Day Four!

Hei, hei!!

No shoes in school

Students collaborating in "craftwork" 

All students engage in purposeful design work.

Newer modular furniture is designed to create multi-functional spaces.

We are on day four of our Helsinki, Finland adventure! Today we had the opportunity to visit a teacher preparation upper school- Helsinki Normal Lyceum, University of Helsinki. This school works in collaboration with the university to prepare students to become professional educators. It is located in a 152-year-old building which houses 500 students in lower secondary (US grades 7-9) and upper secondary (US grades 10-12) schools.

Maker's Space takes up multiple rooms with varied equipment and computers

A teacher in training engages with an English class as her mentor teacher participates in the lesson.

Although this is not a traditional public school as it is part of the University of Helsinki, the school does follow the national core curriculum. It is also one of the only schools in Finland that offers classes in Latin (an entrance exam must be passed in order to be eligible to take this course). In order to gain entrance to the grades 9-12 programming, students must apply and are admitted by GPA. The lowest GPA of this year's entering class was 9.38 out of 10. This school is one of 11 "training" schools for educators in Finland. Teachers who are mentors have additional training above the required master's degree. Upper secondary level teachers-in-training prepare 8 75-minute practice lessons. Basic (elementary) level educators prepare 24 lessons over a one year period. Student teachers receive direct feedback and support planning lessons with their mentor teachers. Upon completion of teacher training, teachers can receive temporary single year contracts before obtaining permanent positions.

A few things that surprised us:

• Principals never observe lessons.
• Peer observation would be considered rude.
• "Teach the student, not just the curriculum" (we heard this repeated several times). Always be "in contact" with your students and teach them what they need. 
• Older students are truly responsible for their own learning. Parents are not apprised of upper secondary students' progress. Teachers do not call parents if students are failing (however they will respond if a parent calls them which they said happens rarely, if at all). 
• Teachers are the ones who choose which textbooks to use for their own courses.
• The school has no bells to signify class changes. 
• Finnish teachers are very humble and self-deprecating about the success of their school system.  (Finnish people overall are not attention-seekers and tend to be more reserved.) 

A beautiful auditorium in this 152-year-old building which is one of the oldest in Helsinki.

Students work in the Makerspace on 3-D printing.

                           Lower secondary students work in the handicraft room

                   An upper secondary English class - the last of 6 compulsory English courses

                                     This was our dessert from today's school lunch.

Our last stop of the day: The Design Museum across the street from the school, which collaborates with the Finnish National Agency for Education to foster engagement in art and design.

nähdään pian! 

J&A