!!!  The Next Team starts at 1st of September 2012 !!!

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Licentiate Degree in PEDAGOGY

Bringing up and instructing children and youth to learn the skills and acquire the knowledge and wisdom they need to carry the future of humanity is no small task. Teachers are needed who know their trade, who possess a modern perspective of today’s world, and who are willing to push the boundaries of tradition in search of ways and means of teaching and learning that will genuinely provide the new generations with the practical tools, the ethics and the human qualities they require to be able to take on life; as individuals, as progressive citizens of their country and as modern inhabitants and caretakers of the globe and its beings.

The aim of the OWU Licentiate Degree in Pedagogy is to train such teachers. The program lasts three years and is carried out in cooperation with One World University in Mozambique, leading to what corresponds to a Bachelor of Arts degree at a western university.

The program takes you through three practice fields, each lasting one year: The International Practice Field, the National Practice Field and the School Practice Field. Throughout the program, you will work and study in a dialectic process between theory and practice. You will use the real world as your training ground, and people from many nations and all walks of life will be your teachers. You will acquaint yourself with the world by travelling in it and investigating its conditions, using an old bus as your pedagogical machine.

Later, you will move to a city, get employment as an unskilled worker, and study the national reality, learning from your workmates and neighbors, who are also the parents of the children whom you will teach.

In the third year, you will work as a substitute teacher, putting the pedagogical theories you have learned to the test and trying out and investigating how children learn and what they should learn – content and methods – using all your experiences from the first two years of the program, and building your own foundation as a teacher, cooperating closely with the parents, and finding out how you can widen your practice to the wider community around the school, using your surplus to initiate both practical improvements as well as cheerful and relevant doings together with the people around you.

Throughout the program, you will be working and collaborating intensely in a collective setting with your teachers and teammates; sharing what you learn, studying, learning, discussing and concluding together, thus intensifying each element of the program and getting much more out of it then you would have done alone.

With the Common Meeting as governing body, and the school run by students and teachers together, you will, as an added bonus, be in for lots of practical work and training, from changing oil and repairing the electrical system in the bus to managing the economy, growing your own food, and maintaining the buildings at the school. You will learn to be productive, solve all sorts of practical problems, and get things done through own and common efforts – all excellent and necessary qualities for a teacher to possess in order to excel in her work.

Through it all, you will build deep friendship and comradeship. You will be moved profoundly by the people you meet on your way. Lastly, you will yourself change and develop as a person, giving yourself a fresh and solid fundament from which to decide your next steps in life.

 

Outline of the program Licentiate Degree in Pedagogy

  • Period 1: Preparing self, group and bus for the travel, 2 months
  • Period 2: Travel by bus through Sahara, 4 months
  • Period 3: Bringing it to The Public, 3 months
  • Period 4: Making and saving up money, 3 months
  • Period 5: Experiencing and understanding the European reality, 6 months
  • Period 6: Pedagogical specializations, 3 months
  • Period 7: Doing what you find it most appropriate to do, 3 months
  • Period 8: The reality of children and teachers in school, 8 months
  • Period 9: Pedagogical specialization and final exams, 4 months

 

 


OWU LICENTIATE DEGREE IN PEDAGOGY


THE INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE FIELD - One

Preparing yourself, group and bus for the travel

(2 months)

  • 1. Training bus maintenance, bus installations, and setting up camp.
  • 2. Practicing bus life, forming bus groups and developing comradeship.
  • 3. Choosing and studying about the travel countries – their people and their conditions, history, geography, economy, food production, education system, culture and current situation.
  • 4. Studying about African continent – its history, colonialism, liberation wars and independence movements, its resources and the hunt for these, its international debt, its peoples, its leaders, its religions.
  • 5. Reading, discussing and challenging existing conceptions of history and its driving forces.
  • 6. Studying the OWU program and understanding the founding pedagogical ideas.
  • 7. Foundation studies about the Universe, the Earth, man, nature and development.
  • 8. Studying and taking a stand to current topics of globalization, Global Warming and Climate Change and other big issues of our time.
  • 9. Training English and communication skills.
  • 10. Setting up and making investigations in the local community – putting up questions, taking notes, recording pictures and sounds, how to get information from the people and the surroundings, and how to see.
  • 12. Training reporting skills – studying journalism techniques and ethics.
  • 13. Practicing It’s Show Time and public presentation, song writing and other expression forms.
  • 14. Practicing lifestyle activities and promoting a healthy body through physical work, sports, Garden Farming and healthy food.
  • 15. Learning organization, cooperation and doing practical work.
  • 16. Running the school together with all aspects of school life covered – the food, the cleaning, the maintenance, the common economy, the garden farm, the sports activities, the cultural activities and keeping all facilities in operation.

