I completely fell in love with Finland and would jump at the opportunity to come back and teach especially in the community of Vantaa. It was an amazing experience and it opened my mind to new ideas in teaching, Even though I am totally enraptured with the country I would not pass up on the opportunity to teach in other countries as well.  The elementary school that I was visiting has the most innovative and passionate principal I have encountered. He has transformed the school in just 2 years into a school focused on the students first above all else. I believe that watching him teach and having conversations about teaching philosophy with him has greatly impacted my ability to transform the learning experience in Canada to one more similar to that in Finland. This wondrous experience has greatly impacted my teaching philosophy and there are several aspects of the school day that I would like to incorporate into my classroom. This experience was affirming in my belief that personal connections with the students is one of my strengths. Even though the younger students only knew a small amount of English we were able to communicate. It was very fun to answer all the questions that they have about life in Canada.

From what I saw the teaching methods in Finland are not different to those in Canada. What I saw a big difference in the learning environment and student involvement. The student representatives meet with the teachers about how the school year will look like in terms of curriculum, lesson lengths and breaks, rules for the classroom and behavior expectations. Having the students directly involved in this process gives the students the chance to take control over their education.

Finland is in the beginning stages of implementing a new curriculum. I saw a presentation on what it will look like and it is remarkably similar to that of the new BC curriculum. It was very cool to have been going over our new curriculum in class and to see how it is to be implemented compared to what the Fins do.

I would most definitely recommend this experience be continued as I learned things about teaching that I had never encountered before. It was a very educational experience and was refreshing to see different classroom methods and set up rather than the classic ones most commonly seen in Canada.

Education has great power to transform as was seen repeatedly during my long practicum. Seeing a student’s interest peaked and how they take control of their learning. It was wonderful to behold. Allowing students to take that greater role in their own education will help them realise the power that education brings.  The quotation by Kofi Annan I believe perfectly sums up the Finnish education system. They have truly embraced the idea that education is a ‘human right with immense power to transform’. When the country was doing poorly the government immediately reformed their education system. The curriculum is the same across the country, education is free for everyone making sure that the human right of education is not impeded by lack of funds. There are multiple teachers in a class ensuring that those students who need extra help receive it. Even after high school money is not to be an issue that stands in the way of education. There are no tuition fees ALL education is free. On top of that students are given around 450 euros a month to pay for rent in low cost student housing. Making sure that their citizens are well education means that the country has an amazing foundation on which to grow and prosper.

Today I got to visit the Helsinki Praktikum school. It is here that students who do not wish to do grade 10, 11, and 12, can go to get technical training.  It is the only Swedish speaking praktikum school and offers automotive and electrical. If students want to pursue carpentry, machining, or welding they would need to attend one of the Finnish speaking schools. The schools auto shop was very impressive. It had many different lifts for the vehicles and was clean and organised. The students begin studying here at the age of 16 and continue for three years graduating directly into the work force. Compared to the auto shops in Canadian high schools it is very large however because it is a Swedish speaking school it is quite small compared to the other technical schools. The teacher told me that the Finnish schools facilities are 5 times bigger than his shop and as you can see form the photos below 5 times bigger is massive. The Swedish school has around 20 students in each level. There are mainly male students however there are 6 female students and the teacher says this number is increasing steadily over the years.  The school runs similar to  a Canadian high school auto shop having customers bring in their cars and get them worked on for less than at a mechanic. This gives the students hands on and real experience for what they will encounter in the field.

Here are some photos of the senior high school. After students finish grade 9 they can apply to this school to continue their studies. The school day runs the same as the junior high school. The school building has a more university feel to it than a high school.  Students will study here for three years before going on to University.

Laptops in the hallways for student use

There are hangout areas where students can make coffee

One side of the building is windows letting in lots on light

I have been looking at the structure of the Finnish school day and seeing how it differs from our Canadian ones.  I have talked you through the typical school days for both elementary students and high school students here in Finland. We know now that the main difference between the Finnish school day and the Canadian one is time spent in the classroom. I began to wonder just how much time difference there was. Were Canadians spending a significantly more amount of time in the classroom? I began to dig a bit and found an article for the CBC written by Robert Smol and titled “Why Finlands schools are the the best in the West.” (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/why-finland-s-schools-are-the-best-in-the-west-1.1088886). In this article Robert looks at and compares the time spent in the classroom. He finds that not only do Finnish students spend less time in the classroom than Canadian students, but also less time than any other western country.  “Finns spend 640 hours in class over a school year as opposed to 810 hours on average for the OECD countries.” The OECD is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and has some 35 western countries belonging to it. After my observations over the past weeks I now have a very strong opinion that one of the reasons for Finland’s major success in education is the school day structure. Spending less time in the classroom and more outdoors and in practical education settings seems to be one of the keys to success.

