Week 8: Assignments and Arts

Last week held our patriotic day – St Patrick’s day! To celebrate this we decided to go to St Julian’s were there are a number of Irish bars. They were certainly making the most of the day with massive crowds outside each pub! It felt like the whole Irish population of Malta gathered here as I haven’t heard so many Irish accents in a long time, however there was also lots of Maltese celebrating along with us too despite it not being a public holiday!

Group photo!

Celebrating St Patrick's day

We have had a lot of free time this past week so decided to make the most of it by making a start on our assignments. In our module called Psychosocial Issues and their Implications for Early Years Development, we focus on 4 specific areas that are increasingly occurring and affecting children who are primary school age. The assignment for the module involves answering a question for each topic. Having received all the lectures for the divorce topic I chose to make a start on it. This is a worthwhile subject to be studying as NISRA (2013) report that over half of all couples who divorced had at least one child under the age of 18, meaning that just over 4,100 children/stepchildren were affected by the 2,403 divorces finalised in Northern Ireland in 2013. This shows the need for teachers to know what these children will be going through, how it will affect them and how they can provide an environment in which children can feel comfortable to discuss difficulties they are going through and where they can continue to learn.

Day trip to Marcasala

Treating ourselves to breakfast- just missing
some potato bread and soda bread!

In another module called Children in Society we were given some possible essay titles to think about over the Easter Holidays. There are only 8 people in this class, 4 Maltese students and 4 international students and so the lecturer is encouraging us to partner up with a Maltese student and together joint write our assignment.  I think this is a great idea as it will mean we can gain a greater insight into a Maltese prospective on a particular topic and compare it to another countries prospective, in my case Northern Ireland. However having only ever planned and delivered a presentation with another person or group of people before I am not quite sure how co-writing an essay will work, nevertheless I am excited for this opportunity to work with a Maltese student and to gain their help on the APA referencing system they use as it is different to the Harvard Referencing set up we use at Stranmillis.

My purchase at a craft fair in Valletta-
tasted as good as it looked!

Taking some time to chill out at the beach

Having always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, recently I bought a ukulele to get me one step closer to that dream as it is much smaller than a guitar meaning there are less strings to play on it and so is easier to learn how to play, whilst also being small enough to fit in my luggage home, therefore a dual purpose. I have really enjoyed being able to learn how to play different songs on it and have picked up the major notes in songs quite easily and hope it will give me good practice for when I eventually get a guitar.

My ukulele

Out for dinner with some friends

Week 7: The World Around Us

We have been lucky to not have many morning classes so waking up early on Wednesday morning to attend the meeting at our placement primary school was a slight struggle however the anticipation of what school would be like got us out of our comfy, warm beds. We were welcomed with open arms as the principal greeted us and gave us an introduction and tour to the school. He was very welcoming and was excited that we were from Stranmillis as he had attended a course there in the past and had obviously enjoyed his stay in Northern Ireland as he even had a picture of Dunluce Castle up on his wall. Whilst on the tour of the school I was very impressed by the different wall displays up outside each classroom, the principal explained that a specialised teacher came in to teach art, drama and P.E. with the children. The case for specialised subject teachers is one that interests me. Farenga and Ness (2005) note the importance of a teacher’s enthusiasm towards their teaching and how it affects the child in their enthusiasm and achievement. This is important as if a teacher doesn’t like a certain subject they have less knowledge and passion for it which can be reflected in their teaching and dedication towards this subject which can consequently affect a child’s success within a particular subject. However currently in Northern Ireland the teacher is expected to be an ‘all-rounder’ in their knowledge and capability to teach every area of the curriculum as set out by the GTCNI (2011) in competences 3 and 4 of their publication, Teacher: the Reflective Profession.

Views that remind me of home

This week brought around the 2^nd hike organised by one of the workers at the University Residence. This time it was around Dingli Cliffs and he said the theme of this hike was the views, although I thought it would be hard to beat some of the views we had seen in our first hike! However he was right – the views were incredible! Some even reminded me of home. This has made me realise that I take for granted the many beautiful places we have at home, Ireland is so lucky to have so much greenery and so many wide open spaces. Malta is quite a condensed country with a high population density, something I am not used to being a ‘born and bred’ country girl and so I will appreciate where I live and the views much more when I return home.

Enjoying the view during our lunch pit-stop!

Dingli Cliffs

Enjoying the sunshine!

During the hike we got chatting to a girl from Palestine. Having found out where she was from I was really interested as I had a basic knowledge of the troubles there from a case study I had done at A-Level geography however was intrigued to learn more and to hear the story from a local. Living in the residence has opened my eyes to the many different cultures of this world, even hearing the different languages people speak makes me wish I had a second language that I could speak, especially when the majority of Maltese people are bi-lingual in Maltese and English and can switch from one to the other so easily! 

Week 6: Sunburn and shorts!