 

THE INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE FIELD - Two

Travel by bus through Sahara

(4 months)

  • 1. Traveling by bus through Europe and several Afican countries and setting up camp for investigations and studies where planned and where deciding.
  • 2. Practicing living on the road, setting up camp, being in a foreign country like fish in water, finding out what to eat, how to meet people, how to find spare parts for the bus, finding places to sleep and study, getting around, building up comradeship and resolving conflicts.
  • 3. Venturing out for days, meeting people, participating in their daily activities, living and eating with them, understanding their fights, meeting their culture and values and sharing thoughts with them about the present and the future.
  • 4. In the bus or in the camp setting up the mobile classroom with books, computer, maps, notebooks and pens.
  • 5. Studying further about the human condition in its many different shapes and forms.
  • 6. Putting up investigations on a higher level, asking tough questions to self, to the whole group and coming back from investigations with answers and more questions.
  • 7. Studying and investigating practices of pedagogy in institutions of learning; from primary schools, secondary schools, and vocational training to teacher training colleges and universities – and also through visiting and interviewing government education officials.
  • 8. Studying and investigating other areas of society and putting up questions as to how they work and succeed in fulfilling their purpose – the police and judicial systems, the health system, the infrastructure and energy production, the food production, the communication networks, the media and social security systems.
  • 9. Studying more about the African continent and holding it up against the reality in the countries investigated.
  • 10. Studying the big issues of our time such as globalization etc.
  • 11. Training language and communication skills.
  • 12. Writing thesis.
  • 13. Practicing It’s Show Time in every country, with songs, public presentations, dramas, poetry and more.
  • 14. Training research techniques and journalistic media documentation using cameras, tape recorders and camcorders.

 

THE INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE FIELD - Three

Bringing it to The Public

(3 months)

  • 1. Bringing it to the Public I: Studying and training media production: Writing newspaper articles and website articles, making radio programs, making programs for local or national television, writing and performing songs and dramas, writing poetry and publishing it or performing with it.
  • 2. Bringing it to the Public II: Making presentations for secondary schools and higher learning institutions, teaching them about the travel countries, the human conditions and what you have discovered you never knew about.
  • 3. Training and practicing It’s Show Time using all of the above.
  • 4. Improving and perfecting language skills, written and oral.
  • 5. Practicing musical skills and skills of the arts.
  • 6. Studying the American continent further and bringing your experiences into the picture.
  • 7. Studying and challenging statements about the future of the African continent. Connecting it with the big issues studied in Period 1 and 2. Making own statements about the future of the American continent.
  • 8. Studying theories of pedagogy and connecting their idea and functionality with the learning institutions visited in the travel countries.
  • 9. Studying methods of teaching and using experiences from Bringing it to the Public to learn more about how to teach.
  • 10. Making Pedagogical Report number I.
  • 11. Running the school together.
  • 12. Finalizing thesis from the travel period.


THE NATIONAL PRACTICE FIELD - Four II

Making and saving up money

(3 months)

  • 1. Moving together to a city or region where job opportunities are good.
  • 2. Finding free accommodation and getting real creative finding ways to save on living costs without losing out in value.
  • 3. Going on job search – and also taking on jobs that would never have crossed your mind: being a maid in the mornings and doing construction cleaning at night, joining a professional cleaning crew, selling food from a food stall, taking the night shift in a factory, driving a moving van and flipping burgers at odd hours as your job number two.
  • 4. Finding highly paid jobs and sometimes really low paid jobs.
  • 5. Getting new friends in all the different areas of life you meet.
  • 6. Learning how to keep up the spirit even when dead tired.
  • 7. Learning how to help each other overcome even more work.
  • 8. Enjoying getting to know a new place in the United States and enjoying occasional sightseeing after long working hours.
  • 9. Enjoying seeing the common bank account grow while the days count down.