This week I will be spending my time visiting a few different schools. I will be visiting the senior high school (grades 10-12), another larger Swedish speaking elementary school, and the senior practicum school. I will be posting tomorrow with pictures and details about the senior high school!

This weekend I ventured out and thought you would like to see some of the beauty of Finland! This last week has been warm and sunny causing Spring to arrive!

Helsinki Cathedral

Helsinki downtown harbor

Suomenlinna Island sunset

I am a shop teacher so I was very interested to see how the shops operate in Finland.  The shop is one long wing with dividers between the different dedicated machines. The main room consists of the work benches and a projector and screen for lessons. Below are a few pictures of the room and the variety of machines.

Metal lathe

Sand blaster

Metal storage room

Welding area

Sander and welding masks

Grinders

Work Benches

Woodwork room

Wood lathe

Band saw

Planer

wood storage room

Looking from the wood shop towards the rest of the shop

Table saw

Jointer

Different Wood shop angles

Student begin taking shop classes in grade 3 and they are continued to be required until grade 7. After their first year at high school the classes become optional. The class sizes are very small around 7-10 students which allows the teacher to give proper attention to the students.  Since the students begin working with the tools at a young age they develop the skills and interest very early.  As they choose whether or not to go to the practical school at age 16 it is good to get as much exposure to the work as possible before they make their choice.

Next week I hope to have the opportunity to visit the Practical school so I will be able to give you an update on how the post-secondary system operates

WEEK 2

This week I have been spending time at Helsinge Skola. It is the Swedish speaking high school in Vantaa. Once students complete grade 6 at Kyrkoby they transfer over to Helsinge for grade 7, 8 and 9.

Looking down the hallway lined with lockers

Hallway with the admin offices

The school is abundant in comfy hangout spaces

The students spend 6 hours a day at school. There they study three subjects a day in 75 min lessons. Either their classes begin at 8 am and are finished at 1 pm or they begin at 9 am and go till 2 pm.  The students have plenty of breaks during the day, between classes and for lunch. As with the elementary schools the class seizes are small, the biggest being 20 students per class.

The gym

and stage

A classroom

As I am particularly looking closely at the school day structure in comparison to how it functions in Canada. The students at the high school in Finland have much more free time and breaks during their school day. They are studying three subject a day rather than four.  It appears that even though the students are spending less time in classrooms than they do in Canada it seems that students in Finland are able to retain the knowledge to a greater capacity. The assessment methods are very different as well. There is a lot less testing in the Finnish school system. The students are there for much more relaxed and in a rather stress free environment.  After spending time in the high school classes again I see that it is neither the students or the teaching methods that are different from what we have in Canada. So again I have come to the conclusion that it is the different manner in which the school day is structured that makes such an impact on education.

Cafeteria

Cafeteria eating space

The students are provided a healthy lunch everyday. The times when the students eat are staggered slightly so that everyone has a place to sit.

Fresh salad fixings

Choice of potato or rice

Chili with Veggie option

Dish station where students drop off used dishes

Main entrance lounge and games area

Here in Finland students are required to attend high school only until grade 9. After this they have a choice to continue with grades 10, 11 and 12 which operate slightly like a college.  Students can choose what subjects to pursue and once they have graduated they will continue onto university.  The other option the students have after grade 9 is to go to the practical school. Here they will spend the next three years in practical training and will graduate with a trade.  As all education is free in Finland most students continue with their education after grade 9 whether in the practical school or the senior grades.

There is a great respect for education in Finland. At every school you can expect to find the same experience. Although all teachers have their own methods the students all complete the same workbooks for every subject. As a result of this stellar curriculum Finland is producing some very excellent students.

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.