Visiting Hermannsburg: A Teacher’s View

This Comenius project has made it possible for teachers from different countries to acquire and improve skills not only in the topic or subject area on which this project is focussed, but also in terms of teamwork, social relations, planning and undertaking project activities.  By that way it has enhanced the quality of teaching, strengthened the European dimension and promoted language learning and mobility.

During this project we have visited schools in several European countries. The visits in the participating schools have been very interesting and broaden the view of learning in a multi-cultural framework.  This, I think, is one of the cornerstones of European citizenship.

In Hermannsburg we had a very pleasant visit. The timetable was very full of interesting events and nice meetings.  Hermannsburg itself turned out to be a beautiful cozy town. The beautiful summerlike weather also had positive impact on the warmhearted visit.

The visits in the nearby towns and attractions gave a good view of old and new times in Germany. We visited the Bergen – Belsen memorial, the cities of Bremen and Hannover.  For example, the tour in old Bremen gave a great historical viewpoint to the lives of ancient people. Also there were many other interesting topics like old wine cellar with barrels of wine from the year 1657.

With our colleagues from Hungary, Poland and Germany, it was very interesting to change ideas and thoughts of different topics. By better understanding the similarities and differencies of our European family we can improve, as teachers, the pedagogical point of view. And this way it will be based on a sound understanding of good practice in Europe.

Pekka Sunila