I read the book Finnish education in practice What, Why and How edited by Johanna Järvinen-Taubert, Päivi Valtonen and Elena Chukhlantseva with great pleasure and tremendous enthusiasm. The foreword is written by Dr. Kenneth Vella, Ambassador of the Republic of Malta to Estonia and Finland, who expresses his deepest appreciation on the quality of this practical book. The short book is easy to read and sprinkled with concrete legislative texts, scientific points of views, practical examples, personal comments and explanations, first-hand information and practical knowledge. However, the book’s greatest new contribution to knowledge is found in the testimonials of class teachers, special education teachers, principals, assistant principals and trainers and the detailed descriptions of pedagogies in action in the classroom. Each chapter comprises sub-chapters, conclusions, biography and the most relevant information put in knowledge to action framework. This book does exactly what it says on the tin by offering the reader the ‘What, Why and How’ of the treasure found in Finnish education! I hope you enjoy this book review Finnish Education in Practice.

Since 2017 I have been collaborating with the skilled and gifted team of Learning Scoop which organises visits for international experts and granted me a study tour. As an associate researcher at the University of Helsinki in the team of Professor Arto Kallioniemi, I published a book about Finnish excellence in education as I discovered it to share my in-depth descriptions and understandings of the knowledge and good practices underpinning Finnish education excellence. But, the book Finnish education in practice What, Why and How provided me with new and exciting insights about Finnish education. Thus, I recommend this book to all, regardless of prior knowledge of Finnish Education because it provides important complementary reading that introduces and/or stimulates reflection on Finnish education in action that can inform how to optimise students’ learning whilst narrowing achievement gaps to propel health, economic and social wellbeing for all.  

Firstly, one of the key advantages of this book is that the three editors: a teacher trainer, a university researcher and a class teacher have been working for decades, resulting in their combined extensive experience of basic education, effectiveness of education and multicultural educational settings. They have also trained teachers, education experts, school owners, students and stakeholders from Finland and from all around the world. Thus, the editors wrote this book to address the kinds of global questions educators in education have raised. 

Secondly, the book is very well structured, addressing central themes that are presented in a progressive manner starting with the cornerstones of Finnish education and the national core curriculum; continuing with educational support for lifelong learning and pedagogical leadership; providing advice to parents and explaining how early childhood is a foundation of lifelong learning helping leaners to navigate educational challenges that might arise. I appreciated the scalable way of describing the education system: what is the educational content, why the educational process is important and how the content is mobilised by leaders in partnership with schools, families and communities to realise such wonderful achievements. As we know, Finland promotes a good relaxed and encouraging atmosphere, short school days, little homework, good learning results, narrow attain gaps, and narrow differences between socio-economic statuses. Moreover, Finland’s Human Development Index in 2019 was 0.938 positioning it at 11 out of 189 countries and territories, exceeding what might be expected given GDP per capita. 

Thirdly, quality of education in Finland remains a mystery. On the one hand, the country has good results in international examinations such as PISA, TIMMS and PIRLS. On the other hand, compared to other performing countries, an autonomous learner emerges from the values of Finnish education promoted through initial teacher education and professional development. This is made possible by a deep commitment to continuous school improvement mobilised by staff and students’ collaborative reflection in action and reflection on action on how the learning and teaching: 1) facilitates students’ meeting curriculum intended learning outcomes and 2) exemplifies the values of Finnish education of equity, trust, autonomy, co-operation, learner-centeredness and modern pedagogy based on scientific research. A take-away from reading this high value resource is a focus on Finnish education promoting Finnish culture of taking “responsibility” which means that teachers are responsible for their educational mission. This is very different to other education systems that make teachers take “accountability” which means teachers are held accountable for their educational mission.

The book helped me to reflect on how and in what ways this distinctively different approach could be one of the keys to Finnish success in education!

Dr. Mihaela-Viorica Rusitoru, Book review Finnish Education in Practice: What, Why and How

Fourthly, the book is full of practical examples and reflections about the quality of education that all teachers and principals from across the world could put into practice in the classrooms, for instance:  

• holistic approach, focussing on traditional subjects, responsible citizenship, lifelong learning, integrated teaching and learning, arts, and crafts, in order to develop well-educated, autonomous and  constructive learners;
• co-operation instead of competition is promoted at school and the annual grants or “stipends” are used to encourage students’ personal achievements that amplifies a culture of collaboration;
• regular recesses, breaks and light amounts of homework along with increasing physical activities, sports days and other events under the programme called Finnish Schools on the Move are of huge importance;
• transversal competencies, versatile methods, interdisciplinary modules, motivation strategies and phenomenon-based learning help students understand the relationships between different systems, skills and knowledge and put their knowledge into practice;
• learning environment and partnership-based education in collaboration with libraries, science and nature centres, museums, FabLabs, learning labs and workshops focus on positive pedagogy aiming at preventing difficulties and facilitating deeper and easier learning  using school hunts and STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths;
• lessons design based on a socio-constructivist view of learning using 5 steps: warm-up, mapping knowledge, acquiring new information, practising and reflection with the tool called LessonApp available currently for all ingenious and resourceful minds.
• educational support and remedial instruction for students with special educational needs or disabilities, and language as an additional language for migrants which takes an inclusive approach  to bridge between mainstream and special education, part-time special education, special classes, activity areas. This uses a three-tiered support model based on three categories of support : general, intensified and special;
• highly educated and respected teachers as well as pedagogical shared leadership combined with distributed and sustainable leadership including social skills, future vision, pedagogical work, educational projects, but also human resources, and administrative and financial management;
• focus on an EDUCARE model and early childhood education as the valuable foundation for lifelong learning paths, based on play, participation, co-operation, international and multilingual skills, thinking, learning and transversal competencies, and diverse forms of expression (verbal, visual, physical, musical, artistic) according to the new core curriculum with the aim to develop the learners’ readiness for learning how to learn. In this regard, the educational plan for each child “is a powerful tool for navigating the road ahead; the road the child and the adults walk together, the road were the child is the curriculum” (page 138);
• parental support focused on understanding the content instead of memorising it, giving the necessary time for playing to meet vital developmental milestones instead of starting school earlier, putting accent on the quality of teaching and learning instead of on the quantitative length of the school day or excessive, stress inducing levels of homework, concentrating on  academic subjects, artistic and practical subjects (arts and practical subjects are 1/3 of all the lessons) and avoiding comparison because: “comparing the child with other children or other siblings is not appropriate; their development should be compared only with their earlier skills. Comparison with siblings, relatives or schoolmates can easily cause jealousy and negative feeling, as well undermine the child’s self-esteem” (page 149).

Finally, students are seen as change agents and co-designers in a society called to put at their disposal the appropriate learning environment that “should invite children to create their own content in it!” (page 140). Being the happiest place in the world, in Finland there are no dead-ends, but rather a joy of learning at school realised with a free education, publicly funded schools, constructive feed-forward formative and self-assessment and no standardized evaluation until the matriculation exam, support provided for demotivated children along with building co-operation between home and school, as well as the importance of recreation, rest and sleep. The book identifies also the future direction of Finnish education where the accent will be put on learning in the real world that develops transferable skills: the way of thinking, the way of working, the mastery of tools and the participatory citizenship. Consequently, throughout the book, I can say that the What, Why and How of the Finnish education’s promotion of learning is described, and critically reflected on.

In conclusion, the book reminded me of what I discovered when I was in Finland the first time: Finns are not educated for PISA results, but for life, and for this reason, Learning Scoop wants to share, through this book, the wisdom on What, Why and How to better educate learners for a better society in the future! I thus recommend this book to all readers from the four corners of the globe: students, parents, teachers, principals, experts in education, policy-makers and other stakeholders eager to get in a few hours, the main milestones of one of the most successful and joyful education systems in the world! I hope you enjoyed this book review Finnish Education in Practice: What, Why and How.

