Day Three

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

The English School in Helsinki

There is a sense of community throughout 

Day three had us visiting our first school! We had the opportunity to explore the English School, a bilingual private school in Helsinki. Although the school is technically private, it receives government funding as does any school that follows the national curriculum.  Here are some things we learned today:

• Although there is a national curriculum, teachers have autonomy in how they deliver lessons and assess learning. Assessment supports learning and development of the individual. 
• Teachers cooperate with all stakeholders (including students) in decision making and planning. This includes developing a school ethos which drives the work and beliefs of the individual school. 
• Phenomenon-based learning is now part of the national curriculum. This means that schools are required to spend a minimum of one week per year on an interdisciplinary inquiry project that explores a phenomenon-related research question.
• Older students' parents meet with the teacher twice a year.  Younger students' parents only meet with the teacher once a year in January. 
• Finnish education is characterized by trust.
• Finnish schools are true learning communities. 
• Finnish educators believe that assessing students should be like a true action research project.  How much can I learn about my student?
• Teachers have a great deal of autonomy.  There is no standardized way of teaching.  Teachers do not need to share or file lesson plans but must follow the national core curriculum. Each school writes its own school-based curriculum (The English School's school-based curriculum is over 620 pages long). 
• 20% of students in this school receive some form of special education. 

Students of all ages ride their bikes to school

Mindful practices are evident throughout the building.

An engaging lesson.

Even Finnish students love Fortnite!

Cafeteria tables have floral centerpieces. 

Family style dining is the norm in Finland schools.

• Students work independently without supervision on tasks in the hallway in partnerships/small groups.
• Groups of students move appropriately through the hallway without any adult supervision.
• There is a sense of home/community with students' belongings often strewn in hallways. Shoes are left outside the rooms - a separate pair of "inside" shoes are worn in the classroom. 
• All teachers and administrators are addressed by first names. 
• 40 native languages are spoken in this particular school. 
• This school has very light administration.  All staff members work together to complete tasks - everyone helps each other. 
• Teachers do not worry about covering topics.  They are concerned with the "how" not with the "what". 
• Teachers are not given a pedagogical approach.  Students are given open-ended research questions. 
• IEPs are called Student Support Plans in Finland.
• If a student wants to become a teacher, he/she often has to apply multiple times to get into a teacher education program (the school director's daughter graduated from university in the top 10% of her class and was not accepted into a teacher ed program the first time around). 

A few things that stand out:

1. Hallways are quite noisy but not chaotic. 
2. Religion classes are part of the school day, however, parents choose the denomination of the religion for their child.  (Most Finnish students are Lutheran. Teachers of less popular religions may travel between up to 9 different schools.) Non-religious students take Secular Ethics.
3. Students self-manage all transitions (from class to class, class to recess, class to lunch, etc.).
4. Students have a xylitol mint after meals/snacks. 
5. Students are very friendly and inquisitive (A colleague and I were trying to figure out if we could go out to see recess and get back into the school without getting locked out. So she was outside jiggling the door handle while I stayed inside.  A passing student saw us and asked, "What are you testing?" We wondered if our students would have asked that question in quite the same way.)
6. Being off task is not considered by teachers to be an infraction.  Students are expected to be responsible for their own learning. 

Part of the maker's workshop

The primary section of the maker's workshop

Today's meal rating!

Students give feedback on their meals daily

A large open area with many students playing chess

School Lunch 

Hear Kaarina Winter of the English School speak about autonomy.

A snippet of an environmental science lesson in a grade 5 classroom

vasta huomenna! 

A & J