OUR SECOND YEAR IN THE PROJECT:
OUR SECOND YEAR IN THE PROJECT:
Introduction Month to month throughout 2001/02 Summary
We
started the project in a rather special way – with a bike trip along
Rallarvegen (see small grey map below)! Rallarvegen is the name of a bike track
along the tallest parts of one of our most spectacular railroads, the one from
Bergen to Oslo. Bjørg Solveig had planned this trip with the pupils for social
reasons, but also as a part of science – biology, geology and history. The
route fitted perfectly in with the Comenius project, so we decided there and
then to plan with that in mind.
Norway’s
nature, with steep mountains, a cold climate and long winters has made railroad
building a difficult task. Most of our railways were built from 1850 to 1920,
and it was tough work, much of it by hand. The mountain itself consisted of
different geological layers and this made tunnel building hard and dangerous.
Myths were soon spun around the skilled and brave men – called rallare
- who worked under such special conditions. They were bachelors mostly, and
free and daring persons not to be bossed by anyone. And the girls who left their
homes and a secure life to cook for them were looked upon as a mixture of whores
and madonnas- depending on the eyes viewing them!
One
of the steepest and most complicated railroads to construct was the line over
the mountain from Oslo to Bergen, started in 1894 and finished in 1909. This
stretch has 200 tunnels, and the workers spent 14
years on the line from Voss to Gulsvik, which is the worst part (see map
on next page – this covers the brown and white part on the line from Bergen to
Oslo - with heights from 800 to 1500 meters above sea level).
Today
railroad authorities and the Norwegian State have made a museum and a biking
track along the railway. It’s a fabulous experience and it really makes you
admire the working people who managed to carry out a railroad construction here
– mostly by help of dynamite and sledge-hammeres. And you are not surprised at
all by the myths that grew up around them – how strong they were, how they
coped with all kinds of weather, how they ignored illnesses and handicaps caused
by falling rocks and dynamite accidents, how they were miraculously rescued or
warned at the last moment before an avalanche, etc.
There
are hundreds of stories and ballads about this part of Norwegian industrial
history, and we decided that rallaren
(originally
a Swedish word, meaning roller – probably because these workers never settled but moved on
with the railroad construction) deserved the status as a mythical creature.
The
grey map on the next page shows the biking track from Finse to Myrdal (see if
you can find the names) where our trip went. The drawing shows the rallar with
his main tool on his shoulder (a special kind of
sledgehammer) and his typical hat.
On
the following pages you will find a presentation of the other mythical creatures
we’ve been working with, followed by a project description of this year’s
Comenius work.
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COMENIUS II AT KIRKEBYGDEN SCHOOL, NORWAY 2001/02
Biketrip.
Back home the pupils prepared an exhibition – making drawings, compositions,
statistics, geographical and natural science papers – and also a “stage
decoration” to frame the exhibition.
SEPTEMBER:
Regional
exhibition in Sarpsborg of school projects from municipalities in Østfold on a
regienal school leaders’ meeting. Last year’s dance-project, with videos and
pictures from our Comenius-partners and ourselves plus the above mentioned work
presented by pupils from our school, receiving lots of positive reactions.
NOVEMBER:
Sami
project. The Sami people has their indigenous culture very much in tact, and
their mythical creatures differ a bit from the ones in the rest of Norway. To
learn about their culture and history and their struggle to find their place and
be accepted on their own conditions in the Norwegian society, seemed important
also in a Comenius connection.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY:
Comenius-meeting
in Scotland (Ragnhild, Nina, Ine). A new wonderful meeting and consolidation of
friendship and understanding between our countries. (See special report)
The
“real” Comenius- work of this year started. We worked with this for three
weeks – recapitulating our knowledge and experiences about and with the other
countries and deciding how to present our mythical creatures. The pupils chose
to make a calendar, web-pages, films, written presentations, fairytales,
drawings, models and a drama-presentation. The result was presented to parents
and invited local guests on the evening of February 13th
- a big sucsess! On this evening we also presented what had been done so
far in the project, showed the videos, gifts from our partners and a LOT of
pictures! There were maps and fact lists all over the place, and the interest
was immense.
MARCH/APRIL:
Videotaping
of the drama performance, copying of calendars, collecting of odds and ends to
bring to Finland. Deciding which teachers and which pupils to send.
Teachers:
Bjørg
Solveig Ingum / Ulf Olsen
Pupils:
Robert Kaino / Mats Vegard
Andresen /
Mads Aasvik
MAY:
Meeting
in Pori,Finland 23d – 26th. Celebration of the Pori school’s
anniversary.
SUMMARY
We
feel that the pupils are interested in and feel more involved in the project
this year than last year. Still, we are not satisfied with the communication
between pupils. The teachers function as some sort of “transmitters”, and
the chat channels we hoped to
establish
have turned out a more complicated affair than we first thought. This has to do
both with technology and time, but at last it seems to start working. However,
we are certain that the main intentions of the project – to
include pupils with special needs and establish mutual understanding of culture
between the countries – is well on its way, and this aim seems more
essential than ever in a war- and terror-ridden world. We are also happy that
our pupils make this experience during their compulsory education and at an age
where such influence has an impact of great importance to them as human beings.
Inger
Thinn
Norway
April
2002
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