Dr. Mihaela-Viorica Rusitoru

Director Centre of Scientific Excellence Group Actissia, Paris France

The take-aways of Finnish Education in Practice webinar are surely countless, yet most or perhaps all of us, have realized at this point that Finnish Education is not a miracle, and if it were, it would not happen perhaps then again, and it might not be applicable elsewhere. Rather, this world reputable system is built and have been based on strong fundamentals, which have been continuously on constant refining and development by the Finnish education community. A community that does not only involve education experts, but also parents, education providers, and a large spectrum of education stakeholders to always produce a curriculum that is centred on a learner.

This inclusion and learner-centric concept would not have existed and observed its fruits if there were not the following six cornerstones as mentioned in the webinar:

1. Equality and equity: everyone in Finland is eligible to receive equal access to knowledge acquisition and learning opportunities. Besides, every learner is treated individually as per their learning abilities and capacities, and hence Finnish schooling refuses to impose one learning formula for all. In fact, the new Finnish national core curriculum has only outlined the borderlines for creating teaching content and delivering lessons but granted full rights to teachers and schools to freely tailor their teaching approach based on their learners’ criteria.
   
2. Trust and responsibility: “Trust is intertwined throughout the Finnish education system and can be found at its every level”. (Finnish Education in Practice: What, Why and How 2021, 5). Trust in the Finnish education circle is seen as a highly strong factor for the success of its education system. Parents trust schools, education providers trust schools, school management trusts teachers, students and teachers exchange trust. This element of trust exists due to what is known as “educational partnership”, whereby every party in the circle contributes constructively to cater for the best of a learner’s interest.
   
3. Autonomy: Qualifying to earn a teacher title in Finland is highly demanding, and teaching is recognized as a high-expertise profession. Therefore, when graduating and attending for their roles, teachers are granted full autonomy and trusted with their teaching style and contribution to pedagogical development, without any imposed inspection or supervision. Teachers are regarded as the most knowledgeable and qualified professionals to be undoubtedly trusted in serving their students in their best interests.
   
4. Collaboration: Competition has often been associated with the enhancement of quality standards in education; comparing students’ academic performances is perceived as an effective tool to provoke the interest of learners and aspiration for better and better grades. However, Finnish education experts and their approach prefer to implement collaboration rather than competition, which limits creativity and tends to constrict learning performance on grades. Educators are consistently encouraged to share their successful recipes with their fellows to equally enjoy the benefits for the best of their learners. Students are neither compared nor contrasted with their peers in class, but a student development is assessed by comparing his/her previous performances. Simply, the Finnish education community regards collaboration as a mean of enriching learning, encourage innovation, hence continuously promotes education quality in favour of learners.
   
5. Learner-centred: Schools, principals, staff, and teachers work collaboratively to cater for a child/student and provide them with the best possible learning environment and conditions to support their learning journey. This approach requires educators and school management boards to carefully listen to their students and translate their voiced concerns and views into actions to implement the required changes to constantly enhance their learning environment based on their demands and preferences.
   
6. Science-based: Often not associated with its system and success, Finnish education is strongly based on scientific research, and has always adopted its pedagogy based on matters like educational psychology. Learners are not treated as passive agents in receiving the information, but rather are actively enabled and encouraged to construct their knowledge through their social, physical, and emotional interactions with their peers and learning environment. The likes of frequent recesses, outdoor activities, free play, social contacts with their peers outside the classroom serve to equip the learner with further learning opportunities away from the theoretical and class-based lessons. This socio-constructivist learning approach enables the student to apply and reflect his/her learning attainments on real-life situations.

The above-mentioned practices that reflect the Finnish education are only a glimpse of what the “Finnish Education in Practice: What, Why and How” book explains and a paraphrase to what our experts introduced and highlighted in the webinar, during their presentation and when answering your numerous enquiries.

We hope you enjoyed the webinar as much as your final positive comments manifest, because this well-received experience only encourages us to organize more sessions with different topics and perspectives shedding more lights on the phenomenal Finnish education.

Team Learning Scoop would like to thank Mrs Pamela Zerafa warmly and sincerely for her professional and entertaining hosting experience throughout the webinar, Dr Kenneth Vella, ambassador of the Republic of Malta to Estonia and Finland, for his captivating and profoundly -worded introduction, and our experts Mrs Johanna Järvinen-Taubert, Mrs Päivi Valtonen and Mrs Elena Chukhlantseva for sharing some of their extensive expertise about Finnish education and enlightening us with some valuable insights revolving the Finnish education system. We also would like to wholeheartedly thank you all our dear global audience for sparing some of your precious time to attend this worthwhile experience and being actively interactive, despite the time differences and distances.

For now, stay tuned for further announcements, and enjoy reading our complete book Finnish Education in Practice: What, Why and How.

When ever you are enjoying few days off or are on vacation, reading books is a great way to relax and learn something new!

Every day, teachers around the world juggle with a thousand things on their mind: following the curriculum, planning ahead while processing the past and keeping track of the present. Add the administrative tasks, cooperation with colleagues, communication with homes. And most importantly: taking care of the students, listening to them and answering each and every one of their needs. No one can focus on everything at the same time. When time is scarce, compromises are only natural. For such professionals as teachers this is often immensely frustrating. It is important to facilitate the communication in schools while deepening the overall understanding of well-being of students.

Let’s break some norms!

Mental health issues are exceedingly common, but too often met with prejudices and false beliefs. School Day promotes mental health awareness by making it a simple part of everyday life: when children examine their feelings on a regular basis and talk about them with their peers, teachers and guardians, they learn that all feelings are okay, and how to deal with them. (Read more about a survey on social and emotional skills.)

We’ve heard so many great stories of classes getting together to discuss their well-being results. As one teacher put it, School Day offers each student a private bubble to mull over in so that when they feel ready, they are welcome to share their thoughts with others. Understanding different moods helps the children understand each other, which contributes to an improved group spirit, learning results and well-being of students.

Creating a global community

There are as many teaching methods as there are teachers, but every one of them ultimately has the same goal: to help children and teenagers find their strengths and place in the world. We bring educational professionals together to share their ideas and knowhow. Practices on one side of the globe often turn out to be pretty awesome elsewhere too.

We listen keenly to what our community tells us. The classroom is where the magic happens, and we want School Day to match up precisely to the issues and concerns that teachers, students and principals have. Many of our features originate from discussions with school professionals. This fall, for instance, we offer the teachers even more flexibility as they get the possibility to compose their own questions alongside our ready-made ones.

How does School Day work to support the well-being of students?

Every week we ask students simple questions on learning, social-emotional skills, social relationships, and wellness. We then analyze the data and provide weekly highlights on what’s going on in the classroom. This way the teachers, principals and district leaders will get reliable and comprehensible data on the current situation as well as long-term trends. We don’t just point at problems but also offer help and support for pressing issues. Our easily implementable lesson plans have already become a hit!

By answering our questions students learn to reflect and process their mood. When they feel safe and confident, it’s easier for them to be vocal about their feelings. In-class conversations about the results will further diminish the taboos surrounding mental health. All students must feel safe at school.

New times, new challenges

Balancing time and resources at schools was never easy, but the pandemic has even added up to the challenges of modern school life. On the other hand, throughout the past year school we’ve seen amazing innovativeness and strength, cooperation between different professionals and administrative levels, homes and the students. We are proud to help ensure that no one is left behind during these tumultuous times. Everyone has the right to feel good and learn better, everyday. Let´s focus on well-being of students!

