"Last year's cohort could not be praised enough by the practical experiential learning schools and, quite honestly, I have never heard so much praise about any students," says Toril Andersson Jøraandstad, an advisor at the Faculty of Education.
Silje Schellhorn and Andrine Villa are two of the students who have been acknowledged.
"It's very nice and generous to receive such feedback. Creating relationships with children as we did is very special and is something we will take with us for the rest of our lives, even if we may not see them again. Such an exchange period puts things into perspective", say Silje Schellhorn and Andrine Villa. The two are in their last semester as students on the bachelor's degree in special education. During the course of their studies, the students learn to facilitate participation of children, youth, and adults regardless of, among other things, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and disabilities.
Seven undergraduate students travelled to Cape Town
As an alternative to doing an internship in Norway, they had the opportunity to travel to Cape Town on an exchange in the fall of 2024. A total of seven INN students took advantage of the opportunity.
"I was on an exchange at VG2, which gave me something to look forward to. It's good to get a little outside your comfort zone and find yourself in some slightly unusual and perhaps uncomfortable situations. You grow and learn from it, while at the same time we got new perspectives on special education in another country", says Schellhorn.
"In addition to getting to know a new culture, I was very interested in seeing and learning more about how they work with special education and how their schools are adapted for it", says Villa.
Our students were distributed to different schools where they had an internship for four months.
While Silje had an internship at a primary school where, for example, there were no special classes or any extra help for students with autism, Andrine worked at a special school.
"A big difference compared to the education system in Norway is that it is quite strict from an early age. If you fail an exam, for example, you have to repeat the year", the two say.
Received compliments along the way
During their practical experiential learning the students received feedback, including from their supervisors. They noticed early on that the schools were satisfied with their contribution.
"For us, it was important to give the pupils recognition, something that perhaps some of them were not used to receiving. Most of the pupils cannot afford to travel abroad, so experiencing a different culture in their own school is perhaps also something they appreciated", the two say.
Silje and Andrine are now back in Lillehammer where they are taking the last semester of their bachelor's degree. After that, master's studies in special education will likely be the next step.
Around 30% of the students in the cohort following theirs will follow in their footsteps and travel on exchange to Cape Town in South Africa.
"They have a lot of exciting things to look forward to. It is a large cohort, and we have already received many messages from them about what everyday life is like in South Africa. Personally, I think it is cool to go on exchange to a place not many have been to, so they have a lot of exciting things to look forward to", says Schellorn.
Andrine and Silje are both grateful for what they got to experience.
"It is probably a more open culture than the Norwegian one. Among other things, we were invited to a vineyard, so we would recommend that the students be open and say yes to the opportunities that present themselves", the two say.