School and the working life

“No man is an island.” We all belong to our local communities and to the global community as well. We at Learning Scoop try to regularly exercise our social responsibility and give our input for developing our own community as well as contributing to the global development. As an example of this I recently took…

Read More

Researching Finland – from book to practice

This summer, one Study Tour participant decided to take a field trip to a faraway place to learn about the most successful and efficient school system in the world.  Mr. Rickbeil from Maryland, USA wanted to see how a different culture educates their kids.  This time he reflects how he got fascinated about Finland and…

Read More

What if trust was the starting point?

What would you think if I gave you an argument that trust is the starting point of leadership? In Finnish school system trust is one of the biggest values. The whole educational system is based on trust. Parents trust the school system, politicians trust education providers, education providers trust principals, principals trust their teachers, teachers…

Read More

World’s Best National Curriculum

Why to reform a well-functioning system? “Content of teaching, pedagogy and school practices should be reviewed and renewed in relation to the changes in the operating environment.” (Finland’s National Board of Education)  We have a new national core curriculum in Finland! Schools started to use the renewed curriculum in August this year for grades 1-6. …

Read More

Study Tour Finland: How much testing is really needed?

What a fine and international Study Tour we had last week! We at Learning Scoop team learned so much ourselves again, too. One very interesting talk we had was about evaluation and assessment. Our participant from USA started to think aloud, how much time it takes to have test after every chapter. Teachers in USA…

Read More

Trustfully?

After some days in Finland, normally about 3 days, we start to talk with foreign teachers and education developers about TRUST. Trust is built in our systems. It is very important part of our culture. We trust our children, teachers and principals. Teachers trust their students and students their teachers. Principal trusts and respects his/her teacher…

Read More

Teacher Academy Finland

“You truly educate your children for life and yet get excellent results” said a bunch of Chinese teachers looking at me with their eyes sparkling. They had visited several Finnish schools and learned the principles behind Finnish education system – and they were deeply impressed. We didn’t understand what jewel we have in the Finnish…

Read More