Get to know School Day wellbeing model

Working as a teacher can be a lonely job. Even though you have colleagues: you have common coffee breaks with them, plan your lessons together, have dialogues and even assess together outside the classroom — nevertheless, a teacher is alone in classroom. One class, and only one teacher. If we are lucky, we have a team mate in the classroom: for example, a school assistant, who is in the same class during few lessons. Some teachers have even the full-time assistants. But the pedagogical responsibility lies always on one teacher. Have you ever heard about co-teaching?

What if there would be more teachers, sharing the same pupils and same responsibilities? Co-teaching means that two teachers teach same students in the same classroom. Usually there are two different classes, who just have been put in the same room. Schools develop classroom layouts to fit in this kind of flexible teaching: walls are torn down and replaced with soundproof, opening flip walls. The room can be used as one big room or as two separate spaces.

Me and my colleague use a light model of co-teaching. We have our own classes, number of children is 44 in all. On about five lessons every week the children study together, with two teachers.

The easiest way to carry out co-teaching is “the boss and the firefighter” -model. We plan the lesson together, and make a deal which one of us is the boss. The boss collects all the children to a listening area. Here happens the traditional teaching, where the teacher is the boss, tells the story, teaches the topic of the day/lesson etc.

As we all know, some of the pupils have difficulties to listen, to sit still, to concentrate. The boss teaches, and his/her colleague has a role of a firefighter: he/she walks silently in the classroom, “extinguishes the fires”: sits down next to one child if it is needed, whispering the quietness to restless children. The teachers can also have a teaching dialogue and the pupils can take a part in it.

According to our experiences this is an excellent format to try co-teaching by an easy way. After the listening part pupils move back to their places and start filling out their notebooks and workbooks. Both teachers walk around and help everyone. The silence and peace in the classroom have been better this way than in a same kind of traditional teaching situation but only one teacher and only one class.

If we want to do something active and functional, we need to split those 44 children in groups, just because otherwise it gets too noisy. We share them in two groups, but both of the groups have children from both classes. Or, if we can have a resource teacher or an assistant teacher to be one adult, then we make three groups. Every adult has one workshop. We have had workshops for years like this. Teachers know both classes, and students know us. They have friends in both classes, there are no “our class” and “your class”. Just us. Sometimes we have had theme weeks when we have worked more together in a same room, sharing a project.

I once had a privilege to join an session held by two pioneer co-teachers. They shared the same class, and they had only one class, even though the number of children in the class was nearly 40. They shared everything: the pedagogical responsibility, the teaching, the co-operation with parents… They worked as a team in one classroom. They described themselves as a double teacher with double classroom. The results were fantastic: double joy but half of stress and half of the work.

When the chemistry and characters with a colleague are working well this is definitely worth trying. After having even small steps of co-teaching in your work, it is going to be difficult to go back to old situation where you always have only one pair of hands.

 Kaisa Tuomarla
Class Teacher,
Pedagogical Specialist

The interest towards Finnish early childhood education has increased significantly during the last few years. Why is that? For one thing, foreign education experts have realized that the early childhood education is an integral part of the success story of Finnish education. For the other, there is a lot of interesting development going on in the Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) right now. The new National Core Curriculum for ECEC has been released in Finland for the first time in history and the new curriculum has been implemented. You can get to know National Core Curriculum for ECEC in a Nutshell.

First it was the excellent PISA results in Finnish basic education that drew the international attention. Foreign education experts wanted to know, what do the Finns do in their basic education in order to achieve such an excellent learning outcomes. It took a while for the experts to realize that the students with such a good learning abilities don’t come to the first grade in Finnish basic education out of nowhere. Foreign experts started to ask, what is it Finnish children do before they go to school at the age of seven. How is it possible, that Finnish children, even though they start school relatively late, still learn so quickly and achieve a high standard of reading, writing and maths skills? The obvious question was: is there something special in the Finnish early childhood education and care that produce such ready-to-learn-pupils for school?

Finnish education path is in a way an integral entity: same principles go throughout the whole journey from early childhood education to basic education and to higher education and even to adult education, too. The focus is on student-centered learning on understanding rather than memorizing, on taking individual abilities and challenges into consideration and learning for real-life, not just for exams. In every step of the education path, the learner is seen as a holistic human being, whose well-being and development as a whole person is essential.

Internationally speaking, Finnish early childhood education is “something else”, indeed. Finland has for a long time had a strong emphasis on “stress-free childhood”: the early childhood education has been informal, full of play and child distinctive activities and not school-like at all. Even though Finland has got the first National Core Curriculum for ECEC as well, this is not going to change. What has changed is the reasoning behind the ECEC: a child is seen even more than before as an active agent who has the right to learn things according his or her own potential. The nature of activities has not altered dramatically in ECEC: it is still a lot of free play and no academic lessons at all. But the early childhood educators are listening to children’s aspirations, ideas, wishes and questions even more closely and offering children possibilities to learn according to their own interests and abilities.

In many countries, where children start the school at the age of three or four, this sounds unbelievable. Isn’t Finland wasting valuable time by postponing the beginning of formal schooling and letting children “just play”?

According to scientific studies the situation is quite the opposite: the children learn an enormous amount of things “just through play”. And there is no benefit in trying to push too academic subjects too early, when children – and their brains – are not ready for that yet. Giving children time to develop at their own pace creates a better basis for the learning in the future.

Foreign visitors find so many things in the Finnish early childhood education intriguing: for instance the learning environments designed from the child’s point of view, the relaxed and flexible organization of the day, the fundamentality of physical activities, the creativity and diversity in everyday activities, the subtle yet determined guiding by teachers, children learning by doing, making observations and reflecting, the versatile learning materials and the overall warm and supportive atmosphere in the Finnish early childhood education.  The Finnish ECEC professionals are enthusiastic and proud to develop their work as a part of life-long education path. They know their work is irreplaceable and it’s always for the best of the children.

Want to know more about ECEC related products we recommend? Online courses, pedagogical documentation, playful STEAM lessons, teaching methods and activities for early years teachers, parenting skills, Study Tours to Finnish Daycare Centers.

Johanna Järvinen-Taubert
Pedagogical Director

Many schools around the world aim to grow great citizens, empowered to live successfully in their personal and global lives. In many places the word sustainability has only just started to be understood and implemented in pedagogical communities and the STEAM approach takes wings. One thing is a fact: the 21st century skills are essential. Studying more about Education Sustainability Development will open the doors of such concepts as STEAM, ESD, Positive pedagogy, Student-centered and teacher-centered learning. In the beginning those concepts might sound hard to digest and implement in everyday school life. But you are not alone! By taking online courses and improving professional skills you can learn and clarify many educational concepts such as Holistic and Inquiry-based Education for Sustainable Development. Actually, it is very rewarding to see that simple actions can bring big impact on both students and teachers!

In one of the cases in Moldova, Science, Chemistry and Biology subjects teachers were  invited to cooperate. They made a real boom in their school showing another aspect of education, education that really matters for the future. Parents were impressed by the motivation of their kids searching and exploring  information about the materials, how they are used and what the reason is for the raw materials.

“Being a teacher is a very responsible task. Personal and professional development is lifelong. All the teachers should remember the fact that they may change lives.” Corina Ceban

“I consider that all the aspects of environmental problems should be integrated in any subject in the framework of the curriculum. As for teaching, I consider that Project-based learning would be a great strategy to introduce the environmental problems and planetary boundaries. Through projects pupils will explore the problem then they together with the teacher will find a solution. I will focus more on the transversal competences. I will take the role of a push motivator and try to deliver more interactive lessons. Thank you so much. I have discovered crucial facts about education!” Natalia Ursu

It is important to empower and develop teacher´s skills as teachers are the initial change makers in the classroom. Getting this kind of feedback and reflection means a job well done and spot on!

