Our visit to Utrecht and the
Daltonplan Schools
We would like to take the opportunity
and thank you for the time we were able to spend with you in Utrecht. It was a
real pleasure to obtain so much information about the Daltonplan in such a short
time. We are sure that it wasn’t easy for you to answer so many different
questions, but we must admit, you did a great job!
After having discussed our trip to
Utrecht and exchanged different opinions, we came to the following conclusions:
Our group visited the Apollo 11 Dalton
School where the Headmistress gave us a very warm welcome. Alex was the
interpreter and translated everything perfectly. We thank him for the time he
took in showing us around in the different classrooms and also allowing us to
spend time with the teachers and pupils.
We found that the atmosphere in the
classrooms were totally relaxed and we had the impression that the pupils
enjoyed working with each other under these circumstances. It seemed to be more
like a living room that a classroom. We expected the classrooms to be more
spacious, but were surprised that they weren’t any bigger than the normal
classroom. Only the space is better used up and planned. Some of us were
confused about the organisation of the shelves with the stationary and the
teaching materials. A few mentioned that there was no difference between the
places where the pupils were working and where the teaching materials were
stored. For some of us there were just too many pictures on the walls.
What fascinated us was the fact that the
pupils work so well together in groups. The pupils are also able to think for
themselves without being told what to do all the time. Some pupils work on
different assignments, but also help others regardless of what it is. We think
that pupils who attend the Dalton School definitely have a better advantage of
working on their own those other pupils who are guided and helped all the time.
The red and yellow cards on the pupil’s desks were also interesting, as the
teacher can tell by just glancing at the desks who need help and who don’t. We
were also surprised that the pupils were so relaxed with us, our pupils in
Austria are mostly nervous.
We found it rather critical that pupils
are tested on one day and that a decision gets made on that particular day what
mark the pupils gets for the subject tested. It can also happen that the pupil
experiences a bad day and that the pupil doesn’t do all that well than
normally. We find that a few tests are far better at different intervals than
just one at one time. The fact that the pupils had about four different maths
books was definitely a far better idea than our schools with only just one.
In some of our schools here in Austria, pupils are integrated among each other. That means normal pupils and pupils with special needs. Unfortunately we never experienced that same at the Dalton Schools. We do admit that you explained that it is a problem as the schools would all have to be built a certain way to accommodate these pupils, which is somehow understandable. The only thing is that you mentioned that there were “white”schools and “black” schools! The group that visited your school were told that the reason for this is that the white schools want to obtain a certain standard. Our group were rather shocked to hear this, and it took lengthly discussions to understand exactly why this is so. We thought that the time was over where one discriminated. Why is it still so in Holland?
In fact the Daltonplan is very interesting, very effective and very well planned. Some of us wouldn’t mind teaching at a Dalton School, but the fact that children are discriminated gives us reason to be concerned!
We would like to thank you once again
for giving us the opportunity to discuss and mention our impressions that we
have of the Daltonplan.
We would like to take this opportunity
in wishing you and your family, as well as the staff of the Dalton Schools, a
merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Cheryl Gierlinger, Anita Hangler, Jutta
Drack, Jutta Schwarz, Evelin Frühauf, Xaver Beyrl, Theresa Duda, Sonja Kis,
Tanja Katzlberger, Helene Schmolz, Daniela Struc.
Students of the
Pädagogische Akademie in Linz
Mit diesem Mail möchten
wir Ihnen eine Rückmeldung über unserern Besuch an
Ihrer Schule vom 11. November 2003 geben.
Wir haben an diesem Tag einen
guten Einblick in die praktische Umsetzung der Dalton- Prinzipien bekommen und
möchten uns bedanken, dass wir Ihre Schule besuchen durften.
Besonders positiv aufgefallen ist uns, dass die Atmosphäre in den Klassen sehr
angenehm und lernfördernd war. Wir hatten den Eindruck, dass die Kinder stets
wissen, was sie zu tun haben und auch motiviert sind, ihren Aufgaben nachzugehen.
Die Lehrerinnen, die wir beobachten konnten (Gruppe 4 und 5), strahlten eine
gewisse Ruhe und Gelassenheit aus, die sich auf die Atmosphär e positiv auswirkt.
Doch nicht nur die einzelnen Unterrichtseinheiten, auch die Gestaltung der
Pausen hat uns gut gefallen, da die Kinder nach einer freien Bewegungszeit im
Schulgarten wieder viel aufnahmefähiger sind und sich dabei wirklich gut erholen
können. Bei uns in Österreich ist es leider nicht der Fall, dass alle Kinder das
ganze Jahr über in einer längeren Pause in den Schulhof gehen und dort frei
spielen können.
Die Teamarbeit im Lehrerkollegium ist uns auch besonders positiv ins Auge aufgefallen und wir finden es für eine Schulgemeinschaft von großem Vorteil, wenn sich die Lehrerinnen und Lehrer, wie bei Ihnen, jede Woche zu einer gemeinsamen Besprechung treffen.
>Wir vermuten, dass die Kinder aus gut situierten Elternhäusern kommen, wo Bildung eine wichtige Rolle spielt und finden es jedoch schade, dass keine Kinder mit besonderen Bedürfnissen integriert werden.
Abschließend möchten wir uns herzlich für die freundliche Aufnahme an Ihrer Schule bedanken!
Wir haben uns sehr wohl gefühlt
und sind gestärkt mit vielen guten Eindrücken nach Hause gefahren.
Vielen DANK
Gabriele Konrad,
Daniela Schmidt,
Petra Trinkl,
Christina Pühringer und
Elisabeth Wimmer
(Studentinnen der Pädagogischen Akademie der Diözese Linz- Österreich)