Anyone know anything about normaalikoulu?

raumagal · Post by **raumagal** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:11 pm

We are looking at schools for our child as I mentioned in the other post. So we visited a "normaalikoulu" this week. It's a bit different from regular Finnish school in that there is teacher training going on for 20-24 out of 38 teaching weeks plus they have two extra teaching hours per week. It also seems like it's quite modern with a good amount of resources compared with other schools. Does anyone have any children who have attended this kind of school who can tell about their experiences? Or does anyone know anything about them good or bad?

Thanks for your help!

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raumagal · Post by **raumagal** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 4:26 pm

The one near us has an emphasis on English too. That means that parts of lessons are retaught in English and they have English words around the classroom etc. starting from the first grade. I'd like my daughter to have some practice with English on a regular basis (besides with me) so that part is appealing.

Do any teachers know anything about this kind of school? Have you had your teacher training in one?

suomineito · Post by **suomineito** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:01 pm

hi, its me here again

im doing now my 2nd teacher practice in normaalikoulu in bilingual class. do you have anything specific you would like to know?

in bilingual classes they have minimum 25% tought in english. most of the classes are tought by OKL-students and some of them like to teach in english as well, but on the other hand there are quite a lot of students that are not interested in teaching in english but they just need to do it if they are placed in bilingual class.

i think the quality of education the kids get is good even tough the "teachers" are students - eveyone or almost everyone, as far as i know, is trying his/her best as they want to get good feedback, encourage and tips for their future.

for some kids its a good school but of course its not the place for everyone. some kids are not ready for to meet so many new people in their class, so for them it would be better that there is just the classroom teacher and going to school would be "safer" as there are not so many things changing in every day school life. of course the classroom teacher is following every lesson in normaalikoulu too, but there are plenty of other teachers/students too. sometimes its very good as if there are 1-6 adults in a class, the kids get support and help from each of them (as all the adults have been asked to be "assistants") rather than having just the classroom teacher + possibly school attendance assistant during some lessons in a regular school.

raumagal · Post by **raumagal** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:44 pm

Thanks for the information!

We liked the normaalikoulu a lot - the teachers seemed enthusiastic and well prepared, our daughter has several friends going there, it has the English program which would help her use English regularly (the only place that has that here), they had lots of resources compared with other schools in the area (lots of room, modern equipment and computers, nice facilities, own library, lots of music equipment, their own afterschool program in the building, afterschool activities/clubs), it has good student/teacher ratios etc.

As for negatives, we had heard what you mentioned about there being so many different teaachers. For kids that need stability and a familiar routine it may not be ideal. But our daughter is pretty flexible and adapts well to new things so for us I don't think it should be a problem.

But we had heard that it's "restless" because there are so many practicing teachers (there will be 4/year in her class) and there could be issues with discipline (practicing teachers may not yet have the skills to discipline the children) which could affect learning. How does it work with discipline when teachers are practicing? Will the main teacher intervene if things seem to get out of control or just let things progress to see how the teacher handles it?

suomineito · Post by **suomineito** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:02 am

raumagal wrote:
But we had heard that it's "restless" because there are so many practicing teachers (there will be 4/year in her class) and there could be issues with discipline (practicing teachers may not yet have the skills to discipline the children) which could affect learning. How does it work with discipline when teachers are practicing? Will the main teacher intervene if things seem to get out of control or just let things progress to see how the teacher handles it?

discipline has not been a problem in the normaalikoulu where i have been practicing and i have heard it has never been the issue in bilingual classes - bilingual classes are behaving good, the others have some problems but i dont how much etc as i have only been in bilingual classes. this is just what i have heard from the teachers as well as my friends that have been practicing in other classes than bilingual. but the classroom teacher is always in final charge of everything happens in the class - she gaves the rules (and topics) for the teacher students, is in the class all the time so she knows what is happening and how people, teacher students and pupils, are behaving and interacting so if she sees that there is something going really wrong, she will act during the lesson + give feedback straight away to the kids if there is something they could change in their attitude or behavion, and gives feedback right after the class (or after the day) to the teacher student so he/she knows what has gone right or wrong and how would it be better to behave in this kind of situation next time. but many of teacher students have been working a year or couple as school attendance assistants in regular schools before attending university so they basically know how the school life goes and how to handle with kids, even tough we need to remember that there are always several good ways to do things and you can never be "perfect" or "ready" as a teacher (we are humans too

).

raumagal · Post by **raumagal** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:30 am

Thanks again suomineito for explaining how it works with discipline. I'm glad to hear that classroom is under control and I appreciate you sharing your experiences.

btw, I just saw an article today about the normaalikoulu here if anyone is interested:

http://www.uusirauma.fi/artikkeli.phtml?id=20034

itanium · Post by **itanium** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:30 pm

raumagal wrote:We are looking at schools for our child as I mentioned in the other post. So we visited a "normaalikoulu" this week. It's a bit different from regular Finnish school in that there is teacher training going on for 20-24 out of 38 teaching weeks plus they have two extra teaching hours per week. It also seems like it's quite modern with a good amount of resources compared with other schools. Does anyone have any children who have attended this kind of school who can tell about their experiences? Or does anyone know anything about them good or bad?

Thanks for your help!

No. Normaalikoulu is for paranormal children.

Matula · Post by **Matula** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:59 am

My dad went to the one in Helsinki and he had compulsory Latin from the 3rd grade. I think they still have it there.

karen · Post by **karen** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:40 am

Matula wrote:My dad went to the one in Helsinki and he had compulsory Latin from the 3rd grade. I think they still have it there.

Has he seen a therapist about this?

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:04 am

Doesn't need to, they send a councelling programme on the radio.

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