Teacher Education

Start of term: Mid August - January
We can be flexible with exchange students, if they need to be back for the new year.

Total ECTS: 30

An Introduction to Nordic Educational theories and practice

20 ECTS

The purpose of the course ”An Introduction to Nordic Education” is to introduce exchange and other students to the foundational ideas and current trends in the practice of the Danish school system.

Starting with ancient Greek philosophy, the course traces the development of pedagogical ideas through history. It aims to establish a connection to current pedagogical practices in Denmark by looking at the purpose, values, and practices of the primary and lower secondary educational system through both theoretical and practical lenses. As part of the course, students will be attached to a school, in order to observe & put theories into practice as well as discuss practice and the Danish school system in the class-room.

Culture and language teaching (English)

10 ECTS

The purpose of English is to develop the students’ communicative, intercultural and subject-didactic competencies. On the basis of theory, practice and research, language acquisition, culture and society, students will develop into reflective language teachers who are capable of preparing pupils for a life in a global society in which English plays a special role as lingua franca. Students will integrate language and intercultural learning into their work of planning, conducting, evaluating and further developing English classes that impart competence and general education in a safe and motivating learning environment.

Exchange students will follow this course at UCN’s international profile. On the third semester the course has a main focus on the themes of intercultural competence and language teaching in English/second language learning.

Start of term: Mid August - January
We can be flexible with exchange students, if they need to be back for the new year.

Total ECTS: 30

Language and Language Learning (English)

10 ECTS

This module poses the following questions? What is language? What is the learner’s language? What is the goal of language teaching? How does one describe language? How and why does one teach the linguistic elements?

The starting point is communicative competence in relation to the subject in school and teacher training, including subject and view on language. The course is offered on UCN’s 5^th semester, and exchange students will meet a mix of teacher students that have chosen to specialize in English.

An Introduction to Nordic Education

20 ECTS

The purpose of the course” An Introduction to Nordic Education” is to introduce exchange and other students to the foundational ideas and current trends in the practice of the Danish school system.

Starting with ancient Greek philosophy, the course traces the development of pedagogical ideas through history. It aims to establish a connection to current pedagogical practices in Denmark by looking at the purpose, values, and practices of the primary and lower secondary educational system through both theoretical and practical lenses. As part of the course, students will be attached to a school, in order to observe & put theories into practice as well as discuss practice and the danish school system in the class-room.

An introduction to Outdoor Education

In this course you will be introduced to Danish pedagogy and how the outdoors is used in pedagogical work in the Nordic countries. Moreover, we shall discuss the relationship and understanding of nature seen from an international perspective, thereby bringing students’ perspective into play as we explore the topic.

The outdoors or nature has some special characteristics that helps learning and development and it is tradition to use the outdoors in Nordic Pedagogy when working with education – especially in the early years.

Goal

The goal of the course is to offer students that are curious of the concept of outdoor education to gain some basics of how nature is used and understood in a Scandinavian and global context. The outdoors is introduced as an important and useful frame for pedagogical work with children and young people.

Target Group

The target group are all UCN students studying at the teacher education who have interest in outdoor education and international perspectives in education. The course will ideally consist of international and Danish students who wish to take the course in English, enhance their global mind-set, and get insight on Nordic outdoor education and discussing it in an international and local context. 

Length and time

The course will consist of an introduction day, 2 full days with an overnight field-trip, as well as a wrap-up/re-cap day.  In 2023 the course ran over 4 weeks: 4^th September (intro day), 14^th and 15^th September (field-trip), 21^st September wrap-up.

During the teaching practice, you will teach children (age group 5-16 years old) and participate in other teacher tasks at a primary and lower secondary school, a private school or at a continuation school. This will always be with the guidance of one or more experienced teachers.

The main objective of the teaching practice is to strengthen your understanding of and ability to link theory and practice - with the key purpose of strengthening your skills in planning, implementing, evaluating and developing your teaching. The teaching practice also aims to develop your proficiency to interact with parents, teachers and other co-workers.