 

THE NATIONAL PRACTICE FIELD - Five II

Experiencing and understanding the European reality

(6 months)

  • 1. Choosing and moving to a city in Europe to live and seek employment as workers in factories, in service industries, or in other types of temporary jobs – where most ordinary people work and earn a living.
  • 2. Living in a group and using the surplus of organizing in common around the practicalities of living to build up a rich and active cultural and political life where neighbors, workmates and other acquaintances are invited and involved in weekly arrangements.
  • 3. Studying about contemporary Europe in depth with its history, geography, economy, political system, production, resources, educational system, health care system, system of justice, police and military force, agricultural sector, its people and cultures.
  • 4. Studying the world today: Globalization, economic crises, the youth, the elderly, the marginalized and other big issues that also affect Europe.
  • 5. Planning and carrying out 1 or 2 Action Research projects, related to the practice of engaging with people about current issues.
  • 6. Studying theories of pedagogy and their application to the European education system and education policies.
  • 7. Training journalistic reporting techniques and media production skills.
  • 8. Formulating and developing own statements of what should and could be the future directions and developments within important areas of the European society such as the education system in general, higher learning specifically, health care, energy production and distribution, food production and distribution, resource management and distribution (water, land, etc), the tackling of big issues affecting people such as marginalization of youth and minority groups, stripping of social systems, mishandling of natural and human resources, and more.
  • 9. Bringing the statements and the results of the studies, the action research, the cultural and political arrangements to The Public through media such as newspapers, blogging, local radio and television programs, articles for websites and the OWU Showroom.
  • 10. Training pedagogy practically applied through using teaching and instruction methods and theories to the task of bringing it to the public.


THE NATIONAL PRACTICE FIELD - Six

Pedagogical specializations
(3 months)

  • 1. Contemplating and understanding the relevance of this question – by first digging deep and finding out what IS actually most appropriate to do right now, and taking all the many pieces of the puzzle into consideration.
  • 2. Taking a personal stand to the question of doing what you find it most appropriate to do – with no common answer and no multiple choice form to choose from.
  • 3. Taking a collective stand to the question of doing what you find it most appropriate to do – with no common answer and no multiple choice form to choose from.
  • 4. Organizing, planning and preparing practically, theoretically, physically and spiritually to get the absolute most out of this period, challenging oneself and each other mightily in getting the most out of the time and resources available.
  • 5. Going out (or staying) and doing it. Individually and/or in groups.
  • 6. Coming back to the school, sharing it in the collective, and getting ready for the next period.

 

THE NATIONAL PRACTICE FIELD - Seven

Doing what you find it most appropriate to do

(3 months)

  • 1. ONE MONTH / SPECIALIZATION OF HIGHER LEARNING. Planning and carrying out a one month specialization within the field of higher learning: Defining the scope and the methods of the specialization, performing investigations in groups or individually, or the whole team can cooperate within the same field, writing thesis and finishing off with a public presentation.
  • 2. If relevant, the team can choose to stay in the city where they have lived during period 4 – and they can even place the month in the middle of the period.
  • 3. TWO MONTHS / SPECIALIZATION FOR AN OWN FIGHTING WITH THE POORER PEDAGOGY. Defining and setting up Theses and Action Research topics within Fighting with The Poorer, aiming at formulating a Fighting with The Poorer Pedagogy.
  • 4. Studying the concept of Fighting with The Poorer applied to the western world – the rich part of the world. Finding out who are left behind, how many and why. Who gets left behind in the educational system, who gets stuck in crime and ends up in prison, who ends up in perpetual dependency on social security and charity, who are struck down by lack of health and understanding of how to stay healthy.
  • 5. Traveling and investigating, visiting institutions, jails and charities, helping out, interviewing professionals, government officials, support organizations, and learning about approaches to solving the problems.
  • 6. Working in groups, the whole team and individually.
  • 7. Training and using reporting and documentation skills.
  • 8. Creating a connection between the student, the school and the people identified, between the people at the bottom of society and intellectually working people.
  • 9. Taking on big issues from Fighting with The Poorer in the western world: General education, drug and alcohol abuse, criminality, food security and production, income generation, minority issues etc.
  • 10. Formulating a Fighting with The Poorer pedagogy.


