Education environment in Holland

Today I visited one elementary school in Holland called Jan Harmenshof. Few environment of school has caught my eye.

Traffic light.
I wondered how European kids would get to learn disciplined in the school since corporal punishment is strictly forbidden. It was traffic light of teacher gave me slight idea how children in The Netherlands learn to be discipline. When teacher is busy, he/she put red light in order to indicate to children that he/she is busy. Then children have to wait until teacher turns light into Green. I think this is great way of teaching not to disturb others when they are busy and as well as respect other’s privacy.
I remember when i was young, all the kids including me, kept going to teacher’s desk to ask or complain stuff. It must have been really disturbing for teachers now that i am come to think of since Korean teachers need to do a lot of administrative works. Asian kids are generally well disciplined in the class, but we tend to ignore other’s privacy and time and often think that teachers are suppose to have all the time for children. Of course this is where cultural differences apply where people value different aspect. However I think this is something we can learn to be considereate and more social.

Personal Bag
In the hallway, personal bags were hanged with names. This was not strange but one interesting was children’s coat must be kept inside the bag and has to be closed tight in order to not to spread lice. I am not sure if that is effective because if one child has lice on his/her hair, it can spread quickly in the class. However, still the act of preventing spread of lice was impressive.

Writing Board
I think this should be introduced to all over the Korea for the sake of teacher’s health.
Still lots of Korea elementary school, teacher use black board with chalks. Chalks create lots of dust (as well as unpleasent sounds) that causes occupational disease. Hence in The Netherlands, even in the small village, all the class has beamer and special writing board with touch screen function. Through this device, teacher does not need to worry about their health as well as become convenient. (does not need to write on the board all the time and can save the work as well) I think this small considerate things shows how one country is developed and advanced.

Tools
These dangerous tools were situated in the hallway. It looked very dangerous since such young children (age from 3 to above) are walking around the hallway. Teachers admit that it is dangerous, but they need to learn by look, touch and try. So children can play wood work just like their father does at home, but one thing they must do is to place them back safely after use.

Sofa
Lastly and personally, I liked the sofa in every class. It is for children to relax and to read a book comfortably. Not only the funtion but also the placement of Sofa made classroom very cozy and relaxed. Still in Korea, class room is very disciplined. What I mean is that school is not a place to relax but to be tense with all the competition and learn to be discipline. Perhaps little bit of relax feeling in the classroom would not harm the children.