Fulbright Essay: Guiding Question
How does the Finnish education system address the arts in education?
I have always been interested in incorporating art and music into my lessons, and was so impressed with the way that they are such a big part of the national curriculum of Finland. Throughout our school visits and presentations, the theme of addressing the whole child was apparent. It was also stressed how the arts helped develop the whole child. I saw so many art and music lessons and related resources while visiting classrooms in Epsoo and Joensuu. In listening to the many talks that we attended, I also discovered that the arts are a huge part of Finland's national curriculum. Arts in education is also an important part of teacher education.
In some of the talks that we attended, we learned that a big part of Finnish culture involves doing with your hands as this is important for your brain. In the schools, there is a balance of academics and creativity. Crafts is ⅓ of education, and usually involves the use of many different materials. Sustainable development is also embedded in crafts. All of the schools that we visited had students working on handmade wood projects, using saws, drills, and other tools. Some of the students showed us their projects, which included trays and even chairs. These schools also had very nice sewing machines. In one classroom, students were sewing bags for ice skates. In other classrooms, students were making reflectors and hand sewing the felt. We learned that teachers often teach one major craft and one minor subject in middle school. In the primary schools, teachers teach everything. In Vantaa, we learned that the elementary schools offer all five craft and art subjects.
I also observed several music classes in the schools that we visited. In one elementary classroom, students each had a ukulele and were learning phrases of a song. This classroom also had a piano, a drum set, and several guitars. In a high school classroom, we observed students composing music on their computers. This classroom also had a large variety of instruments, including pedal snare drums, which the instructor said was invented in Finland. We learned that in Finland, there is also a long tradition of theatre and drama.
The importance of the arts in education was also a large part of the Finnish curriculum. In the book National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care, 2018 (Published 2019 by the Finnish National Agency for Education), one of the sections (3.3) was entitled “Aiming for transversal competence”. The subsection (T1) was “Thinking and learning to learn.” This is accomplished by “an exploratory and creative working approach, doing things together and possibilities for focusing and concentration promote the development of thinking and learning to learn.” In section 3.3 (National goals of education), there is a subsection (T2) entitled “Cultural competence, interaction, and self-expression.” This is addressed when “The pupils are given opportunities for experiencing and interpreting art, culture, and cultural heritage…They also learn to communicate, modify and create culture and tradition and to understand their significance for well-being.” These are examples from the Finnish curriculum of how important the arts are in education.
At the University of Eastern Finland, we heard Sirpa Kokko, the craft professor, speak about the arts in Finnish schools. In her talk, she said that there is a large emphasis on the arts (about ⅓ of subjects). She also stressed that the reason was that the arts “developed the whole personality of the pupils.” In her slideshow, she listed visual arts, crafts, and music as being compulsory subjects in grades 1-7. She also listed the benefits of the arts in education:
Develop the pupils’ skills with various craft materials and techniques
Develop the capacities in design and technology, artistic expression
Invent and experiment, learn spacial understanding and psychomotor skills
Learn to appreciate quality, self-esteem grows
Take a critical, evaluative stance towards choices and products, appreciation of culture.
At the Mercuria school, we learned that there has been a long tradition of teaching drama and theatre. At this school, students can get a degree in theatre and drama, as well as in visual arts and music.
Sirpa Kokko made the comment “hands plus minds” to describe the educational philosophy in Finland. I loved this philosophy to describe the importance of the arts in education. I would like to see more arts and crafts included in our curriculum in the United States. Observing the schools and hearing what teachers and professors in Finland said about the importance of arts and crafts to the students reinforced this belief. In order for this to happen, I think that it would have to start with the education of teachers. I think that teachers need to be taught the importance of arts and crafts, and also to be taught how to implement them into the curriculum. Personally, I plan to incorporate more arts and crafts into my lessons, and encourage other teachers to as well.