If you wish to get to know this case study from Moldova better, please read more! If you want to gain this kind of sustainable superpowers yourself, join the online courses B6 Educational Approaches in Finland and B8 Sustainable Development in Education.

Personally, I have been collaborating with Finnish entities for a number of years and through the ongoing collaboration with Learning Scoop Finland and other Finnish entities we have facilitated the visits to Finnish schools for hundreds of educators from various countries. All educators who had the opportunity to take part in this enriching experience always felt the need to learn more about the Finnish system of education and pedagogy, about the success of Finnish students in international examinations, the new national curriculum of Finland and the innovations in this Nordic country in the field of education. What is Finnish education in practice?

It was for this reason that in the past months our Finnish colleagues strived to publish the first edition of Finnish Education in Practice: What Why and How.

I strongly believe that such a publication should be an essential reference resource for all policy makers, teachers and senior leaders as it gives a detailed insight about this country and its educational progression during the past decade. 

In this publication, there is a strong reference and discussion about certain characteristics which make the Finnish educational system original and unique. There is also a strong mentioning of the two basic principles which are constantly emphasized by Finnish educational policy makers and educators – the promotion of the principle of collaboration instead of competition and the need for students to learn principles which will eventually make use of them in their life and in the outside world, life skills.

Also in recent years, Finland introduced the concept of phenomenon-based learning. The introduction of this style of learning was also made possible because Finland has highly educated, skilled and motivated teachers. The teaching profession is respected and at all school levels, teachers are highly qualified and committed. For the teaching courses, the Finnish universities can select among the most motivated and talented applicants.

I strongly believe that Finnish Education in Practice: What, Why and How compliments other publications on Finnish educational theory and pedagogy which were researched and published also internationally during the past decade. Finally, a big well done goes to Johanna Järvinen-Taubert, Päivi Valtonen and Elena Chukhlantseva editors of this book, who, together with other Finnish educational specialists and teachers are sharing their expertise and good practices through such an inspiring and well researched publication. 

Dr Kenneth Vella 

Head of Mater Boni Consilii St Joseph School Paola, Malta and Ambassador of the Republic of Malta to Estonia and Finland.

What makes Finnish education unique? Join the webinar on June 16th – sign up here!

Get your own copy of this brand new book!

I am an early education teacher, working in Kalkunvuori daycare center. I work in an integrated group where half of the children have special needs, and that is why the group size is smaller (12 children) and the staff resource is bigger than the average (4 adults, of which 2 are teachers), but our daily routines are pretty much the same than in any other group. The children in my group are 3-5-year-olds. There is no similar day but I am happy to share my ordinary day at a Finnish daycare center with you. 

How does my ordinary day at a Finnish daycare center look like?

8.15 am My working time starts

I log myself in using an application on the phone. I check our team’s calendar and read our message notebook. I prepare the circle time that is about to start soon. In the meanwhile the children are having breakfast with two other adults from my group. Our daycare opens at 6 am, but most of my group’s children arrive around 8.

8.45 am Circle time

I am doing some playful stretching and breathing exercises with children while we are waiting for the last ones to finish their breakfast. At the circle time we sing our morning song, check what day it is, look at what is going to happen today using pictures and check who is present today.

9-11 am Activities indoors and outdoors

During this time we work in small groups. Me and the assistant will stay first indoors with the other half of the group. We have a project going on about bears which was decided to be our project theme by the children. Today we are drawing bears. Meanwhile the other half of the group is playing outdoors. We switch around 10 am; my group will get dressed and go play outdoors and the other group comes in to continue their project about the TV-series PAW Patrol.

11 am Lunch

All the meals are served in the restaurant, as we call it with the children. I eat with the children, as all the adults do. Today’s menu is spaghetti, vegetable sauce and salad.

11.30 am Mini Group activities

After lunch the children will gather up to these mini group activities. (The name of the activity was made by children!) Today is my colleague’s turn to run this activity. We have classifying in program. Me and my teacher colleague plan the activities in advance, according to the goals that are agreed in the children’s individual learning plans. After lunch I follow the children from my table to this activity and help a few who are facing challenges to do it.

12 – 2 pm Naptime / my PED (Planning, Evaluation and Developing) time

I start by checking my email and Helmi platform (a web interface e.g. to communicate with parents) and continue with a phone call. After that I go to have tea in the teacher’s lounge. I chat with the others, and we have a laugh together – how refreshing! After my break I plan the next week activities together with my teacher colleague. We always plan the big lines together. Planning and working together gives a lot of new ideas to both of us! Then I still have time to prepare the music activity for tomorrow concerning the bear project. I get everything ready on time and go back to the group.

2.15 pm Snack time

Today kids are having yogurt, bananas and rye bread with cheese for snack. I sit at a table where one of the children uses pictures for communication, I help and model using the pictures.

2.30 pm Playing

Today we have a lottery for the play group combinations. I go with one small group of three children where there is a bit of difficulty in coming to a conclusion what to play, since they are not normally playing that much together. I help them to solve that, and then support the concentration and communication skills in the play.

3.15 pm Going outdoors

I ask the other adults what is the situation in their play groups, and we agree that I will go out first with my small group, since these children are having trouble to concentrate anymore. They really need to go run and play outdoors, to release their energy a bit. I help one with the zipper and the other one with shoes, but otherwise they manage themselves. I go out with them, and after a while the rest of the group follows. The time to go out in the afternoon varies a bit, but usually we go out between 3 and 4 pm. Most of our children are being picked by 4 pm by their parent or other trusted adult.

4 pm My working time ends

I log myself out using the app on the phone and leave the phone to our assistant who still stays at work. The parents also log out their children using the same application. The daycare closes at 5 pm. What a nice day we had!

If you wish to learn more about Early Childhood Education in Finland and Educare model, we recommend you this online course. Do you want to get to know solutions which can help your work at the daycare or at home? Or are you interested in playful STEAM education for early years?

Anu Lumiaho

Early Education Teacher

I have been teaching almost 20 years, most of the time at the same school, the Atala school. It is a primary school in a suburb with a lot of forests around. There is no similar day but I am happy to share my ordinary day at a Finnish school with you. I have been teaching all grades (1-6) and all subjects. I love the fact I have a possibility to teach the same kids the whole six years they spend in primary. Today I teach the six graders, and most of them started with me on the grade one. It has been a privilege to see them to grow up, become teenagers. Also I know the families very well. All their siblings and sometimes also their grandparents, pets etc.

How does my ordinary day at a Finnish school look like? 

8.00 am Arriving to school.
Quick checking on emails and Helmi (the web interface), then cup of coffee and chatting with colleagues, or preparing some lessons.

8.15 am First lesson: Math for half of my class.
We have a traditional lesson: I teach the new topic and then children practice with their own notebooks.
But, as usually, there is a reward after every calculation group. I mark it on the blackboard:

1. Walk to the lunch room and check what is on the menu.
2. Make 10 jumping jacks.
3. Go to drink some water.
4. Take a five minute nap.
5. Put on your shoes and run to the other side of the yard.

With this kind of rewards and action breaks every child studies always faster and better. When they were younger, I built them little action stunt tracks (I used chairs, fabrics, ropes etc)  in the free space of the classoom: every time they finished one task in the book, they were allowed to enter the stunt truck. One very easy way to accomplish these action breaks is to use activation cubes. After every task a pupil goes and throws the dice and does what the cube tells him/her to do. You can google those kind of dice in the net, use for example words “printable fitness dice”.

9.00 am Second lesson, Science.

We study geography, and students learn about America´s continent. They choose one sight or attraction in Northern America and search for information about it. We drew a huge map in the wall of our classroom, and now we put the attractions in their right spots. Pupils use laptops, they search for images and photos, print them and put them in their places on a big map. This will take still few more lessons. Afterwards we make a touristic tour to those attractions, every student can present their attractions. The method can also be found in LessonApp, it is called “Poster”, and it can be used in various ways.

