New School Year – where is Finnish education heading next?

We get a lot of visitors from different countries, who are seeking new ideas and inspiration from Finland. Finland is known to have created a very unique and original education system that has managed to combine stress-free and learner-centered approach with excellent learning results. Therefore it is natural that our visitors are anxious to see…

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Activating methods in classroom

A teacher stands in the front of the classroom and talks. Students are listening, maybe taking notes. After the lecture students write their notebooks and fill out exercises. Sounds familiar? This model of teaching where a teacher pours information and pupil´s role is just to listen and sit still,  is an old school method. Sometimes…

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Take care of the parents, too

Before our new national core curriculum was put into practice, it took two years from municipalities and schools to get familiar with it, plan and get ready. One part of the work was to share the ideas of the new curriculum with parents and have their ideas as well. Our core curriculum is being given…

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Making sense – thinking skills

I read an interesting article written by three ladies: Ms Irmeli Halinen, Ms Minna Harmanen and Ms Paula Mattila. They are discribing the Curriculun reform in Finland specially focusing the question: why Finland is Introducing Multiliteracy in Teaching and Learning. You can read the whole article here. In the Finnish Core Curriculum, the objectives for…

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Doormats and glass ceilings of participation

Participation has become a common term to describe the position of the children and the young in society and in schools. The perspective of children’s rights, the new sociology of childhood and user-centered service ideologies among other perspectives contribute to the frequent use of the term. The concept of participation has also been integrated into…

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