Day 1 - Arrival

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Arriving in Finland on my birthday got this experience off to a great start! After meeting Fulbright Finland Foundation staff at the Helsinki Airport, my group made it to our hotel in the Siltasaari neighborhood, where we spent a few hours before our welcome dinner. 

I took a walk around the Hakaniemi market square and neighborhood and could immediately see the primacy of water. Siltasaari means "Bridge Island" in Finnish, and I thought that we were near some kind of lake. As it turns out, Helsinki is a peninsula and archipelago in the Gulf of Finland -part of the Baltic Sea- and the water curves around and through the city as a constant reminder of the immediacy of nature. 

Evening came quickly as the sun sets early this time of year, and our group of 15 Fulbright teachers met for the first time for a delicious dinner that showcased Finnish cuisine (lots of fish, potatoes, and arctic berries) and longkyrö. In the first of many acts of kindness, the group sang Happy Birthday to me in English and Finnish, and we capped off the evening with some rainbow cookies that I brought from a bakery in New York's Little Italy. I wanted to share those as a symbol of New York, but also as a symbol of the cultural exchange that happens when people travel to new locations. 

Then it was off to bed because the next day, we would be "diving in" to Finnish education and culture bright and early the next day.

Day 2 - Crash Course in the Finnish Education System and Finnish Culture

Thursday, November 3, 2022

Today was the day for really "jumping in" to the Finnish experience. (You'll understand the pun soon!) 

We began the day at the Fulbright Finland Foundation offices, which happens to be housed in the same building as the Finnish National Agency for Education (Opetushallitus, in Finnish). That right there told us something about how central the role of exchanges are to the education mission of Finland. Oh, and there's a sauna on the top floor of the building too. I should have seen that coming.

First, we heard the CEO of the foundation, Terhi Mölsä, speak, where she gave historical perspective and context to the mission of the Fulbright programs, specifically the Finnish ones. There was a lot information that blew my mind from the guiding cultural principals of Finland for over 10,000 (seeing humans as their natural resource and investing that way) to the guiding work of Fulbright (originally conceived as a peace program and now includes sustainability and "science diplomacy"). She was the first of many speakers to reiterate the theme of trust as one that binds both Finnish cultural and educational landscapes. (Case in point, Prime Minister Sanna Marin's tweet.) Even the Foundation's motto references acting collectively for positive change: "Together shaping the future."

Next, we heard from three different levels of Finnish education stakeholders: a counselor from FNAE, a municipal education coordinator for the city of Vantaa, and a teacher from Finland's western coast. The mind-blowing moments continued where we learned about the layers of flexibility, autonomy, and you guessed it, trust embedded in the equivalent of their K-12 system. In short, Finland's cornerstones are about creating a free and equitable school experience for all students. College-bound and vocational tracks are treated as parallels. There is a required emphasis on the arts and handicrafts. Teachers have greater say in their curriculum and even their own schedules. Most principals also teach. There are no high-stakes standardized tests until the end of high school, no principal observations, and no school quality reviews. 

Whew! It sounds pretty idyllic, but it there are some pressures and challenges that sounded familiar to all of us: COVID brought about the same obstacles that we saw in the U.S., growing diversity in the country is testing the notion of equity, and there are gender-based discrepancies in performance that don't yet have an explanation. And yet, we all left pretty starry-eyed about the existence of a world that didn't focus on testing or that micromanaged everyone's time in the pursuit of outcomes. I would even say we were inspired and at the same time eager to dive deeper (another water metaphor!) to see how these policies play out on a day to day level. 

But first, we headed out of town to a conference center for some networking, planning for school visits and of course, sauna! 

Day 3 - School Visits in Espoo and Ringette Game

Friday, November 4, 2022

Today I was struck by observations and conversations around student independence and autonomy - that from a young age they learn to manage themselves and their environment, which sets them up for future success. There was a cool parallel later in the day when we saw all the young ringette players in the stands at the World Championships game, watching and learning from such skilled professional athletes as role models.

