WEEK 1

My first impressions of the Finnish school system is that the students are enjoying themselves. They are having fun as they are learning. They are engaged in their lessons and excited to be spending time learning. The classrooms are a relaxed place where the students are not stressed out about grades and tests, but rather are content learning from their teachers and their peers.

So far my expectations of what this system would look like are being confirmed. I expected to find happy, successful children who had a great enjoyment of learning and that is precisely what  I have encountered (at the elementary levels at least).

This week I have been helping out in a grade 5/6 class. There are 17 students in the class, one teacher and one teacher’s aide. The school day is from 8am -1pm. The students have a 15 min break every hour where the students head outdoors and play. This turns their school day into 45 min lesson periods. At 11:00 they have a lunch break where they are served a hot healthy lunch in the schools lunch room. After this they return to the last lesson of the day. At 1 pm the school day ends. The school remains open however as some of the younger students are not old enough to take public transit home. A new shift of teachers then care for the students until parents can pick them up. During this time the students can work on homework, play outdoors, craft, plays games, lego, read, anything they want. There is also another snack provided for them at 2pm.

As I mentioned in the inquiry section of this blog I am particularly interested in the structure of the school day and how structure of the school day goes a long way towards what makes the Finnish education so effective. The short lessons along with plenty of outdoor time keeps the students minds active and engaged for lessons. This is one aspect of the school day that I believe would be relatively easy to incorporate into the Canadian school system. Our classes are longer and the students do not get that outdoor break where they can play and get ready for the next lesson.

Grade 5/6 classroom

Grade 3/4 classroom

Grade 1/2 classroom

Lunch room

Kitchen

This week the students had a sports day put on for them by the high school students. A series of different games and activities replaced their normal classroom activities for the day on Wednesday. It was a searingly cold morning as there as a strong cold wind. The students were great, kept their spirits up and played their best in the games!

Playing ‘giant’ soccer

The students English is surprisingly good.  This is because they begin learning it very early on in their education. The students in grades 1/2 have a small command of the language. Enough to say simple things like ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’. They understand a great deal more than they speak however. With the grade 5/6 students their English is sufficient enough to ask questions. They were very inquisitive about Canada and had lots of questions about how similar the school experience was in Canada for kids their age.  I then had a fabulous idea. My husband is a grade 6 teacher in Abbotsford and  it would be amazing if the students could communicate. That way the Finnish students answers would come from students experiencing the same grade, so we devised a plan. The Finnish students were very excited and came up with plenty of questions to ask! Our plan was to film the students asking their questions and send them to the Canadian classroom. Then Canadian  students would be filmed  answering those questions and send them back to Finland! We have already launched part one of the plan and have sent the video to Canada. The Canadian students were very excited to receive the video and are early composing their reply’s! I will send an update when we receive the video!

*Due to privacy reasons I will not be posting the video as I do not have everyone’s permission to make it public .

Grade 5/6 class outside the school building

Next week I will be in the local high school so can bring you some insights as to how the higher grades function and differ from the elementary school.

I am currently on a three week adventure in Finland where I will be visiting several different schools to get an inside look at the very coveted Finnish education system! During this adventure I will post my observations, insights and adventures to this page to keep you updated as to what is happening in education up here in this northern corner of the world!

I choose to do an international CFE because I want to take a close look at the education system in Finland. The Finnish system is one of the top rated in the world and I would like to introduce some of their innovative and remarkable education techniques into Canada. I am expecting to find a very different model of education than I have come across in Canada. So during this experience I am hoping to learn what aspects we are missing to transform our education system from adequate to extraordinary. I am feeling very excited to see and experience this amazing country and look forward to being able to converse with teachers about what makes their classroom experience so amazing and effective!

INQUIRY

During my 10 week practicum my line of inquiry was about the integration of Aboriginal education in Technology Education.That is not something that I am able to transfer and look at during my time here in Finland. I am wanting to to take a close look at how the Finnish school day is structured and if it is this structure that gives them such effective learning. I am also very interested in exploring the Finnish dedication to education. In terms of access to education and the impact that that access has on the nation. I will be taking a look at elementary schools in my first week, secondary schools in the second and hopefully take a look at what post secondary school looks like in Finland during the third week.

THE SCHOOL

I will be spending the first week of my CFE at Kyrkoby Skola. It is a small elementary school in the community of Vantaa, Finland located just outside of Helsinki. It is a small school although it is not in a rural community but located in the center of Vantaa. However it is one of the three Swedish speaking schools in Vantaa. The Swedish speaking community in Finland is quite small and are located mainly in Vantaa. These students however speak at least three languages mainly, Swedish, Finnish and English. Krykoby is smallest of the three schools having only 50 students grades 1-6.  The other two Swedish schools have around 100-150 students. The non Swedish speaking schools have somewhat higher numbers around 300 students from grades 1-6. However the class sizes remain the same across all the schools anywhere between 15-20 students per class.

Krykoby has two school buildings (one of them is the oldest school house in Finland built in 1837). A second building as added in 2008 as the school population outgrew the main one.

Original school house built in 1837

Second building added after school population increased. Added in 2008

School lunch room. A healthy lunch and a snack is provided every day.

Growing lovely plants for mothers day

The main entrance into the second building where grades 1-3 are taught

Activity/craft room. This room is packed with games, puzzles, lego, crafting materials and sewing machines!

Student made quilts

If you attend the bachelor of education program at UBC you will do what is called the Community Field Experience at the end of your 10 week practicum.  This is a three week practicum that allows the teacher candidates to experience education outside of the classrooms we have become accustomed to. It is a fabulous opportunity to scope out what cool educational innovations are happening locally in the Vancouver area (such as Science world), across the province (such as Haida Gwaii), and internationally. As I want to eventually teach over seas I chose the international option.

I am in Vantaa Finland.

Working in the oldest school building in Finland: Kyrkoby Skola.

It is Amazing.

It has been quite awhile since I have written any of my adventures down.

Here is the reason.

Since February 1st I have been consumed by my long practicum and have been teaching  at a secondary school in North Vancouver. I have been enjoying all the wonderful, stressful, exhausting and inspiring times provided by my students on the ten week practicum. I began at 8:00 am teaching grade 8s and immediately abandoned my previous conceptions of teaching (turns out jumping jacks make students even more rambunctious!).

My first lesson was one step away from disaster. I could feel my control of the classroom slipping away with every minute.

By the end of that first day I was almost ready to quit. The evening found me bundled on the couch in tears. I was pretty certain I was never going to get the hang of teaching and should drop out and save myself both time and money. Luckily I have a husband fresh from practicum who told me that everyone’s first day was difficult. So I decided to stick it out.

The second week passed by relatively smoothly and I began to see the light. Every day I became more and more comfortable in the classroom as I began to enjoy myself.  By the end of the ten weeks I was having a blast.

I taught students from grades 8 through 12 in woodwork, metalwork and electronics. I got to introduce new projects and take grade 8 students through the new experience of working with their hands. It was amazing!

As I got to know my students I felt certain this was the job for me. They were what made the whole experience worthwhile and fulfilling.

Grade 8 Electronics Winky Blink projects

Metal work 9/10 lathe hammer project