Monthly Archives: July 2015

Week 3

FLEX Class – I spent  a large part of this final week working with the FLEX class. I was quite happy when I heard that they were asking about me last week and wondering if I could come and visit/teach their class some more. I was more than willing to oblige (what teacher would pass up on a voluntarily captive audience?) and I’ve spent my time mainly working with them on their English in a Grade 8 and 9 level. I feel that there is a lot to emulate in terms of level of support for students with these issues in BC. The student-teacher ratio in any given FLEX class is between 5 and 10 to 1 which allows for so much more focus on the students’ needs. It was far easier for me to actually teach some of the English classes even with the language barrier because I was able to provide more for the students’ individual needs thanks to the low numbers (In one class I had 4!)

My time in the Finnish school system has been a very enlightening one – I’ve seen styles and choices that I agree and disagree with. Although I’ve spent most of my writing praising the system here, I feel that it is a terrible shame that there is no option for Technology Education beyond Grade 9. The only way a student could experiment and explore areas such as Design & Drafting, Woodworking, Metalworking, or Electronics would be to enroll in a vocational school rather than the more academically focused “gymnasium”. Now I understand the reasoning of trying to streamline a student’s transition into the job market and I think the vocational school is a great idea but I feel that eliminating Technology Education from the gymnasium is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I never expect any of my students in Tech Ed to turn into a Red Seal Joiner or dive into a trades career but I feel like there are so many benefits to allowing students to work with their hands, utilize real-world problem solving skills, learn to deal with frustration, and undergo the cathartic experience of creating something with your own ingenuity and skill.

From a financial and logistical standpoint, it does make some sense to abandon Technology Education for higher levels: shops – which are quite single purpose rooms with nowhere near the adaptability of a regular classroom – would have to be bigger (a big expense), the courses require a specifically trained teacher, there may be an initial low student interest in a non-academic subject, and this is a large investment to cater to a smaller group of students. That being said, I am obviously going to carry the Technology Education torch high… am I going to justify my subject? Of course! Am I going to try to expose as many students to Technology Education as possible? You bet! Am I trying to make a job for myself in Finland? Possibly… only time will tell!

Another highlight of this last week was Stafettkarneval which is a sports day/track meet in preparation for the Stafettkarnevalen which is Europe’s largest youth sporting event which draws in the Swedish-speaking students from all over Finland. The big event has been running for 52 years now and takes place over a weekend at the end of May. I went to a mini one held for the Vantaa Swedish-speaking elementary schools which had a turnout of over 400 students ranging in age from 6 to 12. They engaged in events primarily involving running either single or relay events. The event was MCed by Jan “Sege” Lindqvist, the FLEX teacher from the Helsinge high school and he was in fine form running up and down the bleachers engaging the students in the wave, cheering competitions, and supporting their schools or ‘skolas’. I was there cheering on Kyrkoby Skola who had a good showing but only managed to claim the winner’s podium in one event. The energy and excitement of the crowd was extremely infectious despite the horrible windy and rainy weather hovering at 8° C. It was such a fun and rewarding experience that I think I would definitely want to be involved in more extracurricular activities when I begin teaching.

It was a delightful day of strong winds and ice cold rain

Two events which stood out from the day were the teddy bear and teacher gumboot relays. The teddy bear relay was the event that the 6 year olds took part in and was undeniably adorable. The teacher gumboot relay involved teams of teachers running between groups while wearing gumboots, rain jacket, and rain cap with each runner having to change out of the outfit to pass on to the next runner – it was less adorable but definitely funnier! I won’t forget the sight of the principal of the Kyrkoby and Dickursby Skola failing to fit his large feet into the gumboots and running down the track barefooted and boots on his hands for a gymnastic last place finish!

May 4th

Spent the day with the teacher who is in charge of the special needs department (FLEX Class) in Helsinge. He deals primarily with behavioural issues rather than learning or mental/physical disabilities and his students are in Grades 8 & 9 but will differ in ages between 14 and 19. In the morning class, the students and I spent time introducing ourselves, where we were from, our age, etc. They had several questions about Vancouver and Canada as well as lots to say about the World Hockey Championships going on right now (Finland won 3-0 vs Denmark last night while Canada trounced Germany 10-0 the game before). It is fun to find a similar appreciation for hockey and the nobility in sport in this culture! The students then began presenting locations for a class trip they are going on next week – each group had to put forward a place to visit and cover location, cost, benefit to the class, etc. Once they had voted, the class split and I accompanied the Grade 9’s to another room with the teacher to go over a Finnish version of Planning (introduce the students to real world scenarios such as taxes – why do you pay them & where do they go, laws, how to behave professionally). It was a fun and challenging experience to try answer all of the questions the students had about these situations in Canada. They were extremely envious of the streamlined and inexpensive route Canadians have in getting their driver’s or motorcycle license. They were also awestruck by the situations in the USA where people don’t have health coverage or the amounts students have to pay for post-secondary in North America. After lunch, I observed the FLEX history class with these students where they were going over a recent exam on WWII history. It was very intriguing to get a glimpse of the criteria and expectations Finns have regarding this area of history as I’ve only been exposed to the Canadian and US version of teaching this moment in history. They focus far more on the impact on the Russian front due to their country’s long involvement with the Soviet Union.

May 5th

I spent the day with the FLEX class again but I got lucky today because the class had a field trip to Heureka which is a science center outside of Helsinki that is very similar to Science World in Vancouver. This was a great opportunity to see these students in a learning environment outside of a school. There was a much greater sense of participation from these students who have been struggling in the traditional school environment for years now. Back in BC, I feel that it is common to see these students end up in a Tech Ed class and there as well you can observe the difference a change in learning style or environment can make for the students. There were a variety of exhibits for many different ages and the featured exhibit was about the mining industry in present-day Finland: what does a modern mine look like, provide, and cost? There were a variety of interesting features to this exhibit including a controllable quarter-scale excavator and a simulation of having to build underground structures in a set time and under budget.

Came in WWAAAAYYY over budget… 1/10

A very cool feature that I saw was a photo booth that captured your silhouette and laser etched it onto a coin. This came free with your entry wristband and all you had to do was scan a QR code on your wrist and then pose for your picture. Once that was completed, you walked outside of the booth, scanned your QR code again and it knew which silhouette was yours to etch!

His Majesty Nathan Bristow’s legal tender

Another highlight was the exhibit of physical and perceptual illusions where they showed the physics tricks which allow for some very neat illusions to be shown. I got to make objects roll uphill, pass a straight metal bar through a curved plastic opening, and sink a boat using nothing but air! To top the day off, we got to watch a film on dark matter in the universe which fortunately had headsets with English narration available. I got to relax and watch on a spherical screen (like Science World) while Neil deGrasse Tyson murmured the secrets of the universe in my ear.

Our scholastic trip completed, I accompanied the teacher back to the school to play a spirited game of intramural “floor ball” with some current and former students. Although the game is uncannily close to regular floor hockey, I must say I struggle getting used to the small plastic stick with its lack of weight and curve. Nevertheless, I feel I have done Canada proud as I’ve emulated our team’s performance at the IIHF Championships which I’ve also been watching nearly every night since May 1st!

May 6th

Today I spent my morning with the shop teacher tinkering with his brand-new 3D printer and trying to get it working. Unfortunately, he, like all teachers, ran into the hard and unforgiving barrier of the administrative password. If I had a nickel for how many times I’ve heard teachers complain about having to wait for another teacher or the district to install software needed for a class, I’d have… well… many nickels. After lunch though most of my time in the senior side of the school (the “gymnasium” – again, not where PE happens) in the Year 2 (Grade 11) English class. They’ve been studying the economic rise of the Pacific Rim countries and the Four Tigers in Asia. The majority of the day was spent going over the article, highlighting and defining difficult words, and completing exercises on the readings. It has been a fun time of mental gymnastics having to come up with on-the-spot definitions for words in the simplest terms possible – how would one easily explain “demographic” without using complex words?

In the last portion of the class I got to observe and critique presentations the students were delivering on the famous explorer, inventor, or scientist of their choice. I was regaled with the exploits of Vasco da Gama, Alfred Nobel, and Karl Landsteiner to name a few. It was very impressive and humbling to watch these students deliver quite high-level presentations in their third language. Each student in this school speaks Swedish, Finnish, English, and often is taking fourth language such as German or Mandarin!

May 7th

I observed the senior chemistry class in the gymnasium which had an unbelievable number of students – 3! I had a great chat with the teacher regarding the benefits and drawbacks of working with the small groups – it was interesting to consider the downsides of having a very small class. I’ve always thought of how I could provide so much more one-on-one time with the students in a small class but during my practicum in Elgin Park Secondary, I did see the great value in peer tutoring both for the tutor and pupil. Self-motivation also has a far greater role in a small class as there is an absence of peer pressure to meet an average grade. This can lead to the holding back of the talented student(s) in the class as well as you no longer have the tool of peer collaboration to help keep everyone up to speed which I’ve discovered is a real issue the Finnish teachers face. Several of them have raised this issue as one of the most prevalent in the current system – how they often can’t cater to the advanced intellect of certain students as well as they would like to.

After the chemistry class, I joined another senior English class and helped them through more exercises before breaking for lunch. After lunch, we finished off the school day with more presentations and I was treated to an even higher caliber than the previous day. I was treated to some well prepared presentations on Nikola Tesla, Alexander Graham Bell, and Leonardo da Vinci. As I said in the previous day, I am amazed at the language competency in these schools and I believe BC would do well to begin language studies at an earlier age to take advantage of the plasticity of younger student brains.

May 8th

Today I spent my time at Kirkoby Skola with the younger kids as they prepare for a holiday performance next week. I was overseeing a class doing some book work while certain students auditioned for different instruments to play in this performance next Wednesday. There is a small group of students in the class that are, how shall we say this? Problematic, prone to an unhelpful attitude…? Anyways, I had my hands full keeping them on task until the end of the day. At the end of the day I stayed on for the afterschool crowd. I took a group of the students outside and was playing soccer, tag, and hide-and-go-seek for 3 hours – not a bad way to spend a gorgeous May day! A solid end to another excellent week! I’ve got plans for the next week – more time with the FLEX class and more English presentations!

April 25th

I’ve finally arrived in Helsinki after a grueling 16 hours of flying and layovers – no sleep has been had for 28 hours thanks to a variety of shrieking children somehow all placed around me during each flight. Once off the plane however in Vantaa, I was able to grab my bag quickly and as I walked into Arrivals, I ran into my uncle and cousins who had just arrived.

Upon reaching my family’s house, we began going over the upcoming 3 weeks and it seems like I am going to be one busy Teacher Candidate. As my aunt is a teacher in one of the primary schools, she is well-connected to the Helsinki education world and I may observing upwards of four schools! I will get a chance to be involved with community sports days in the middle schools, musical productions in the junior high school, and classes for students with special needs.

April 27th

Visited the Helsinge school today and the highlight was definitely watching the junior grade production of Romeo and Juliet. It was a very interesting experience to observe the musical adaptation as it was performed in Swedish and Finnish. Unable to fully comprehend the language, I was able to focus more on the physical performances and notice so many similarities to every musical I was involved with during my own time in school (Dragon Tale, the Mikado, High School Musical, and more). It is always a refreshing reminder to see how kids are just kids across the world and how I will have to continually remind myself that the language barrier does not make these students necessarily radically different from the students I taught in my long practicum.

After the performance I was given a tour of the school and met several of the faculty, scheduling visits to different classes throughout the week. My schedule will become more finalized tonight with my host principals. When the tour completed, I walked over to Kyrkoby Skola and was able to observe and participate in some of the after-school activities in the school. I was shocked to see that some of the students were collecting Pokemon cards which I used to collect over 15 years ago.

I can’t believe these are STILL popular!

I was shown one of the classrooms that the higher grades use in the elementary school and I was attracted to the layout of the classroom where the students’ desks were arranged into groups where they were researching bird species. The layout encouraged collaboration and greater peer involvement in the learning process which does seem to be a priority in the school. I finished off my day by playing soccer with several of the students and trying to communicate with them in English. I was amazed by their vocabularies at such a young age – a bit humbling when I think of the struggle that French is in our BC schools and that is an official language of our country – as well as their desire to learn and improve their language skills. Extra-curricular and community involvement seems to be an important aspect of the education and I will be participating in a program of afterschool ‘floor ball’ beginning tomorrow night.

April 28th

I was primarily observing one of the English teachers at Helsinge today with his Grades 8 and 7’s. I was able to introduce myself to the classes as a teacher candidate from Vancouver (interesting note: teachers are referred to by first name in Finland!) and told them about my CFE opportunity to observe Finnish schools for 3 weeks before opening up the floor to answer any questions they had. On the whole, the classes were a bit shy to practice their English in front of a native speaker but once the ice had been broken by the first question I was able to discuss with them fairly well about similarities between Canada and Finland, Canadian and Finnish students, and life in Canada. They have been studying Scotland and I was actually able to explain the goals of the caber toss event to them (points based on straightness rather than height or distance). We then went through quizzes and a crossword in the different classes. I was also able to speak to the teacher during his spare blocks regarding the changing role education is taking in Finland and how they seem to have very similar goals to the changing BC education culture (facilitating learning, building socio-cognitive skills, and learning to meet individual needs). He had spent a bit of time on a sabbatical last year after feeling a bit burnt out last year and he hadn’t been satisfied with the quality of teaching he was delivering. It was interesting to hear about his experience as I feel this is an area that gets hushed up or avoided in BC. The culture here accepts the fact that teachers are human, prone to weakness or issues, and supports teachers who need help. I’m very certain that there are support systems like this in BC but I would say there seems to be a bit of shame associated with the idea that a teacher couldn’t “take” it. At the end of the day in the high school, I once again moved over to the elementary school to help the teachers there with their afterschool program for 4 hours.

April 29th

Today I was able to observe the shop teacher in the technical shops at the high school. He had Grade 9’s in the morning creating either handmade RC planes or working on creating some new cabinet doors for the shop storage. I was particularly envious of his small class size – for safety reasons, it is limited to 16 maximum! He tells me that the shop teachers in Finland think that 16 is too large a size so I told him of the illegal actions taken by the BC government when they abolished class size limits and ignoring two separate court decisions to reverse the action. I am incredibly thankful I did my practicum in Surrey with the district-limited size of 24 students. His shop is laid out to provide for all subject areas except for specific automotive procedures. He has a small set of welding booths, metal shop, wood shop, work space for projects, electronics, etc.

The RC Plane setup

Some of the projects they’ve worked on

He doesn’t have a large amount of machines and seems to have limited materials but I believe I perceive it that way due to my mentally accounting for a much larger class. In the afternoon I observed and aided him with his younger class where Grade 7 students from the nearby elementary school come in each Wednesday for some shop time. They were all involved in various self-directed projects and I helped students clean adhesive off acrylic box inlays, bend steel mesh on a metal brake for a firewood carrier, help fasten a salmon grilling board together, and whittle down some greenwood for a sling shot. I’ve come to really appreciate teaching younger grades – I’ve always thought that I would want to focus on teaching senior students – but ever since the practicum and teaching grade 8’s, I’ve enjoyed the younger students more and more. There is more excitement and enthusiasm from them as well as typically more respect for authority.

April 30th

Today I was able to observe and participate in a pre-May Day celebration at the school where the student council organized a school-wide team-building event. Each grade entered the gym during the day to participate in activities and the winning teams from each grade then competed against each other at lunch in front of the student body. These activities ranged from relay races, three-legged races, team carries, obstacle courses, etc.

Gym in Helsinge Skola

I was impressed at the level of buy-in from the students. The participants were enthusiastic, rather than some of the unengaged students I’ve seen in BC schools. Even the student spectators were encouraging and supportive, cheering on their teams and taking victory and defeat gracefully. I’ve also been impressed by the level of maturity I’ve seen in the Finnish students which I believe comes due to the culture of the country!

At this final stage of my education, I have had the great opportunity to observe the often-vaunted Finnish education system. I have self-placed myself in Helsinki, Finland for UBC’s Community Field Experience. I have great admiration for the Finnish system and I find the emphasis they place upon meeting the individual needs of their students is far higher than in BC. I hope to gain a set of useful tools and skills I can apply in my own teaching career to the greater success of my students and myself as a teacher.

I am fortunate enough to have family living outside of Helsinki in the town of Vantaa who I am able to stay with while I observe several schools in the Helsinki area such as Helsinge Gymnasium, Kyrkoby Skola, and Dickursby Skola.

Helsinge Gymnasium

Helsinge Gymnasium is a high school for the Swedish-speaking Finnish community in Helsinki. It is actually split into 2 schools within one building: the “high school” which is for Grades 7 to 9 and the “gymnasium” (not a gym…) which is the school for the seniors in Year 1 to 3 (Grade 10 to 12). It is fed by 4 feeder elementary schools which are also set up for the Swedish-speaking community in Helsinki which makes up approximately 3% of the population. I currently have 2 second cousins attending this school.

Kyrkoby Skola

Kyrkoby Skola, founded in 1837, is the oldest school in all of Finland. It has two buildings on site where they split the students Grades 3-6 and Grades 1-2. I have a first cousin, once removed, and a second cousin who work at this school who have helped enormously in getting me set up here and plugged into the schools in the area.

Dickursby Skola

Dickursby Skola is a newly-renovated school that houses a kindergarten and preschool. Unlike in Canada, the order of education in Finland begins with kindergarten and then proceeds to preschool (It does make logical sense, to call the transitioning period into school “preschool”). There is no pedagogical shift with this setup but merely switching the names from our Canadian setup. Finnish children enter the kindergarten between ages 1-5 (which would be daycare/preschool in Canada) and proceed to preschool at ages 5-6 before they begin Grade 1. This school had recently been renovated and expanded and I was extremely impressed with the renovation done and the resources that have been allocated to this school. Each room was equipped with a Smart Board (yes even the teachers of the 1-5 year olds have Smart Boards!), there was lots of space in each classroom, frequent stools and bean bag chairs in the hallways for student-focused areas, and an amazing amount of natural light in each space.

These are just some of the schools I will be observing during my visit and constitute the majority of my first week.