Week 12 21/03/11-27/03/11

On Monday I had another school visit only this time to a primary school that works along side a special needs school.  The two were not entirely integrated together but there have been plans to do this.  Having visited a SEN school back in November for a week I thought that having a special needs school work along side a primary school was good to develop awareness of what happens in SEN schools.  The classes where similar as they had a teacher and two or three assistants in the room, yet in this school many teachers were proficient in sign language which was a great aid to their teaching.  Many similar technologies are used here in Turku as are used back in Northern Ireland, for example using a microphone connected to pupil hearing aids.  The goal for these schools was to assist pupils to a stand as close as possible to regular schools.  However I think the assessment measures are better here as the teacher evaluates the pupil’s performance and gives exams of improved work to and outside agenises who wish to observe this.  Whereas pupils need to take a standardised test back in Northern Ireland which many not take into account the pupil’s skill or progress and I feel it does not reflect what and how the pupil has learnt, whereas a report from the teacher would be better.  In Finland the teacher has 100% trust by the powers that be to do what they will.  This makes reports and other documents hold so much more weight as opposed to that which occurs back in Northern Ireland.  If teacher got the same amount of trust and respect as they do in Finland it would radically reduce the work load of the teachers, for the better in my opinion. 

Another significant factor in Finnish education is that parents are in constant contact with the teachers about their child.  This support and reinforcement of learning is, in my opinion, the reason why Finnish schools achieve in international studies.  The pupils do not do more or less work than what is taught back in the UK (if anything they are given less tuition) but it is supported greatly, which is the significant difference and one which I would like to see in education back in Northern Ireland.

Week 11 14/03/11 – 21/03/11

Just when I thought spring was coming to Turku it starts snowing again.  It looks like there will be snow until the mid April.  Now it’s clear to see why Finland is so good at winter sports, from mid November to mid April there is snow.  In Northern Ireland we had two weeks of snow and the country couldn’t cope.

This week I had two guest speakers in a few of my lectures and the whole dynamic and atmosphere was different.  I know we have guest speakers at Stranmillis but here it is different as the Finnish lectures try to create an atmosphere that is friendly and relaxed but on occasion they often just create a boring lecture.  So when a different speaker takes a lesson and uses some active participation we get excited.  The active learning given here is used less frequently than back in Stranmillis and I feel that the students learning often suffers from this and getting motivated for these classes can be difficult.  This mean that there is more independent study involved however we need to observe information that we do not cover in class where as in Stranmillis we cover extra on what we have learnt and rarely id it something completely new.

The teaching placement here is radically different than back in Stranmillis.  We need to fit our lessons and observations around lectures, which is very difficult as every week classes are moved around, cancelled or added to my timetable.  This is probably the thing I dislike the most as the semester is split up into two terms of January and February then March and April although the official end date of the term is the 27^th of May, however in May there are very few classes and schools are moving to the end of their year.  The six or seven weeks intense placement at Stranmillis works better, I feel, because it is difficult to prepare lesson plans, resources and observations reports at the same time as writing an essay, a learning diary and any other independent study.

Week 10 7/03/11-13/03/11

This week was the start of Lent and as a result on Sunday everybody went sledging, it was sledging day in Finland and thousands go sledging.  Also on Shrove Tuesday, during a school visit, I experience a traditional meal.  There was a pea soup with minced meat, which tasted really good, but the main piece of food was a shrove bun or Laskiaispullat.  The shrove bun is the Finnish equivalent of our pancake on Shrove Tuesday.  The pastry had wiped cream and a raspberry jam spread in between it and it was very tasty. 

On Tuesday we had a school visit to a Finnish high school.  There was an opportunity to observe a few lessons and chat to the teachers.  The most striking thing I noticed was the equipment that the school had.  Every room had a data projector and at least two computers.  The school provides all the equipment which was phenomenal as the music department had electric drum kits, bass guitars, microphones, amplifiers and a number of other equipment.  But the technology department wowed me the most.  There was more equipment in that department than I have ever seen; gas and mig welders, ban saws, drilling equipment and other tools I have never seen before, all with automated vacuums to minimise dust.  When entering the computer programming suit (which included a computer guided laser cutter!) the teacher told us that they felt they needed more equipment as their current equipment was 4 years out of date.  It was the same throughout all the school departments, they all had a lot more equipment and a lot more sophisticated technology than any school I had visited in my entire life!  The school does benefit from the governments focus on good education and it would be great if Northern Ireland had even half of the amount of equipment.

Within many observations it struck me that pupils have a lot of freedom.  They talk to their classmates constantly as well as on occasion listen to their MP3 players and even answer their mobile phones!  Pupils would walk in and out of the class with ease and the teacher would not make any thing of this.  The relaxed setting and freedom of the pupils gives the impression that in a class which lasts 45 minutes not a lot of work gets completed, however Finland is third in the world for educational success so these methods must be working.

Picture: the Laskiaispullat

Week 9 28/02/11-6/03/11

On Monday there was a plethora of Finnish flags in the city.  Usually there are very few Finland flags but Monday was Kalevala Day.  It was a day which celebrates the completion of Kalevala, a Finnish poem from ancient oral tradition.  The material, comprises old Finnish ballads and lyrical songs depicting "the sons of Kalevala", and was first published in two editions in 1835 and in 1849.  It was good to see Finland flying their flag as last weekend I was in Stockholm with a few students and we commented on how Sweden flies their flag with pride.

This week I observed a class at Turku International School where I do my school placement.  The class was a games lesson.  For sport the Finnish schools provide the possibilities to as many sports as possible, so one term the pupils will do cross-country skiing and the next boys will learn ice hockey skills and girls will be taught some figure skating techniques.  It was fascinating when my assigned teacher told me that the schools provide all the equipment and winter sports have a lot of equipment and most of it is expensive.  Helmets, skies, ice skates, etc are all paid for by the school system.  The lesson took place on an ice rink under the school in an old nuclear bunker.  The teachers have a good relationship with the pupils and because of the status teachers have it means that the pupils respect the teacher, although there is still the odd occasion where pupils act out of turn, but it instantly stopped when the teacher said something to the pupil.  There is also a break of fifteen minutes between each lesson in which the pupils have a break or recess and it allows for the teacher to prepare for the next class.  The class I observed was grade 6 which is the equivalent to years 8/9 although they are still in the primary education stream due to their later starting age.

With one of my classes, Finnish schools in the light of international comparison, we created a presentation on our home countries school system compared to Finland’s.  The Nigerian system was rather striking at how religion, politics and the former British colonial powers had, and still does, influence the school system.  To attend a university in Nigeria you can take British A-levels to gain entry.  Other countries which were compared to the Finnish system was; Spain, USA, South Korea, China, Nigeria, Armenia, Russia and the UK.  I learnt that South Korea had the highest PISA result and how vastly different their school system is as there is very few holidays with a lot of independent study and a long school day 2 or 3 hours longer than our system.   

Picture: Stockholm, the Swedish seem more proud about their flag and nation than the Finns.