9:45 am – 10:15 am Recess.
After a double lesson there is a 30 minutes recess. My students play football or different kind of plays and games. They have even made up a new game called “Ruuttis”, which is a tag game with a twist of strategy. This is a consequence of participating, activating and a free play time (recesses!)

During this recess I make preparations for lessons, answer to few e-mails and have a meeting with a special education teacher.

10.15 am Third lesson: Religion

We have a flip wall between my and my colleagues classrooms. We plan and teach together almost every religion lesson. We start with an activating game. We are quite good finding or creating a small game or a play which has some kind of connection on the day´s topic. Today our topic is one of Jesus¨miracles in the Bible. The one, where He walked on water. We told pupils (40 pupils, two classes) that the floor is now water but you are not Jesus, so you have to reach the other wall of that long double length classroom using the desks, tables, chairs, drawers… And so they did. After the play we discussed about the topic and made notes in their notebook. A typical combination lesson.

11.00-11.15 am Recess. I am supervising the recess, so I wear an attention vest and go outside. Fresh air for me too!

11.15 am Fourth lesson, Finnish (mother tongue)

First we visit the book bus (the mobile library). It visits every school every week. Pupils return their old books and borrow new ones, we start a reading project today. They choose an optional book, and read one chapter every day. Every day they have to pick up one word about the chapter. We have three big empty posters in our classroom. One for substantives, one for adjectives, one for verbs (this could be also in digital environment, Padlet, Thinglink or something like that). The first week they pick up substantives in the chapter they read. And they have to choose several, because they can’t write down the same word that is already been used! During the first day we get 21 substantives, next day 21 new… At the end of the week it might be challenging to find new words, but I am confident we will! Next week we search and find adjectives every day and on third verbs. I think we will make a little project then about all the words we collect (198 word). Perhaps a creative wrintig with a word lottery? Or a school hunt? (School Hunt´s instructions can be found in LessonApp). I think I will participate students and let them decide.

12.00 pm School lunch

Free for every student in primaries, lower and upper secondaries. Today¨s menu is potatoes, minced meat sauce and salad.

12.15 pm Recess. I take a cup of coffee and talk with my colleagues. A break is very important to us teachers too! Relaxing our brains as well!

12.30 – 2 pm Fifth and sixth lessons: Crafs

This class is held with or without recess, depending on how the class seems to be needing a break. The class is divided in two, the other half is studying hard materials´ crafts with my colleague (they are manufacturing their own design lamps from wood, metal and/or plastic). I teach the other half, we have the soft materials. yarns, wool, fabrics… We are also having our own designs. We created own print patterns, and searched  ideas by photographing textures in school´s hallways: brick walls, stone floors, wooden stairs… Then every pupil created their print and we painted, stamped and formed the print on fabric. Eventually we manufacture a bucket or a message box made from those printed fabrics.

2 pm Pupils go home, I have a break! A snack or a coffee maybe. After the lessons I sit down with my colleague and we plan our next week´s lessons. Even though we don´t always do simultaneous teaching, planning teaching together helps a lot. The lessons become more analyzed, well planned, more everything. After our meeting I make some paperwork and phone calls (emails, contacts with families, school development projects).

Last, a little peak on my yeasterday´s gym lesson. We went hiking the forests nearby for two hours. What a luxury, I know 🙂 I hope you enjoyed the school day and got to know more about an ordinary day at a Finnish school! Get to know more – would you like to visit a Finnish school?

Kaisa Tuomarla
Basic Education Class Teacher

There’s a whole subset of the self-help industry that’s dedicated to finding the right routine. And it makes sense! Routines help us unlock our creativity, as well as reduce stress and anxiety. And we know that a lot of early-childhood education teachers have stress about teaching science! How to master great science lessons?

So, we’re here to help you build a science lesson routine that will get your students engaged and loving science.

1. Get in the role. Our founder’s research shows that students show the most growth not when they do science, but when they become scientists. This means that they assume the role of a scientist and take on a science identity. In our lessons, this is often done by putting on a lab coat or spinning in a circle, but it can be any regular routine that you use to change the situation to indicate to the children that they’re scientists for the next 30-60 minutes.
   
2. Introduce the situation. We’re doing science now, so it’s time to talk about the problem that we’re investigating. Our lessons revolve around the problems that a robot has, and how our other story characters and the students can help him. This introduction helps our students understand what’s at stake in the lesson, and the story-based framing helps them approach the lesson with a “How can I help?” mindset, rather than a “What’s the right answer?” mindset. Even as adults, we often focus too much on the latter, when striving for the former would yield better results. Even a small story about why you’re doing the activity that you’re doing will help engage the students. Children are naturally empathetic, and will be quicker to use independent and critical thinking skills if they’re helping a character or friend, rather than just doing what’s next.
   
3. Time for research. Or, more commonly, the experiments. We’ve set out the problem, and now we’re doing research about how to solve our friend’s predicament. The most important part is that to challenge your learners to grow new skills and abilities, not necessarily rush to the right answer. Imagine that: the process of trying to help is more important than getting to the right answer quickly! With young learners, we’re more interested in growing skills and capabilities than arriving to the right answer as quickly as possible.
   
4. Scientist’s report! Nearly all science skills (observation, measurement, etc.) are applicable to other areas of life, but none more so than communication. This is where the child communicates their findings, and hopefully they’ve found the solution to the problem that we posed in step #2. With any luck, they’ve helped their story-friend. Perhaps as important, the teacher or parent should communicate to the student how they succeeded. Children are naturally empathetic, so it’s important that they understand how they’ve helped solve the problem posed by the story. This not only helps them understand what they’ve done, but helps grow enthusiasm for future lessons. Who doesn’t want to be helpful?!
   
5. Close curtain. The flip side of assuming the dramatic role of science means that the show must come to an end. It’s time to take off the lab coat (or whatever you’re using) and go back to being a normal kid again. Being a scientist can be exhausting.

There you have it! Introducing this short routine to great science lessons can help not only keep the students engaged, but help reduce any anxiety that you might have about teaching science.

Got excited? Get to know Kide Science with access to ready-made lesson plans and training in our play-based pedagogy!

It’s been coming. Experts and schools are increasingly looking for online courses for teachers and educators to support their professional development.

Partly, it’s a question of time: many teachers are overwhelmed with their everyday tasks and ever-increasing duties. In that case, studying at home whenever you have suitable time slot feels like a feasible thing to do. Partly, it’s a question of finding a training that meets precisely your needs (and the training you actually need, is not necessarily something that is available in your own town or county).

Developing education has also become more global. Teachers have realized that we can look for new ideas not only from experts in our own country, but from other countries as well. When technology makes it possible, we can benchmark educational ideas and solutions more easily from other countries as well.

Even though this has been a growing trend for a while, Covid-19 put a huge boost to it. Suddenly we were not able to take part in in-service teacher training event in our own school, school district or town. All of a sudden we were also struggling with totally new challenges – distance teaching and how to promote learning remotely – that very few of us were properly prepared for. In lock-down situation, we turned online for various needs and purposes – why not for professional development opportunities as well?

In Learning Scoop, we have been training teachers for years, or to be exact, for decades 😉. We have organized face-to-face training events and programs, hands-on workshops, professional congresses, educational fairs, professional study tours for teachers and education experts etc. We are huge proponents of face-to-face interaction and experience.

Pandemic put us to a totally new position, too. For years we have been asked to produce online courses of the themes we usually train teachers. We always felt that we did not have time for it – and that something would be missing if we turned the trainings online. How can you replace human interaction and face-to-face sharing?