THE SCHOOL PRACTICE FIELD - Eight

The reality of children and teachers in school

(8 months)

  • 1. Working as substitute teacher in different schools and learning settings.
  • 2. Teaching children and youth in the basic subjects and using all the experiences from the previous two years to make the teaching lively and special and inviting.
  • 3. Teaching children and youth in special subjects such as foreign language skills, music, sports, practical work, the arts and more, using all the special talents and experiences acquired from traveling and living a rich live together.
  • 4. Working with the children and youth after school hours, in clubs, as instructor in free time activities, showing good lifestyle choices to the children and youth that build a healthy body and mind.
  • 5. Working with children and youth with special needs, teaching them all sorts of lifestyle skills and making them love themselves and believe in themselves and learn how to cope with the different difficulties life has served them so far.
  • 6. Planning and carrying out Action Research projects in the practice school.
  • 7. Studying pedagogy, didactics and psychology, child development and the biological developments that occur during childhood and the teenage years.
  • 8. Digging deep into the pedagogy practiced where you teach – understanding the underlying theories and the underlying conceptions of the living human being.
  • 9. Studying and investigating the European reality of education – continued from last year. Its education policies and social policies where you live, its ideas and ideals, but also how it is executed and in which direction the policy makers are pushing its development.
  • 10. Studying and getting experience in all aspects of school administration, planning, coordination and programming.
  • 11. Connecting and working together with other teachers and the parents of the children and youth. Understanding their reality and how they tackle the problems they face. Learning from their experiences but also challenging practices and ideals where these fall flat.
  • 12. Making one educational investigation of a burning issue or developmental question and decide one pedagogical thesis to dig deep into.


THE SCHOOL PRACTICE FIELD - Nine

Pedagogical specialization and final exams

(4 months)

  • 1. Sharing experiences and concluding thoroughly on all the experiences gained through the 8 months teaching practice as substitute teachers.
  • 2. Writing, sharing, digging deeper and producing one pedagogical thesis to dig deep into using the experience and the examples personally seen during the teaching practice.
  • 3. Defining and carrying out studies of 1 Licentiate theme – in groups or the whole team together.
  • 4. Defining and carrying out studies of 1 ultramodern theme – in groups or the whole team together.
  • 5. Studying applied pedagogy, writing, putting up questions, producing answers and formulating theories and arguing for solutions to problems within each of the defined themes – and finishing off with an exam in both.
  • 6. Studying curriculum and preparing for final exams during the last month.
  • 7. Discussing and understanding deeper your own future and that of Denmark/ Europe, seen in the light of the big issues of the world and how it affects and will affect all its inhabitants.
  • 8. Preparing individually and collectively to leave university for extraordinarily useful jobs.
  • 9. Understanding and taking a stand to the concept of Open Future and finalizing school with a big bang.
  • 10. Meeting for one feedback week at year end!

 

Examples of Licentiate themes:

1. Fighting with The Poorer Pedagogy
2. Training the Youth
3. Preschool Pedagogy
4. Mass information and training of people
5. Pedagogy in a productive unit
6. Using the media for training people
7. Training of government officials
8. Training of minority groups

 

Examples of Ultramodern themes:

1. Correct cooking leads to correct farming
2. The future of Energy
3. Making Mars habitable
4. Feeding a world with 10 billion people
5. A mind so rare – the present and future capacity of the human brain
6. Information and media pollution
7. Wars – the true costs, the true winners
8. The age of fresh water scarcity
9. The body is the hero


 

!!!  The Next Team starts at 1st of September 2012 !!!

JOIN  IT