Clipboard in Copenhagen (or the Port of Merchants) May 21-23, 2013 Plinia Morelli

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. Sant’Agostino

Nyhavn

The environmental and cultural differences between the two countries begin to appear already at the arrival, along the route that from the airport brings us to the hotel: rain and wind; prevalence of grayscale; underground trains with special large compartments for those who bring the bicycle and large parks for bicycles at the main stops in the city; a lot of people walking or biking in the rain as if nothing has happened; wide and comfortable streets; the impression of a simple life, a tidy life; nice people. Copenhagen is a beautiful city on the sea with baroque architecture, neoclassical and modern, a city which has earned Nobel prizes for science and where personalities as Soren Kierkegaard and Karen Blixen have been born.

Chilly Italians……

……and Danes doing some physical exercises in the rain

Statens Museum for Kunst

Ancient and modern style confronting beautifully

The educational services In Copenhagen there are 120 schools in 5 districts. The project I CARE involves three private kindergartens/day-nurseries: Benedikte, Anne-Marie, Margreth. The branches of the administration that compose the Municipal Council are 7, one of which is involved in education and schooling and, more generally, of children and young people. In the next scheme is described this part of the Municipal administration. In green: the political level, in blue: the general administrative level, then also the territorial level, with the direction of region which has administrative, psycho-educational and health responsibility of the schools in the area of Valby, whose director is Kate Obeid. At the political level the general objectives that every school responsibly should take in their own pedagogic choices, are decided; these choices are established in autonomy and then sent to the municipal and zonal direction.

Welcome

Schooling arrives at the ninth class (15 years) and early school leavers are practically non-existent. An average variable annually by 85% to 97% of the boys continue to study after the obligation. There are 50 social workers (operators specialized for health) that periodically visit families and follow children from birth to majority age, through monitoring every 11 months and, after the compulsory education, every 23 months. Schools need to "steer" the students towards choices of further study, and the zonal direction pushes to make it happen. There is a director for each school; a manager and a pedagogical responsible every 5-6 schools. The manager of zone has an assessment interview per year, with each municipal executive and every two weeks a meeting with all the school leaders to "mediate" the targets set at the political level and for addressing the current issues.

Laboratory at the Museum with children of 2 years at Margreth school

The Danish colleagues, after the visits to our services and after a shared reflection within schools, in a short time have adopted several changes in the direction of some methodological practices belonging to the services of Scandicci: Introduction of 3 and a half hours per week for educators and teachers to spend on the development of the organizational aspects, on the educational/didactics programming and for a better collective resolution of problems; Purchase of furnishings and materials for the staging of angles of activity and game for the children.

Strong pragmatism at every level of management both political/administrative and educational/teaching. The political and management programs are oriented to solving problems. The pedagogic choices and organizational aspects of kindergartens and day nurseries seem to be strongly centered on the idea that children should stay as much as possible with parents, on the development of a certain kind of autonomy, on the game, on the experiences in nature, on the continuity with the school

Despite the complex administrative structure with a wide sharing of policies and management of roles and responsibilities, there is a bureaucracy slight and only a general guidance about the management and the life of services. Each school has full autonomy of the organization in compliance with the general guidelines established at the political level. The large garden

Sandwiches for lunch in the garden

The materials available in the sections for children, especially in the day-nursery, are not many, but in the laboratory there are lot of different materials, many of recycling, for various sensory and creative experiences. In the sections of nursery school there are laboratory-spaces, society games, electronic games, computers, gymnasium. The atmosphere is that of a climate of home, familiar, in which children mostly do what they wish to do. The doors of the sections and the rooms are always open, as well as those of access to the large garden. Children can move freely, yet the spaces and many furnishings are not "child-size" as we are accustomed to see them from Montessori’s teaching: high tables and chairs; furniture with sharp corners, high handles on the doors that cannot be reached by children; large baby buggies for napping of children up to 3 years, from which it is not possible to come down by themselves. This is an autonomy framed in a different pedagogical frame of reference that makes one think of the importance of Frobel’s "nature" of and of the "familiarity" of Pestalozzi’s environments.

Corner for relaxing and reading Laboratory of the day nursery

Laboratory of the kindergarten

The tradition of the fire

The experience that the Comenius project allows us to do in terms of knowledge, exchange and sharing, is an experience in which we open up to the new and tell our story; it is a true enrichment, an opportunity of seeing grow our human and professional qualities in the approach towards relationships, diversity and the world. Coming back also bringing with us a precious baggage of questions is really a unique opportunity to increase knowledge, motivation and awareness. The project will continue next year with sharing within the reciprocal educational services of a path of training on the tasks related to art and education on image with children aged from 1 to 6 years. It will be a training laboratory, where educators and teachers, Italian and Danish, will work side by side in the experimentation of concrete experiences and methodological approaches in working with children.