Pandemic made us realize that online courses are about providing people more opportunities.

Online courses are a great choice for you who don’t have the time or the opportunity to travel far to learn about a specific topic. Online courses can also be the only choice for you to avoid expensive trainings far away. Furthermore, online courses give you the opportunity to tailor training packages that better suit your needs.

We realized that it’s not the question of choosing either face-to-face trainings or online courses, but to have the opportunity for both.

Initially we planned to open a web shop for our own online courses. We soon realized that this might not serve our customers the best. We realized that there were plenty of other quality online courses of Finnish education and pedagogical practices that would complement the selection perfectly. By offering the variety of unique courses we could meet different needs.

It’s been a true pleasure to discover what kind of great courses other experts have produced! We have courses that dive deep into some specific theme, like sustainable development in education or how to teach coding. We have courses with very practical tips and examples to try out yourself (check for instance courses for Positive Parenting). In addition, we have courses that lead you to the very foundation of Finnish education and pedagogy, Cornerstones of Finnish Education. We hope you enjoy the self-study online courses for teachers and educators!

Now it’s your time to be the explorer! What would you like to learn more about? Check out the online course selection and build your own professional development path. Welcome onboard!

We have globally had the biggest human test in the history of education in the form of distance teaching. Schools and teachers were forced to change to distance teaching without warning and careful prior planning. How can distance learning be effective? Here are 10 Distance Teaching Tips that Finnish teachers apply to distance teaching.

The ultimate goal of teaching is to promote learning

Many principles equally apply to learning in classroom and in distance teaching. The key question is: how can you promote learning and produce better learning results in distance teaching?

When teaching is done remotely and online, it cannot be done exactly the same way than in face-to-face teaching. Teachers must find different types of pedagogical solutions that really utilize the new possibilities of distance teaching, but that don’t simultaneously overwhelm the teacher or the students.

10 teaching tips for successful remote / distance learning:

1. Create a safe atmosphere

A safe atmosphere is essential for learning in all situations, and that is the case in distance teaching, too. Distance teaching itself can be intimidating, at least to some of the students.

Therefore, it is essential to create a positive atmosphere right from the beginning of distance teaching.

2. Plan a pedagogically smart lesson structure to distance teaching situations

Learning follows the same principles, no matter which media we use for studying. Applying different pedagogical phases or functions to distance teaching lessons too is important for promoting learning. Distance teaching requires constant alertness and can be exhausting both cognitively and emotionally. This is why you should focus on quality over quantity in distance teaching!

 3. Use versatile methods and different kinds of activities

Receiving information passively is not a sufficient way to help the students engage with the learning. Different learners benefit from or enjoy different types of activities. Therefore, it is essential to use versatile methods and do something meaningful related to the lesson’s content in distance teaching, too.

4. Pay attention to the holistic development of the students

The holistic development of a student means the growth of their intellectual, mental, physical, emotional and social abilities. This means that there should be a good balance between academics and other activities. Learning should include communicating with others, engaging in authentic learning experiences, reading, creating, and being physically active.

5. Pay attention to pacing

Pacing means that the teacher plans a suitable timetable with enough breaks for every distance teaching session. It is good to change the activity often enough. The activities should not last too long: depending on the activity, 5–20 minutes is usually an appropriate time.

6. Remember brain breaks

According to scientific research brain needs breaks to digest and process new information. In addition, breaks help students to focus more in studying. In general, it is wise to have a break after 45–60 minutes of studying. The break should last at least 10–15 minutes and allow students to relax and rest between the study sessions.

7. Create possibilities to interact and collaborate with others

Distance studying can be quite lonely. In the course of a regular school day, students engage with other students or adults numerous times. In distance teaching, all this has suddenly vanished or decreased.

According to scientific studies, interaction and collaboration with others both have a very positive impact on learning. As a teacher, you should plan how students could work together to ensure that they feel like they are a part of the class and learning community.

8. Give students time to reflect on their own learning

Reflection is a part of learning: it aims at achieving better understanding and leads to new learning. In distance teaching, this natural interaction easily diminishes. Therefore, it is vital to require reflection and create opportunities for interaction and discussions.

9. Utilize the learning environment

Distance teaching means that students usually study at their own homes. Home as a learning environment can be an endless source of creativity! Many assignments can be designed to utilize different domestic items that are found in every home. Linking assignments to chores or other responsibilities at the students’ own houses is also a good option: this also promotes learning the necessary life skills.

10. Be there to guide, support and help students

Distance studying requires several advanced skills like time management, self-directedness, self-regulation, responsibility and many others. For many students, distance studying requires a lot of practice and support, and the teacher is the key person for providing support. We hope that these 10 distance teaching tips are helpful!

All this puts teacher in the center for guiding and facilitating learning. How can we help teachers to survive with this challenging task? How can we equip and empower teachers to be there to help the students the best possible way? From the Finnish perspective, teaching is an interactive relationship between teacher and student. Teacher is there to guide, help and support students to develop as human beings. Teaching is ultimately a human relationship.

With the help of LessonApp we can strengthen teachers´ pedagogical skills and understanding. The aim is to provide them best possible technology and other tools to help them in their work. We can empower them in their invaluable work: raising the next generation, our future. 

Johanna Järvinen-Taubert
Pedagogical Director

Coding skills have been defined as a new literacy in our modern world. Many countries have introduced coding and algorithmic thinking in their curricula, which makes coding education available to all students. How to combine coding and pedagogy?

Internet is full of coding courses

The importance of coding competencies is reflected by the huge amount of available online materials for 21st century skills. Anyone can learn how to code by utilising widely available – and often free – resources online. Millions of people are using online courses and environments for acquiring new coding skills. The biggest challenge is often to decide which platform to use.

Where are the courses on the pedagogy of coding?

Much fewer online courses are offered on how to teach coding effectively. Best coding pedagogy combines algorithmic thinking and creative problem-solving in a way that is optimal for motivation and learning results.

Best programmers are not necessarily the best coding teachers – and vice versa, the
best teachers do not have to be the best programmers.

High quality teacher training is needed to equip teachers with pedagogical skills to unleash the coding potential of all of their students. Teaching coding should be based on meaningful learning that combines projects, phenomena and peer learning. Teachers and tutors can be trained in these pedagogical models through online training,
which creates both opportunities and challenges for professional development.

A balance between technology, content and pedagogy

An often used scientific framework for integrating coding with everyday education is the TPACK model described below. It identifies three types of knowledge teachers need to combine for successful integration of coding in their instruction:

Content knowledge: Teachers need to understand the essentials of coding.
Technological knowledge: Teachers need to know how computers and robots work.
Pedagogical knowledge: Last but not least, teachers need to know how to effectively use teaching methods that maximise student learning and engagement.

Are you interested in reading more? Find the full research paper here.

Coding pedagogy course for teachers

It’s vital that teacher professional development programs for coding education not only concentrate on content and technology knowledge but prepare teachers for applying the teaching model in coding instruction.

The online course 21st Century Coding Pedagogy addresses the Pedagogical knowledge aspect. It aims at presenting a teaching approach that maximizes student learning and engagement through collaboration and creativity. More importantly, the online course expects the participating teachers to practice as they preach: maximizing the teacher’s own learning and engagement as well.

High quality coding education expects a balance between technology, content, and pedagogy. Each is equally important and a purposeful blending of them is essential. That’s the successful recipe for teaching for the future.

Dr. Juuso Nieminen

Finnish education is famous for its excellent learning outcomes and child-centered, stress-free approach. But what else do you know about the Education in Finland? We gathered some Facts about Education in Finland. Did you know all this 😊?

