As time goes by

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My semester is about to end. All I need is to do the final exam.
I have had a crazy time since my return to Denmark. I do not even feel that I have had the time to stop up and breath for a moment.
A lot of confusion came out of my stay in Madrid. It took them three months to send me my papers, which means that I had a long period doing which I had no idea whether I would pass my basic studies. That was extremely stressfull, but luckily they finnally sended everything and even a little more. I ended up with points enough to share. But overall it was rather stressfull and I can't think how they need so much time placing a stamp on an envelope, but yet I suppose their system slowed down the process a bit.

Returning to my favorite subject. Madrid and Denmark. Educational system. I have now had a semester reintegrating myself in my university and their procedures and I have much to say. But let's start with an overview. My tipical semester in Denmark exists of two courses minimum, but there are possibilities of taking more, and a project work done in a group. In the project work we have a question, a supervisor, a lot of theories and methodologies and of course much stress at the end of semester. The courses are I believe of around 25 hours and end with an essay or an oral examination, sometimes in groups. All of this is constructed for one reason and one alone. To make me a critical thinker who can function in a team as well as understand the basic structure of my field and of how to research for knowledge on a specific topics. In other words they give us the tools and we pose the problems.
In Madrid it is rather different. All the semester is filled up with tremendous amounts of courses . In total 300 hours of courses in minimum to get passed the semester. The courses are normally of one till two hours duration in which a professor talks and the students write down. No questions asked. As a professor you can claim that the earth is flat and the student would write it down. The critical instinct that is so nurtured in Denmark is all forgotten at least in the classes I took in Madrid.
I find it difficult not to compare the two different systems to the concepts of Paulo Freire. He discussed the banking concept of education in which you deposit information from teacher to student. It was a monoloque in which the student was undermined. I find this very fitting my experience of Madrid. The other concept is the problem-posing concept of education where teacher and student together through dialogue come to understand. Both are critical and both are heard. This allows people to be critical towards the informations they receive and to be able to use it in accordance with whom they are. Hmm... I will far from claim that my university is great, but I find that I become more aware of the world and of my surroundings and that I start reflect and develop.
Well anyhow, this is only written on the background of what I have experienced and is to be taken with a gran of salt. I do know that the world is not black and white and I am not generalizing, but rather describing my experience.

Anna

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