Didactics - Week 6 -

This week Mina gave us a paper entitled "Popular myths about teaching". We were told to make a summary and present our main ideas. The first illustration refers to the traditional way of thinking, where are representated Shakespeare and Socrates. They say that kids today are worse than ever before. The next draw is telling us that the teacher always knows what is happening in the classroom, to put it simply, they always control the situation. Therefore, children need to be valued and supported, loved and encouraged and challenged, so teachers play an important role here. Also good teachers need to be good performers, learning need to be fun. Finally, the last illustration tell us that teachers always know the material but knowledge is infinite, so they have to be constant. Moreover, have the need to adventure the children to discover new things and make them interest on new things.

Apart from that, Simona, our student from Austria, explained us the educative sistem in her country. In Austria, compolsory education includes general education and profesional one. This lasts nine years, and it starts when the child is six years old. Compolsory education is divided in three stages:

• Primary education: this takes from 1º to 4º school course and it's elementary education (Volksschule)
• Secondary education: this takes from 5º to 8º course. Gifted students have the option to visit higher learning institutions that prepare one for university, whereas the majority go on to vocational preparatory schools. 
•  Some vocational/general schooling institutions end after a total of 8 years of schooling, whereas the higher institution "Gymnasium" finishes after a total of 12 years. These students receive the "Matura", the university admissions certificate, after the final exams. Some pupils decide to attend trade schools after their general trading, which can also end with the "Matura", although these only offer admission into specific areas of study at tertiary level.
• Pre-profesional school (lasts one year), this is for students in the ninth course, that are aged from 14 to 15 years old, who want to acquire job training after schooling.
• Upper secondary general education: this takes from 9º to 12º school level. It's an extension of the first stage.
• Oberstufenrealgymnasium: It's the special educational stablishment ant it takes from 9º to 12º school year.
• Pedagogy and kindergarten job training (from 9º to 13º school year) and average or upper vocational training centres.

And now I'm going to show you the educational sistem in Austria in the following pictures: