Observe, discuss, and analyze Finnish educational practices at the University of Helsinki that yield globally ranked academic achievements in order to transfer learned strategies and policies to my school and district.
Not only do I have a stronger understanding of Finnish education, but I also made connections with teachers, educators, and activists from over 6 continents and 15 countries. It was eye-opening to learn the unique challenges that each participant’s educational system faces and to compare educational experiences. The most salient realization occurred when creating our "collective dream school." Although we live all over the world, our vision for the future of education was aligned! (View image!)
My instructional practice will reflect my new global perspectives. The units/lessons that I design and implement will not be isolated within the framework of US education and society. I plan to incorporate opportunities for students to expand their mindsets of different countries and also to build networks with students from multiple continents. I look forward to transitioning my practice and my students’ learning from micro classroom goals to macro world understandings.
I had never left the U.S. prior to my fellowship experience. Thus, a major takeaway I had from my 3-week university course in Helsinki, Finland was the awareness that my scope of the world is quite limited. Although I try to stay current with international news, meeting people from different cultures, languages, and educational systems challenged my preconceptions of the world around me and expanded my perspective of our global schooled society. I owe this once in a lifetime opportunity to FFT!
My fellowship provided concrete research and evidence to support my thinking around teaching and learning in regards to child development. In particular, I learned about a pedagogical tool known as “phenomenon-based learning” in which students learn content in multidisciplinary, real world contexts and drive their own learning based on interest. With this new tool, I will push myself to provide opportunities for each child to explore their own passions and motivations in classroom learning.
I plan to share my learnings with school colleagues through informal discussions regarding Finnish educational ideologies, practices, and achievements. In addition, a group of my university classmates and I have begun co-planning dialogues and learning opportunities for all of our students to engage in together. Our goal is for our children from Chicago, Israel, India, and Scotland to learn about each other’s cultures, languages, and interests and also build international relationships.
Every year my students engage in a student-led project in which they identify a community problem, formulate solutions, and take action to enhance our school or neighborhood. This year we will participate in the same project, but I will infuse Finnish influenced ideals and strategies to ensure the actions taken will be able to sustain longevity. Our successes will be shared through presenting to a community panel and also through our ongoing dialogue with our international learning partners.
Whichever way the lines are drawn connecting Finnish educational stakeholders (i.e. administrators, teachers, parents, students, governmental bodies, etc), individuals trust that members of each party will make concerted efforts to do what is best for children. So, my class will brainstorm ways of building trust in our own school where mistrust lives so that we can begin to reach out, repair relationships, and form bonds that will help us create a trusting environment for collective success.
Experiencing the Finnish way of life has fundamentally changed my perception on the US educational norms of competition, stress, and academic performance. The inverse of these norms permeate Finnish schooling: collectivism and collaboration, balance and support, and an emphasis on nurturing individual growth and learning. If a globally ranked education system can be successful with these ideals at its foundation, then I aim to argue that these principles can greatly benefit our system as well.
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