Student Delegation Groups visit Denmark

This February and March TUEC welcomed and hosted two different study groups from Japan, consisting of students from Tokai School of Medicine and Tokai School of Childhood Education respectively. In the sections below you can read more about each of the groups’ study tours in Denmark.

School of Medicine Program

From February 22nd to February 28th, a delegation from Tokai School of Medicine of 11 students accompanied by two teachers, spent a week in Denmark where they got to visit various institutions and clinics.

Upon their arrival Sunday afternoon the group was received by TUEC staff, and then spent their evening checking in and eating supper at TUEC. 

On Monday, their second day in Denmark, the group’s first visit was to the General Practitioners Association (PLO) and later to a General Practitioner’s clinic in Copenhagen. At these visits the group learned about how the Danish Health Care System works, and what role GP’s play in Denmark.

The following day the group visited guest researcher Dr. Shotaro Isozaki in his office at Copenhagen University Hospital, and also got to meet Dr. Isozaki’s host professor Jacob Tfelt-Hansen at the Hospital’s Cardiovascular Center. After lunch the group then visited Statens Serum Institut (SSI), where they were explained how the Danish National Biobank is being operated, and what sort of research is being done with these vast amounts of datasets. The program of the day was concluded in the evening back at TUEC with a presentation by Dr. Isozaki and dinner. At his presentation, Dr. Isozaki explained how he went from being a researcher in Japan to now doing research here in Denmark through the connections of TUEC, and what academic endeavours he has made throughout this journey. As of lately, he also published his newest research article about cardiovascular health related risk factors - which the students were also presented to.

On Wednesday, the third day of the trip, the group got up early and took a longer trip to Odense where they visited the Research Unit of Psychiatry of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). Here they were introduced to the department in general, followed by five presentations done by their researchers, within the following topics: digital psychiatry, alcohol use, social cognition, shared decision making in psychiatric treatment and stem cells and brain organoids in psychiatric research. After their visit to SDU the group did some sightseeing in Odense before returning to TUEC for the evening.

On Thursday the group visited the Nursing Home Ingeborggården, where they received a presentation and tour followed up by a Q&A. The students were particularly curious about how they took care of elderly with severe dementia, as well as how the local affiliated GP would work in collaboration with the facility. Later on the day they would visit a new General Practitioner clinic in Copenhagen, where they would go through different imagined patient-doctor scenarios, and discuss the difference between applied methods in Denmark and Japan.

Friday was the group’s last full day in Denmark, and it started with a visit to the University of Copenhagen’s (UCPH) Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (the Panum Institute), where the group received a guided tour by two students of the Faculty. After the visit and lunchtime, the rest of the day was left open for free time and gave the students a chance for a last bit of sight-seeing in Denmark.

Childhood Education Program

We hosted the second delegation of 21 students and two accompanying teachers from Tokai School of Childhood Education from March 1st to March 10th, for a slightly longer stay of 10 days.

On their day of arrival Sunday afternoon TUEC staff welcomed the group in the airport upon landing  and took them to TUEC where the student could check in before eating supper.

On Monday, the following day, the students were split into two groups and each group got to visit a forest kindergarten. Each group was introduced to their respective forest kindergarten, after which they were allowed to follow along with the children into the forest. In the forest, the kids would play freely and have a small lunch, while our students could ask questions to the kindergarten-teachers. At the end of the visit, our Tokai students had prepared some fun Japanese games to play with the children in the forest, which were very well received and became a joyful interaction for all. 

On Tuesday the group visited the University College Absalon (UC Absalon) in Roskilde, where they were briefly introduced to the School and then had the chance to meet a group of young UC Absalon teacher-students. They then did various group work activities together, introducing fun teaching methods. Following this was a quick lunch, before travelling by bus together with the entire group of UC Absalon students and professors to visit Bjergmarksskolen. After a brief introduction of Bjermarkskolen, Tokai and UC Absalon students were split into smaller groups, and had the chance to see classes being taught, as well as interact with the pupils and teachers, asking each other questions about school life in Denmark versus Japan. After driving back to UC Absalon by bus the group would have free time, where some of them did some sightseeing in Roskilde.

The following day the study group got to participate in Lærfest, a teaching exhibition and conference with many booths showcasing different teaching equipment and methodologies. Two of the UC Absalon students, whom the group had met the day before, were so kind as to show them around at the Lærfest, as well as have some bonding time together.

Thursday morning the group went to visit another forest kindergarten, and by lunchtime they then visited Atheneskolen. Atheneskolen is a school for highly intelligent children, with the aim of teaching these children on a higher level than a normal Danish school, whilst still maintaining a sense of normalcy and continued curiosity among the children. Here our Tokai students were also split into smaller groups, and attended various classes being taught to the children. The program was concluded by an open discussion all together and a summary of what experiences the visit had taught.

On Friday the group got to visit the Danish folk high school: Grundtvigs Højskole in Hillerød, which was originally founded by the very N.F.S. Grundtvig, who has inspired the core concept of non-formal adult education that Danish folk high schools are built upon. The visit consisted of a guided tour followed by lunch together with the principal and students of the school. After this the group had a touristy look inside and around the nearby Frederiksborg Castle for the afternoon.

After a weekend with no planned program the group visited Espergærde High School on Monday, their last full day, where they were first told about High School education in Denmark and shown around the school by the students, and then got to participate in an English lesson focused on group work. Lastly, our group and the high school students had the chance to do some free conversation in English, allowing for a fun and relaxed ending of their program in Denmark.

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