Memorable Comenius trip to Bavaria

The Norwegian delegation consisted of the group leader and project coordinator Hanne Blåfjelldal (Vågå municipality), Nina Andby and Anders Nordnes (Vågå school), Frode Sandum (Lalm school), Dag Inge Bakke and Nataliya Holovan (Norwegian Mountain Museum in Lom).

A German pupil is sharing with Hanne what he has learnt about Comenius Regio

Thanks to the German partners’ great efforts in organizing a program, the stay in Germany was full of activities and not a single day went by without the Norwegian group learning something new about German school or experiencing some exciting activities.

The Norwegian delegation was lucky to participate in St. Leonard festival in Bad Tölz. Hundreds of people came here to see local farmers who dressed themselves in national costumes and presented their beautifully decorated horses and carriages.

In Königsdorf, a small town placed close to Bad Tölz, the Norwegians visited several classes at local school. Not only could they observe their German colleagues in work but they actually participated in some of the classes. For instance, they were invited to a nature science class at 3^rd grade where children learnt names of forest trees and were taught how to distinguish them.

Kathrin Lichtenauer (right), environmental educator from the Bavarian Society for the protection of birds, is a frequent guest at six schools in the region including school in Königsdorf

In grade 2 there was a class about milk. The 2^nd grade pupils learnt both what milk consists of and they made butter themselves which they tasted afterwards.

Exchange of experience was mutual and the Norwegian guests had an opportunity to present their pedagogic projects and techniques, too.

How many teachers are there in a cubic metre? Anders Nordnes shared his visualization techniques he uses at mathematics.

Visit to the Bavarian Mountain Rescue Centre for security and education aroused great interest among the Norwegians as both Dag Inge and Anders participate in rescue operations in the mountains. The world’s first helicopter facility installed in the Rescue Centre, allows both simulating of helicopter flights and rescue operations to be rehearsed. The Norwegian guests could also be a part of training that day.   

It is not too often the crew has to rescue well-dressed ladies from the Alps, is it?  

Several organizations are involved in the Comenius Regio project. Schools in Vågå, Lalm and Königsdorf are major participants in the project. Besides, Klimapark2469 and Jugendbildungsstätte, both developing educational programs for children have become partners in the project, too.

A Mohawk path was a nice exercise where one learnt how to cooperate and take care of others. The picture is taken at Jugendbildungsstätte Youth Training Centre in Königsdorf.

When the weather is nice (something the Norwegian delegation were lucky to experience during all visit in Bavaria) one can see the Alps with Zugspitze being the highest summit on the German side (2962 m.a.s.l.).

There is no doubt that both the Norwegian and German partners see a great potential in the Comenius Regio project. Developing new teaching methods that will make education even more exciting and using them later at school in close cooperation between the parties is a main goal of the project. The methods will be published on a common blog page and both Norwegian and German teachers will be able to use them later in their school work.