20. Pasi Sahlberg on Equity and Education
“We should not have different expectations and hopes for our own children than for the others.” Chapter 20 Over two days I had the pleasure of getting to know...
19. Visiting Andreas Schleicher and OECD for a Global Perspective
“The kind of things that are easy to teach and easy to test are diminishing in the labor market relevance because computers are a lot better than humans in...
18. Finns Share Insights About American Education
“I guess I’d say I didn’t really like the multiple-choice thing in the U.S. My sister said it really well: ‘It felt really funny to not having to produce...
17. Teacher Freedom and the Core Concepts for Learning
“Teachers have a lot of good ideas and when they process those ideas (and) share the ideas with each other, they can create an even better school than we...
16. More than Fifteen Words that Mean “Peace”
Respecting Student’s Learning Needs Chapter 16 “At first the lack of sound is alarming. In this place it is one’s pulse that speaks the loudest. Next are the the...
15. Every Child Has “Special Needs”
“They don’t have learning disabilities, that’s true. They all comes to this that they have this behavior disorder one way or another. They are not being active (in the)...
14. The Value of Time in the Learning Process
“It’s better to use a lot of time to something rather than hurry hurry hurry all the time.” Chapter 14 After nearly seventy consecutive days of travel, I take...
13. The “Silent Church”
Understanding the Whole Person Chapter 13 You’re looking across one of the busiest areas in Helsinki: to your left is Kamppi, the main bus terminal and on the other side of...
12. Saddle Shoes and a Pink Ukulele
“If you don’t struggle you don’t learn anything.” Chapter 12 A month later, temperatures are warmer, the piles of snow are melting and spring leaves and flowers are starting to...
11. Night as a Winter Animal
“If the information is so shallow that they just read it from a book then they can’t relate it to something real and something that is part of their...
10. A Cottage Pre-School
“Teacher’s role is tutoring, coaching, setting of questions, supporting. We have a very famous approach – scaffolding.” Chapter 10 In the middle of the forest there is a preschool/kindergarten...
9. Candles on the Doorstep
Chapter 9 Candles on the Doorstep There is a lovely tradition in Finland where people put candles on their doorstep as if waiting for a guest to arrive. I don’t...
8. Swimming and Dipping in Icy Finnish Water
Chapter 8 Swimming and Dipping in Icy Finnish Water I hate the cold. I hate cold water even more. It takes my body a very long time to warm...
Chapter 7 Problem Solving in Music Class
“You have to be active in your thoughts when you are involved in music making.” Chapter 7 To get to Kuitinmäki Lower Secondary School I have to take bus...
6. Teaching is Like “Sailing”
I think that teaching is like sailing. You have a target where you want to go but when you go to a classroom you don’t know which way the...
5. “Quit It!”
“We talk about what’s working and what’s not working … then we can have a discussion.” Chapter 5 Click below for story. I’d been in Joensuu about two weeks, maybe three,...