Specifically, three of us TGC Fellows visited the Tiistilä School in Espoo. We began to see the principals in action that we heard about yesterday. We saw an art class, an English class, a home economics class, and ate lunch in the school cafeteria. Espoo, as the second largest city in Finland, has a large international population, akin to what we might see in New York City. The English class teacher said that in his class of 18 students, there were 11 different, non-Finnish languages spoken at home. This was my first time seeing that Finland is not as homogenous as I initially assumed. 

After our school site visits, we all reconvenes at the Espoo International School for some facilitated reflection time. We know how education can be a metaphor for opening doors and opportunities, but hearing about interdisciplinary studies, arts integration, and the 15-minute breaks between classes, made it more concrete to see how students can realize their potential even more in places that honors their humanity and connectedness. The only word that can summarize this day is "grateful" or kiitollinen in Finnish.

And a word on ringette: It is a game much like hockey. Teams compete to get a ring into a goal. Instead of L-shaped hockey sticks, ringette sticks are like canes with a rubber tip on the end. The players we saw are super skilled and fast on the ice! I've gone to watch my husband Russ play in his rec league in New York, and while he played hockey growing, you can tell that the Finns take their ice sports so seriously. I initially wasn't sure if I would get into the game, but it was completely compelling to watch and another inextricable part of the culture. 

Day 4 - Nature School in Nuuksio National Park

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Today we got out into nature as we went to Nuuksio National Park and the Haltia Nature Center over in Espoo. We learned about Finnish geography, climate, habitats, and a little dose of mythology. Growing up in Minnesota, I saw firsthand why our state is called "The Land of 10,000 Lakes," and I know dozen of people who go to their cabin "at the lake" and "up north." However, Finland has Minnesota beat with its over 180,000 lakes and over 3 million summer cottages (with saunas!) as vacation homes for its 5 million inhabitants. I can definitely see why the Scandinavians who immigrated to the U.S. chose the upper Midwest as their home. I felt very at home among the Finnish pine and birch trees. 

After our guided nature center tour, we had another yummy cafeteria lunch and then went down to a tipi structure by the lake for some tikkapulla (or "stick bread") cooked around a campfire and glögi (spiced wine syrup). Our program staff told us that tikkapulla is the equivalent to Finnish s'mores and that kids often do this when camping. It is a sweet dough spiced with cardamom that's wound around a stick and cooked over the open fire. I'll tell you that it takes a lot more patience than s'mores... but it's still pretty delicious. And it made for a fun birthday cake for another of our participants.

Once we returned back to Helsinki, we had the evening free. I went to the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art with some fellow participants. There was an incredible exhibit that featured artists who were either from the north of the country or whose work touched on the meaning of "north," including a number of Sámi artists. And then I ventured out once more to meet a friend who I hadn't seen since college. 

All in all, this TGC exchange experience has had me thinking a lot about tradition and change - in the way we think about ourselves, in the way we interact with nature, and the way we relate to one another.

Day 5 - Helsinki City Tour and Home Visit with Fulbright Alum

Sunday, November 6, 2022

Today was a day for gaining more context about the city and the country. We had a guided bus tour around Helsinki to see some of the major sites and learn about the history behind them. For instance, we learned about the coat of arms that appears inside the Finnish flag are is only present on the flags of official government buildings. We learned more about Tsar Nicholas II's role in maintaining Swedish-Finnish bilingualism and not requiring Russian language - a pretty interesting thought given the very much hands on attitude of Russia these days. (Side note: Finns don't seem to be worried about their neighbor given the fact that they have compulsory military service to draw from and, of course, they recently joined NATO.) Plus, the skies cleared and we saw the sun for the first time in our visit while we were standing in Senate Square! 

