The danish school system is quite unique, or at least different from what North Americans are accustomed to. Children start elementary school at the same age one starts elementary school in North America. They continue their education there to the time they are done with what we know as 10th grade. Although, if their 10th grade teacher decides that they're not ready for gymnasium, they may be held back for an extra year of elementary school, and not to repeat the previous year, but to continue on to an extra grade that is offered. This gives them a chance to either mature a bit more, or better prepare themselves academically for gymnasium. It's also worth noting that education after elementary school is not requisite, although the majority of students continue their academic careers in gymnasium.
Another prevalent option, before continuing on to gymnasium, is to do a year of "efterskole" or an exchange. If you want to learn more about danish efterskole, you can check out one of my previous posts where I explained this distinct danish institution. I'll leave a link at the end of this post.
Continuing on. I was amazed to learn that taking a year off to do an exchange to a foreign country is anything but an anomaly in this pint-sized scandinavian country. In fact, there are at least four students in my class (that I'm aware of) who have been on exchange. Crazy, right? I'd become so used to Canadians endlessly asking me why I still wanted to go on exchange even if it meant graduating a year later, that I was dumbfounded by how casually Danes would react after I told them I was an exchange student in Denmark for the year. The most animated response I would ever get would be something a long the lines of, "Ah, cool. So are you coming to the party on Friday?" The Danes laid-back attitude towards exchange students was fantastic and something I'll be forever thankful for. When people aren't staring at you like you're an extra-terrestrial who got dressed in the dark that morning, it makes the process of adapting to your new country considerably less painful (I won't pretend exchange is all sunshine and rainbows). I'm now proud to say that while I still don't look one hundred percent danish (due to lack of fashion sense, hipness and platinum blonde hair), I also do not look like an alien. Now I should probably get back on topic. To summarize, it's perfectly normal to take a year off and graduate a year late. Many Danes graduate from gymnasium at the ripe age of twenty. Wait! What?
Gymnasium consists of three grades, first g, second g and third g, whose North American equivalents are eleventh grade, twelfth grade and thirteenth grade. If you're observant and good at math, you'll have figured out that Danes should graduate from gymnasium at the age of nineteen, but after having noted that most Danes take a year off for efterskole or an exchange, and subsequently performing a quick mental calculation, you'll have amended your previous statement to most Danes graduate from high school at the age of twenty.
If I told my Canadian classmates that many students in Denmark graduate from high school at the age of twenty, they'd be stunned. They already think it's weird that I'll be nineteen when I graduate, so adding two extra years would be altogether unorthodox for them. I think it's great. It's awesome to see people doing things they're interested in and love to do, rather than rushing through their lives as if the future will undoubtedly be better than the present. I understand that this relaxed life style is more challenging to live when you don't have the financial burden of your post-secondary education fully covered by the government as they do in Denmark, but couldn't it be an aspiration? But that's enough of Cathryn's Life Philosophy!
Now that we've finally arrived at gymnasium, let me explain how it works. When you first come to gymnasium you pick a line of study and let me tell you, they offer some extremely cool options. For example, foreign languages, biochemistry, architecture and ancient history. Keep in mind that these are only a few awesome examples. I was placed in the math/physics line (lord help me!).
Once you're placed in your preferred line of study, you stick with it until you're finished with gymnasium. Although, if you really hate it, you can change. Each line has a corresponding letter. So the name of your class is always the year of gymnasium you're in, followed by your letter. I'm in 2z, second year gymnasium, line z. Being in the same class for three years, with the same group of students creates a very neat atmosphere. It's very, as the Danes would say, "hyggeligt", like one big family.
As an exchange student, the downside of being placed in the second year is that everyone in your adopted class has already gotten to know one another reasonably well and you have to start from scratch. What is the upside? Second years get to go on an awesome study trip, oh ya! Oxford here I come!
Everything at gymnasium, at least at mine, is controlled by this magical online program called lectio. It's an online database where your teachers can schedule your classes and assign your homework. It's also the place where you can find the link to a website where you buy your bacchus (school party) tickets... but let's stay on the topic of school. Bacchus is another story. Lectio lets you have a very flexible schedule. There are four possible modules in a day, which are each an hour and thirty-five minutes long. Your teachers schedule in classes, so your schedule varies each day. For example, on Monday I could have four classes (ugh!), but on Tuesday maybe I'd only have two. You always have to keep an eye on your schedule, because classes can always be added or cancelled. There are no bells, so students are responsible for making sure that they're in class on time. I think this is a great system. It makes students manage their time responsibly and makes them exercise punctuality. A normal day for me consists of three modules.
Here's a picture of my schedule this week. I apologize that the photo doesn't really confirm my last statement, but c'est la vie!
I hope this post has given you a little insight into my daily life here in Denmark. Until next time!
Cathryn :-)
efterskole link: http://ryedenmark20122013.blogspot.dk/2012/08/efterskole.html
Here's a link to my gymnasium's website, if you're interesed: http://www.rosborg-gym.dk/language/english/
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