Our visitors picked the correct week to come and visit us as the weather continued to not disappoint reaching over 20 degrees, whilst at home I had been told it was snowing. Having been roasted and burnt on our walking tour of Valletta I made a mental note to wear more summery clothing and apply sun cream on our trip to Gozo, especially as we had decided we would rent out bikes and cycle around the island, an activity I would definitely recommend to others and would even consider doing again! Having already been to Gozo before I thought I would be seeing a lot of the same things as last time however by cycling across the island my eyes where opened up to much more as I was going at a much slower pace allowing me to take in and embrace the views more clearly whilst also not being blocked by bus windows! Even places that I had been before like The Azure Window didn’t cease to amaze me in their natural beauty. An Asian proverb is correct in saying “Better to see something once than hear about it 1000 times.” Having heard lots of positive stories about how great Malta was and researching the place myself and seeing photos it’s not until I actually see it with my own set of eyes that I can truly appreciate its natural beauty.

Ready Steady Go!

Appreciating the rare sight of green fields

Pit-stop for lunch

Breath-taking views

Deciding to walk down this hill to the Azure Window was
 a great idea so we didn't have to push our bikes back up!

Wow!

We made it!

On Friday night we attended a cultural night at a local restaurant. Having read descriptions of a 4 course meal accompanied by traditional music played by a mandolin and guitar followed by dancers telling the history of Malta. The four of us thought we would give it a go as it only cost €25. I am so glad we did as we all really enjoyed our night and had a delicious meal where we got to try typical Maltese dishes including bruschetta, water bread, rabbit and fish all washed down with some locally produced wine.

Our menu for the evening

Rachel being entertained by the traditional music

Food glorious food!

Traditional dancers

Having finally been able to get our placement sorted out Rachel and myself have been placed in a school along with 2 other Erasmus students. We have a meeting tomorrow morning to meet the principal and get an introduction to the school. I am really looking forward to this especially as I think of fellow classmates who are currently on placement at home. From previous experience I find that placement is a valuable part of our course where you are able to put into practice all that you have been taught throughout the year and where you learn things you can’t be taught as Phil Collins (2008) states “In learning you will teach and in teaching you will learn.” I know that I will never be bored as a teacher as I know that throughout my career I will take on many roles, get to know and treasure lots of children coming from many different backgrounds and situations which will require time and dedication as I use my creativity to seek to meet each individual.

Week 5: Hikes and history

Having had a lot of rain last week I was beginning to look forward to the sunny season. We had been told it should start to get warmer in March, this became true as exactly on the first of March it was one of the warmest and brightest days we have had since being here in Malta! I was especially glad of the sunnier weather as we went on an organised hike by the University Residence which had been postponed since last week as it was too wet. The weather provided beautiful views and great opportunities to take lots of photos! I was particularly excited to go on this hike as I thought it would show us around areas of the island we might not have found otherwise. I really enjoyed the hike which took us around the north of the island and included walking around several bays, The Clay Cliffs, St Paul’s Island and through a WW2 Fort which came to a grand total of 10km in length. I was particularly interested in the history behind St Paul’s bay as this is traditionally known as where Paul was shipwrecked which is recorded in the Bible in Acts chapter 27 and 28. It was also enjoyable to take in the amazing and breathtaking views out to the Mediterranean Sea, taking time to appreciate the different shades and colours of the sea which I later found out are determined by the suns reflection and sometimes the different algae or seaweed in the water.

'Experienced' hikers

Walking through the different bays

Appreciating the different shades of the sea

Taking in the breath-taking views

St Paul's Island

Sun, sun, sun!

Making the most of the weather and our free time Rachel and myself have decided to take up tennis. We went all out and even bought our own racquets, however I feel we will need a lot of practice before we are ready for Wimbledon! On Saturday Rachel’s sister and her friend arrived so we have spent a lot of our free time showing them around different parts of the island. It was great they could join us on the hike on Sunday and on Tuesday we went into Valletta and did a walking tour of it. This was very interesting, especially as although I have already been to Valletta I didn’t know much about its history or what was in some of the different buildings there, giving me a greater appreciation for the city as I now know it is the smallest capital in all of Europe and despite this it was one of the most bombed cities in WW2. Malta holds the record for the heaviest and longest bombing attack of 154 days and nights and 6,700 tons of bombs due to its strategic location. As a result this devastated the small island and destroyed much of its infrastructure. This has slowly been rebuilt and as a result there are many new and interesting buildings in Valletta including ruins of the original Royal Opera house which have now been turned into an open air theatre as well as a new parliament building which the architecture, Renzo Piano has put great thought into as certain features represent the building’s use as it is built on stilts which was chosen to symbolise the instability politics often involves.

The streets of Valletta

Tourists in Barrack Gardens

Enjoying the sunshine and views!

Down at the Waterfront in Valletta

The new Parliament buildings in Valletta

The open air theatre