet Oy dating back to 1896 produces coil springs( compression, extension, torsion, double torsion, spring wire), punched products in different scales and extensive production.in stainless steel and copper alloy. Tomi Parmasuo, Sales Director welcomed offering coffee, tea and cakes and informed us that the head office is located in Vantaa, while the other departments are in Tallin Estonia ( specialized in manual assembling ) and the Finnish area ( in robot lines). The staff include 181 labour and 54 office workers. Safety instructions are introduced on Intranet , a safety plan is the internet concerning chemicals ( what to do ) and how to prevent accidents ( info about the building ,ventilation about the fire ). There is a list of people in charge of different places. A manual for the new employees with all the equipment info is available for everybody including all necessary prevention regulations on the net. As you notice from the picture the use of hearphones is essential in order to prevent the worker damage caused from the noise of the machine tools.

The English lab About 40 employees work in the company and among them one student on the third year is training, during his working experience he is equipped witn gloves, an overall , he works from 6 to 2 pm. The company gives him free lunch and coffee break. The school teacher is in strict contact with the company; in fact at the beginning of the course he explains the different working procedures while the employer has the duty to explain the safety procedures by giving him material about first aid rules, timetable, safety equipment ( for example how to do when an accident occurs, how to manage tools, how to manage the occupational safety, how to cooperate with the people)
The English lab Two students from Vantaa vocational institute are working in the company so the teacher is in strict contact with the company tutor. The students can work in summer too and their experience can allow them to be recruited after the skill demonstrations. In the afternoon the visit to the Tuusula lake organized by the English teacher Arja Voss allow me to learn about the artists' community at the beginning of the 20th century. At the beginning of this century the Finnish National writer Alex Kivi attracted the masters of art such as the poet J.H. Erkko, the artists Pekka Halonen and the official portrait painter of independent Finland Eero Jarnefelt, the national poet Juhani Aho and the national composer jean Sibelius to Tuusula lake. Halosenniemi is the former wilderness studio of the Finnish painter Pekka Halonnien. The atmosphere was magic and relaxing so everyone was inspired and created masterpieces.

12th October Thursday

Assisted by the Finnish teachers who have been dealing with Kemppi Oy we went to visit this company located in Lathi a town of about 98,000 inhabitants north of Helsinki. The company started its activity in 1947, about 500 employees work in Lathi while 200 work in foreign countries. It is the leader in welding machines , 90% production is exported while 10% is for the internal market. Students can practise in summer, the working day includes 8 hours. University students over 18 can work on Saturday and Sunday in order to earn some money. The company requires an electrical background, the new employee or trainee is introduced to the new working environment , all the issues concerning the work safety must be explained. The employee has to read the following check list carefully in order to remember the most important points.

KEMPPI OY WORK SAFETY Employee Manager

  • personal protective equipment and their use
  • safety devices for machines, their use
  • order and tidiness of the work place
  • conditions of the working tools
  • dangerous machines – dangerous areas
  • method teaching – safe working methods
  • platform cargo – placing to the platform and departments, truck traffic
  • the most common reasons for accidents
  • introduction to the industrial safety delegate and his/ her working place
  • introduction and demonstration of the safety plan
  • location of the first aid equipment
  • location of the emergency release pushes
  • introduction of fire extinguishers
  • health care in the working place
  • work safety procedure in the line organization

The completed form should be returned signed and dated to the work safety chief. If the employee doesn' t understand or doesn' t remember perhaps the location of the first aid equipment the manager will show him that one and introduce the safety plan or the fire extinguisher Other material is available for the students too.

The English lab

Every employee has to follow all the instructions concerning the proper use of the safe equipment and the understanding of the danger signals.

13th October Friday

We visited the electrical telecommunication departmentequipped with tools and all necessary materials for a practical training. The training consists of modules and it is developed in close cooperationwith industry in order to meet the changing demands of the society. The aim of the vocational training is also to promote self-development of young people and help them to grow into responsible adults and citizens. By this involvement the students become aware of the global environmentand the internalisation of the work market including the use of technology and information technology.
The English lab In the afternoon Rose-Marie and Berjegave me the opportunity to visitold Porvoothe second biggest town in Finland in 1600, located at the junction of the sea and the river trade centre between the East and the West , well knownfor the Porvoo Diet 1809 – Alexander I the Czar of Russia annexedFinland to Russia as an autonomous Grand Duchy but heallowed the Finnish people to keep their religionand their constitution dating from the Swedish era . Every year lots of tourists visit Porvoo attracted by its Christmas markets, its old cathedral dated back to late 13th century, its narrow streets, its wonderful landscape which inspired artists such as Albert Edelfelt, who used to travel from paris to Porvoo every summer for 20 years..

14th October Saturday

The departure day usually brings sadness but at the same time the feeling ofstarting new friendships and the awareness of having learned a lot not only from the pedagogical point of view but the understanding ofessential values in our life (mutualcooperation friendship quietness love for the environment and desire to protect it ) all these ones must be transmitted to our students in order to create the complete European citizen thanks to our Finnish friends.