<p>Accommodation was organised by the International office together with the staffs from Karolinska Institutet, Speech and Language Pathology program. I lived with two families, three and one week respectively. It was a unique experience. The standard of the accommodation was good, of course taking into cconsideration some family limitations.Since I did not have the opportunity to live in the KI housing, I may not give an appropriate advice concerning housing. However, I would like to suggest that in future, teachers should have the opportunity to experience living independently at the official accommodation. The cost of living was rather high in Sweden. I propose that at least two teachers from the same university should participate in the teacher exchange at the same period of time. They could share accommodation and other ulities. Propably that may keep the costs down. I would also request if possible in future for the funding to be increased to carter for some hidden expenses, for example warm clothings.</p>
<p>The teaching was conducted in English language. There wasn't any
language barrier since the students were fluent in English. It was pleasant
experience meeting the Swedish culture. The people are friendly and hospitable.
Having one language spoken and understood by all the citizen was amazing. In my
home country, there are over fifty different local languages. English is the
official language, but it is not spoken and understood by everybody. There were
differences in social norms such as greeting strangers and belief system. Stereotyped
gender roles, example housekeeping, seemed not to be over emphasized in Swedish
culture. Most of the Swedish foods are different and prepared differently
although it was easy to adapt to them.</p>
<p>I was to attend able to attend the following social
activities which were arranged by the staffs at the KI department and their
families: Installation ceremony of the new Karolinska Institutet
professors at Solna campus. Gospel music show at an Anglican church in
Stockholm. Thesis ceremony at the Huddinge campus library for one of the PhD
students at the department and thereafter had a cocktail celebration at the
department. Dinner with the teaching and the International office staffs at the
home of one of the staff member. Personally, I had opportunity to attend Sunday
services in two churches at Stockholm and visited the old city.</p>
<p>Other activities carried out
during the stay included: Seminar for colleagues and students; Observed Voice clinical practicum; Discussion with senior reseachers about possible research projects; Discussion and joint application writing for the next stage of
Linnaeus-Palme programme (teachers and students exchange); Visit to the Clinical Training centre (Simulation Centre); Discussion with the International Coordinator; Discussion with the International Student Coordinator about students'
exchange and welfare; Attended the installation ceremony of the new professors at Karolinska
Institutet in Solna; Thesis ceremony and Future collaborations.</p>
<p>Some departments from Makerere University and Karolinska Institutet were already collaborating in similar programme for several years. I got to know about the opportunity to go on the teacher exchange through Makerere University, College of Health Sciences management. Speech and Language Pathology department from KI and Ear, Nose and Throat department, Speech and Language Therapy unit from Makerere University had expressed interest in collaboration. Then, there were preliminary discussions between the management from both universities, spearheaded by their international offices. Later,a joint application for funding from Linnaeus-Palme programme was submitted. Following a successful application, I and another teacher, together with the Dental team from Makerere University travelled to Karolinska Institutet in September 2012 for the initial planning visit for the teacher exchange programme. A team from Karolinska Institutet also visited Makerere University later to finalise the planning. The planning involved exchange of information, of course plans including learning objectives and content. The teaching activities such as case-discussions, workshops, seminars and lectures were planned jointly by the staffs from the two institutions. The teacher exchange was proceeded by planning and exchange of information of course plans including learning objectives and content. The teaching activities such as case-discussions, workshops, seminars and lectures were planned jointly by the staffs from the two institutions. The materials were prepared from the home University from journals, textbooks and internet. There was no requirement for any language training prior to the exchange. The lessons were taken in English and the students were proficient in the language.</p>
<p>Personally, the teacher exchange has
influenced me to pursue further training and aim at PhD level of education. The
majority of teachers have doctoral degrees and are themselves involved in
on-going research projects. Working together with them was a great source of
inspiration and motivation. The high level of competence of staff and the
research based teaching. The course contents are regularly updated and based on
a sound scientific approach. In clinical placements students experience how the
profession strives to use and further develop evidence-based methods for
assessment and intervention. Staff at the KI-program actively has taken an
interest in pedagogical development and there has been a continuous development
of curriculum and pedagogical methods over the fifty years the program has
existed. There is continuous dialogue with employers (heads of
departments/clinics etc) and other stakeholders to provide an up-dated
theoretical and practical training to meet the demands in the professional life.
As a teacher, I had exposure to high level of evidence-based teaching.</p>
<p>During the
teacher-exchange period, the teaching activities involved working with the
students in the 5th semester and 7th semester. Incoming
Palme-teacher participated in a course about professional development/issues
and covered course content related to multicultural issues, multilingualism,
diversity, working in various environments including environments with limited
resources and global health issues. Having an
incoming teacher involved in teaching of students at KI added new perspectives,
new knowledge and provided opportunities for discussions and deeper
reflection. Gaining more experience from
differences in service delivery is expected to be of mutual benefit to expand
experiences and perspectives. The
teaching methods included: 1) Lectures
which were delivered to the whole group of thirty (30) students in the 5th
semester on global health issues. By integrating a global perspective in the
teaching which had not yet been very developed, quality as well as depth and
greater understanding was added to the SLP program offered at KI. 2) Workshops
which involved working with students in smaller groups of eight-ten (8-10)
students for both 5th and 7th semester during the voice and professional issues
and ethics courses. 3) Case scenarios of client contacts in different cultural
contexts were presented to the students and discussed which contributed to
developing skills and confidence in handling a variety of clients with
different cultural background. The teaching methods were similar.</p>