• Every child in Finland has a subjective right to attend early childhood education and care if the family so wishes.
• Pre-primary education is compulsory for children at the age of six.
• Children start the school at the age of 7. Basic education in Finland lasts altogether nine years, between 7 and 16 years. Basic education is provided within a single structure: there is no division into primary and lower secondary education.
• Instruction in basic education is usually given by the same class teacher in most subjects in the first six year-classes and by different subject specialists in the last three years in basic education.
• In Finland, the educators within early childhood education and care generally have Bachelor’s degrees. Pre-primary teachers and teachers in basic and general upper secondary education are required to hold a Master’s degree.
• All basic education schools in Finland follow the respective national core curriculum. Learn more.
• There are no national tests for pupils in basic education in Finland. Interested in assessment?
• After basic education, students continue to secondary education, usually to general upper secondary school or vocational upper secondary education and training. 21st century skills are vital for the future.
• General upper secondary education ends with a national matriculation examination, which is the first and only national examination of the Finnish education system.
• Education in Finland is free of charge at all levels, all the way from pre-primary education to higher education.
• Most institutions providing basic and upper secondary level education are maintained by local authorities or joint municipal consortia.
• All schools in Finland are publicly funded; there are no tuition fees.
• There are no gender-based schools in Finland: all schools have both boys and girls as students.
• In Finland, special needs education is primarily provided in mainstream education, not in separate special education schools.
• The Finnish education system has no dead-ends. Learners can always continue their studies on an upper level education, no matter what choices they make in between.
• Higher education is offered by universities and universities of applied sciences. Universities emphasize scientific research and instruction, whereas universities of applied sciences have adopted a more practical approach.
• Adult education is very popular in Finland – the participation rate is high also in international terms.

We hope you learned something new when reading the Facts about Education in Finland!

Reference: Finnish Education in a Nutshell 2017. Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture and Finnish National Agency for Education.

Cooperation and excellent communication with a child’s parents make an essential  part of successful early childhood education. Especially during these times with unexpected changes, we have a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship with families with regular and meaningful communication between parents and kindergarten. Keeping parents well informed and opening a transparent window to the world of kindergarten with stories, photos and videos builds trust and encourages for fruitful cooperation for the benefit of children.

We asked Tiina and Satu Ullgren about the parents’ engagement and the role of cooperation in the kindergarten Lilliputti in Finland.

Tiina and Satu see cooperation with parents as paramount in their work, especially from the perspective of a private kindergarten. “We want to get to know children and their families more closely. For families, however, the kindergarten is also an essential channel for opening up and solving the everyday challenges in a family with children. Sometimes families need support for the fundamental things like a child’s dressing, sleeping, and eating. Many families do not have their own support network, and then the kindergarten, in particular, plays a vital role in supporting families’ in their daily lives. Interaction and communication are, therefore, a significant part of the cooperation between parents and the kindergarten.” says Tiina.

Kindergarten Lilliputti has been active in finding concrete practices that support cooperation with parents. When they have been communicating actively, children and parents already expect news to discuss at home like the following feedback from parents shows:

“Parents have said that often children come home excited and ask, for example, if you already got a picture of a jigsaw puzzle. At home, parents and children can then take a look at the day’s activities, learning, and development together.”

Having regular communication with parents also benefits the professionals. When a teacher observes children and  shares moments from the daily kindergarten life or receives news from home, she builds her understanding of the children which will make the teaching work easier.

Hints and tips for the teachers

Below hints and tips how kindergarten Lilliputti has supported parents and created a personal relationship with each family. Most of these can be done in both remote and contact settings.

• We organize a “Get to know the child and family” chat with parents whenever a new child starts in kindergarten. Talking is a great way to meet and get to know the family.
• Alongside the annual plan, we have a “family plan”, where we have planned a separate family event for each month. In the plan, we take into account the seasons and the wishes of the families. Each of our monthly plans has an activity where parents can participate. At the same time, we have also asked for feedback on our activities.
• Almost every month, we have an activity afternoon to which parents can join when they pick up the child.
• Every fall, we ask for ideas for activities from the parents. On the wall of the kindergarten, we have a wish tree, where parents can post thoughts as leaves of the tree.
• We organize various expert evenings with other private daycare centers.
• With preschool children’s parents, we have discussion sessions at least three times during the semester.
• We meet parents at least 2-3 times during the semester to discuss the child’s individual education plan.
• We organize parent evenings. For the evening, we collect in advance information about everyday issues that parents want to discuss. The topics are also visible on the wall of the nursery, so everyone gets to read them.
• We regularly remind parents that we are open to discussion. Sometimes parents might call in the evenings and talk openly about family situations.
• We provide opportunities for phone times and parents’ discussions.

What kinds of communication and cooperation practices have you found good? Is there anything you would like to take from the list above? Please feel free to give any of our tips a try at your kindergarten! Or just be inspired to keep up a systematic and continuous communication with the parents and families within your kindergarten.

In TinyApp, we believe that building the bridge of understanding between homes and kindergartens creates a strong base for children’s learning and wellbeing. Raising happy children is our joint effort. Check out how TinyApp could support you in your important work with young children and their families!

Are you struggling with classroom management and looking for new ideas in your lesson planning? Do you want to grow into being a teacher with tools and energy to motivate your students into developing a sustainability mindset? You are not alone! Teachers all over the world share the same challenges, struggles and dreams and need new ideas for classroom management.

Here are EduGems Finland’s 7 steps towards transforming your classroom and teaching:

Step 1: Accept that you are ready for a change! You might be bored with the same old routines and techniques you have been using for years, and lack motivation. Now it’s time to become a better teacher and appreciate your profession.

Step 2: Look into yourself and start with personal development before you take on professional development. Show your students that you also can grow as a teacher. Learn ways to gain confidence

Step 3: Turn your limitations into benefits. As with students also teachers have their unique sets of superpowers! Learn how to use them.

Step 4: Are you and your students equipped with the right tools and knowledge needed in today’s world? What are the 21^st century skills and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)? How can you teach these subjects?

Step 5: Uncertain how to make a change? Learn from other teachers with years of experience from the best education system in the world, Finland, and get their best tips on classroom management and lesson planning.

Step 6. You are not alone in the classroom! Actively involving students in planning can make a big difference. Discover ways to shift your students’ thinking and attitude and increase their participation.

Step 7. Start with small changes, test, adapt and try again! Encourage and guide your school and colleagues towards new learning methods!

The course Educational Approaches in Finland (Module 1) will take you through each of the described steps and give you the tools to make a change in your classroom, and a certificate which serves as proof of professional development.

Karla Soto, a Chemistry teacher from Chile, joined us in 2020, and when asked why she enrolled into the course Educational Approaches in Finland, she answered:

“I considered the topic very interesting, especially for teachers outside of Finland. I saw it as  a great opportunity to get introduced to the teaching and learning practices used in this country that has gained the recognition of having the best education in the world through a model that is centred in students well-being instead of performance.”

Her thoughts after Module 1:

“I can’t wait to learn more! I found this course to be a good introduction to what it is like to be a teacher in Finland. I really like the first part about finding joy in being a teacher, this is something we, as teachers, need to connect with more often.”

So, get ready to receive praise for equipping your students with 21st century skills and watch their motivation and joy of learning increase. Our research-based and certified study methods will transform your classroom and teaching skills!

Sign up for Educational Approaches here.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a whopping number of countries, 191, have implemented countrywide school closures, affecting 1,6 billion learners worldwide. With many children currently not able to study in classrooms, the importance of learning at home is amplified and the task of supporting children’s learning has fallen on parents at a much larger rate. This is a significant burden for parents and we at Positive Parenting from Finland got worried about it.

A majority of parents found homeschooling “stressful and challenging” during the pandemic.

“Many parents commented that they lacked the skills to effectively teach their children.” That is the suggestion from research by the Unesco Education Centre at Ulster University (UU).

