Principal Study Tour in collaboration with Tours for Teachers

Tours for Teachers made sure everyone is ready for a memorable professional development program in Finland. We welcomed 20 principals from Australia and New Zealand to Tampere for a culturally rich learning journey. This was definitely the group that sings the most – always and everywhere! We were deeply honored to receive that kind of thank you and appreciation many times per day. There are so many things to be grateful for in life! Listen here: Tutira mai

“Line up together, people All of us, all of us. Stand in rows, people All of us, all of us. Seek after knowledge and love of others – everybody! Be really virtuous And stay united. All of us, all of us.”

We kicked off this Principal Study Tour on Monday with the Introduction to Finnish Education and plenty of good questions. In the afternoon we concentrated on pedagogical leadership and related topics. Autonomy of a Finnish teacher plays a significant role, and the core curriculum doesn’t include a word “test” but the assessment methods should be versatile. The evening was spent in a cozy cottage next to a lake as it was time for some refreshing Finnish Sauna Experience including swimming in a cold lake while the sun was setting…

Low level of hierarchy and a calm learning environment

On Tuesday we visited two different schools in the city of Huittinen. The first one was a tiny and cozy rural school with only around 130 pupils and with a long history.

The other school was for 390 pupils, built in 2024 and had amazing facilities for children with different needs of support. Students were eager to interact with the visitors, share their experiences about the school life and practice their English.

Low level of hierarchy amazed this group. During the visits, two themes, in particular, sparked discussion. In the Finnish school system, there is very little hierarchy. Principals are involved in decision making regarding their schools and have regular discussions with the Director of education and culture. As a good example, the Mayor of City of Huittinen, Ms. Viveka Lanne and the Director of education and culture, Ms. Eija Mattila joined us for a lunch and were happy to answer many questions. Secondly, the phrase “less is more” became tangible as the visitors were surprised by the unhurried atmosphere, calmness, the peaceful working environment in classrooms, and the small amount of homework.

The next day we spent the morning in the forest observing the early childhood activities. The weather was a bit chilly but the children (and the guests) still enjoyed the action and a beautiful day. The teachers had set up an action track in the nearby forest including climbing, throwing, balancing, running etc. There were many adults working with the group of children and the other resources and facilities were also very impressive. In the evening, our visitors tested their skills with fire making without matches, some garden games, hiking and cooking on open fire. Thank you Seventen Tours for a great Finnish Nature Experience!

Robotics and diversity of cultures

On Thursday we were on the road again!

In the first school, Vanhankylän koulu school in Ulvila they emphasized co-teaching and the local curriculum includes programming, coding, and robotics. All students receive training in these subjects, and there are also afternoon clubs available. In crafts, both boys and girls learn to make both clothes and woodwork. The students receive training in business skills and entrepreneurship. For example one student has founded her own company and sells her own baked goods (and btw is now connected to another student in NZ who is doing similar stuff!). Out of the school’s 130 students, around 30 are immigrants, most of them from Ukraine. The students are integrated into regular classes. The Director of education and culture came to visit our group and had even smoked some local fish snacks himself for the guests!

In the second school of the day they had many students with foreign backgrounds and amazing support system for Finnish language learning. In Kaarisilta School, there are 454 students from 22 nationalities! Everyday diversity. They also have one school grandmother and two grandpas who work there voluntarily once a week and give support for the school community. The participants were actively interviewing one school granny about her role. This school also shares the leftover food with the local community so anyone can come to the school and have a warm dinner. No food waste, everyone is happy!

Educational trends now and then

During the last day of the Principal Study Tour we focused on school of the future, how does it look like? We were discussing and comparing educational trends that are not popular anymore and interactively collected a list of current trends such as new assessment tools, digital disruption, school lunches, differentiated learning and much more!

When comparing between Finland, New Zealand and Australia, we found a lot in common and also got to learn from each other what is going on globally and locally. Artificial Information (AI) is here and changing the way we are producing and processing information. As educators, how do we tackle the problems AI is generating? How do we make the most out of AI when it comes promoting learning?  Our professions as principals and teachers will change a lot in good and bad. During the morning lecture we also talked about the importance of positive pedagogy. And before moving on to enjoy some delicious farewell lunch, we learned some ice hockey tactics!

Key reflection points

During the farewell lunch the participants shared plenty of feedback, insights and takeaways about the things that struck them during the week and appreciate all the good things back home. We are happy to share some key reflection points:

• Great to see the passion and love principals had for their school and their children
• Struck by strong sense of identity that is cohesive with education system
• Importance of early childhood education. Investment in early childhood is superb and no dead ends.
• Focus on ‘less is more’: we need to slow things down. Simple life in Finland is actually so rich.
• We need to understand what the curriculum asks us to cover – we need to go deep in learning – we currently try to cram everything in
• One surprise was the length of the school day across the week  
• Enjoyed seeing the resourcing for special needs children, loved the whole opportunity
• We can celebrate the developed culture within our schools in New Zealand – we could do this more
• Our teachers back home are fantastic: they work hard and we need to tell our teachers more positives and celebrate them!
• Responsibility for us to advocate for the high trust model. If we don’t do it no one else is going to do it. Let’s not get caught up in white noise but focus on our positives within the education system we work in.
• How can we influence those above us?
• It’s important to remember ourselves as principals and our wellbeing.

On behalf of team Learning Scoop, we would like to say a BIG thank you for taking part of the Study Tour here in Tampere with us. This would not have been possible without a smooth collaboration with the schools we visited – hats off. We are very grateful and pleased to collaborate with Tours for Teachers and get to know experts from different parts of the world who are sharing the same mission: let´s put our children first.

Got excited? If you are from Australia or New Zealand and looking for a PD program abroad, fun colleagues and friends to travel with, we highly recommend contacting Angela from Tours for Teachers. Furthermore, our pre-scheduled study tours are open for solo travelers and everybody around the world – we have welcomed visitors from over 70 different countries this far! Are you looking for a tailored tour for your group of educators? Please contact us and let´s discuss more. Hope to see you soon in Finland!