In Finland, one of the leading educational countries and the happiest country in the world, no teaching related mass events will be organized, social distancing rules will be observed, and people are advised to avoid contact.

But can COVID-19 lead to something good?

Luckily children tend to be adaptable. Quarantine itself is not necessarily causing harm or depriving kids of what they need. There’s much to be gained from interactions with parents, siblings and even pets. Time alone is valuable, too.

So, where does all this leave parents? The new situation has invited new thinking and solutions in Finland, the country famed for excellence in education and being the happiest country in the world.

Even before this new situation, parents have had to deal with parenting mostly on their own.  And now, in many cases parents have been overwhelmed with remote learning requirements in Finland, too. Two education solution companies; TinyApp and Futurecode decided to take action and address these global challenges through creating a great practical toolkit to support and guide parents.

Pia Solatie, one of the founders of Positive Parenting from Finland explains: ”In Finland transversal skills have for quite some time had a major role in curricula for both early childhood and primary schools. Now, during COVID-19 pandemic, we see the shift in the responsibility of teaching these crucial future skills from professionals at kindergartens and schools to parents”.

”The lockdowns of kindergartens and schools revealed the same experiences also among many parents in Finland.” says Marjo Paappanen, a school teacher MA in education and pedagogical expert in the team behind Positive Parenting from Finland course.

“In our team, we felt that this is not necessarily the time for lectures about the importance of social skills. Our emphasis is on supporting parents in their important role. We also wish to focus on practical ways to learn e.g. through playful learning moments.” Marjo Paappanen continues.

Naturally, Positive Parenting from Finland is not only suited for the current situation but serves as a convenient and practical toolkit for parents looking for support, guidance, and inspiration in parenting.

At this very moment, families are experiencing a period of challenging times with the pandemic. Mental health issues have also raised a lot of discussion, and that is why we wish to share a practical hint from our Positive Parenting from Finland course. Emotional skills are really important for mental health, and how you feel about yourself, and how you interact with others. Luckily emotional skills and empathy can be learned and here is our favorite game to practice with. It is called “the Nicety Worm”.  The “Nicety Worm” is actually a chain, made of small pieces of paper. Always, when a family member recognizes something nice and kind happening in the family, one can attach a new piece to the chain or worm. The idea is to make a decision that when the Nicety Worm has e.g. ten pieces, the family is going to do something awesome together. It is fun to see the Nicety worm grow longer along with those moments of kindness!  And this is a great way to demonstrate an abstract concept for children. Additionally, every new piece gives a good reason for praising the children for nice and kind deeds. We hope you give this little game a try, and experience the result, too.

The aim is to support parents in their super important work, guiding children and developing their skills to meet the future challenges and opportunities.

Busy parents – a global dilemma

There are great books about parenting, but everyone who has experienced family life, will surely agree that while being a parent, life can be busy and time a limited resource. Positive Parenting from Finland approach emphasizes the bite-sized learning moments for parents and children as well.

The courses and units offer tips and hints in short audio chapters and practical guides. And these are designed to be carried out in daily context. The suggested activities rarely call for extensive equipment, but just a little bit of time and rehearsal. Some chapters offer mostly food to thought, suggestions for parents to reflect on the new thinking and ideas. And then let parents find the ways to implement the insights to fit their situation and needs.

The Positive Parenting from Finland is focusing on the crucial 21^st century skills. And why?

The course is divided into 4 modules, each dealing with a certain set of skills like social skills, emotional skills, co-operation skills and creativity skills.

These skills are at times referred to as the 21st century skills or transversal skills. They stretch into all aspects of life and learning. We believe these skills are the ones your child will need the most in the future, and that is why we call them the future skills.

In real life mastering the 21^st century skills will help your child and make it easy to make friends and prosper at school. You and your child will learn to understand your emotions and take other’s emotions into account. You learn to work in teams, as everyone should in the future. You also gain tools to improve your creativity and innovation ability. Just to mention a few!

Additionally, we have complied bonus chapters which covers 6 contemporary, hot topics among parents. One of these is dealing with screen time, one concentrates on healthy lifestyle and eating issues.

We warmly welcome you to explore Positive Parenting online course and look forward to your feedback and experiences.

Finland is declared as the happiest nation in the world for 4 consecutive times, and we in our team feel it is about time we highlight our key takeaways also in parenthood. That is why, we have been working hard to get “Positive Parenting from Finland” online toolkit ready for homes to enjoy!

“You should definitely make an online course of this theme!”

“Is there a web shop where we can buy these products?”

It’s been literally for years that we have heard these comments and questions. While training international education experts around the world and presenting Finnish educational ideas, practices, material, and products, there has always been this question: “How can we access these resources from home?”

Even though we understood that there is a genuine need for quality educational resources for educators around the world, we never seemed to have time to proceed with our online courses or web shop plans. (Even though we originally reserved the domains already in 2018 😊!). Team Learning Scoop was for several years too busy with organizing study tours in Finland and training education experts in all continents to really execute our plans for sharing our resources online.

And them came COVID-19. Nobody was able to travel anywhere. Teachers around the world were struggling with distance teaching. With no physical mobility allowed, everyone turned even more to online resources to find advice, ideas, inspiration, and tools that really work.

It was “now or never” moment for us. Finally, we had the time needed to design a marketplace for Finnish digital educational products. Finally, we were able to produce online courses to share our experience and expertise. Our ultimate goal was to help teachers and schools: to provide them with a place where they could find quality products to support them in their work and promote their professional development. We wanted to make these state-of-the-art educational solutions available for everyone. That´s why we established Finland Education Shop.

Why Finland? Of course, there are great professional tools for educators from different countries. But we know from the work we have done for years that many experts from all over the world wonder what makes Finnish education so successful. What could the world learn from Finland?

For those professionals who are curious about Finland’s success in international learning comparisons, there has not been an easy access to Finnish educational solutions. Or those education experts who are fascinated by Finland’s ability to combine excellent learning outcomes with students’ happiness and wellbeing, there has not been a place to get to know the resources that reflect the unique educational approach of Finland.

Finland has declared to be the happiest country in the World in 4 consecutive years now. Many people want to know, how Finland has been able to rank among the top performers in international learning comparisons and provide such a high quality, student-centered, yet relaxed and stress-free schooling for all children equally. It’s not a secret. Finland’s excellent learning outcomes are the result of research-based pedagogy and its innovative approach to teaching and learning among other things. Finnish education professionals are more than happy to share our approach, practices, and experiences with colleagues around the world. After all, Finland has got a lot of great ideas from other countries too. And we trust that educators from all over the world are experts in their own country, culture and context. By getting to know Finnish ideas, they can decide, which of them can be applied in their own work and own country.

Together with skilled education companies from Finland we are introducing curated, quality products for you to enjoy. The unique educational approach of Finland is manifested in different professional products available in Finland Education Shop. Self-study Online courses and live Webinars explain the Finnish pedagogy from different perspectives and offer practical tips to apply in your own work. Different digital applications provide teachers with concrete professional tools that are based on Finnish educational expertise. With these tools you can bring a piece of Finnish education to your classroom! There are several e-books about Finnish education coming to foster teachers’ professional development. Furthermore, you can experience a glimpse of Finnish education virtually and visually and when we are finally able to travel again, you are welcome to witness the Finnish education miracle yourself on a Study Tour! And this is just the beginning – there are many more exciting things coming. Stay tuned for updates!

We believe that sharing is caring. By learning from each other, we can improve the quality of education worldwide. We hope we can help you in your professional development. We are happy to receive feedback and co-create.

Welcome to the community of learning!

Finland Education Shop

We are happy to introduce a great selection of tools for teachers and schools – benchmark Finland.

Stay tuned for more details!