After another lovely lunch (I tried the reindeer -kind of like a gamey roast beef) and another lonkero, we spent the afternoon with Fulbright Finland program alumni. Jermaine, Katrina, and I spent our afternoon with Pirjo, a retired math teacher who spent the 2007-08 school year at an international school in the Bronx. Her friend Eva-Liisa also a retired teacher, joined in. We were treated to a lovely spread of korvapuusti (Finnish cinnamon rolls), blueberry cake, coffee, and other homemade delicacies. This was my first glimpse into the extensive network of FF alum, and it made me very honored and enthusiastic about being able to "pay it forward" someday through future hospitality and help. On this afternoon, we all enjoyed playing with the doggos, sharing stories about our schools, and Katrina -who was going to visit Lapland after the conclusion of our trip- was gifted Pirjo's own doll in traditional Sámi dress for her daughter. Such hospitality and generosity! We left with full hearts and full bellies. 

I closed the evening with a trip with some of the other ladies from our group to Löylö - my second sauna experience of the trip. It is a very posh spot with the best of Scandinavian design and saunas of a few different temperatures. They also have a lovely restaurant and cocktail menu, but the best part, hands down was the staircase into the Baltic Sea. This was how you can cool off in between heat sessions. And, as if an omen, the full moon came our from behind the seemingly permanent clouds to grace us with the most peaceful evening scene. What a nice close to our first leg in Helsinki.

Day 6 - Travel to Joensuu and the Martha Organization 

Monday, November 7, 2022

Today, we loaded up a mini bus and hit the road for Joensuu in Eastern Finland. With a pit stop for lunch, it took about 6 hours. Earlier in the morning, Mirka, one of the Fulbright Finland staff members texted us all a picture of the lovely snowy town square. Being a little towards the northeast (and nearly on the border with Russia), we wondered if it would feel more like a Finnish winter.

Once checked in to our women-run boutique hotel, Lietsu, along the Pielisjoki River, we stretched out legs with a walk over to Joensuu's branch of the Martha Organization, a non-profit network of Finnish home ec and consumer ed classes. Tarja, another of our guides for the trip, is a "Martha," and she arranged for us to take a cooking class so we could prepare our own traditional Finnish dinner. And I"m so glad she did! This was truly a highlight.

There is something so special about communal meals in which people share in the preparation and all sit down to enjoy together. We have been learning that this style of togetherness is a fundamental Finnish value, but it apparently wasn't always that way in the domestic sphere; the Martha Organization started because there was communal knowledge and practiced that were being lost. Now, through classes and advocacy, Finns have access to more advice on cooking, gardening, and even sustainability. (No relation to the American domestic goddess of the same name.)

And we got to benefit from the cooking part! We were divided up into pairs by our Martha guide and all prepared a different component of the meal: root vegetable soup, savory oat balls, meatballs, Karelian pasties, egg butter, mashed potatoes, and (my station) blueberry pie. It was all absolutely delicious, and I really appreciated this hands on interaction with such a fundamental feature of culture. I went to bed that night with a full belly and a full heart.

Day 7 - School Visits in Joensuu

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

We were lucky enough to have two days to spend at schools in Joensuu. My middle school ELA buddy, Anne (NC) and I walked from our hotel to the Lyseon Peruskoulu Lower Secondary School, which is the Finish equivalent of a middle school. We met with Assistant Principal Seppo Myllyoja and his school dog(!). 

As we toured around the school itself and a few classes from English to arts and shop to Social Studies, Anne and I recognized the greater freedom that students had to explore in their classes and of course play between classes, but we were also surprised at the hallways that needed no apparent supervision. And we were left to wander according to our interests. 

While speaking with the Social Studies teacher (who was using Minecraft to have students build structures that were appropriate from different periods of Finland's history in one class and then having students put together group presentations about WWII in another) we learned that his collaborative "flipped classroom" style of teaching makes him still a bit of an outlier. It's not that everyone is encouraging student-driven inquiry everywhere you look. And it also reminded me of what the some of the most innovative and celebrated teachers do back in the U.S. So, yes, strong schools are a part of what makes Finnish education stand out, but there is that pervasive culture of trust that I can't but think is the "special sauce." 

I capped the night off with yet another sauna that was available right on the top level of the hotel. Because Finland.

Day 8 - More School Visits and the University of Eastern Finland

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Today, we woke up to another day along the Pielisjoki River in Joensuu, and Anne and I and headed back to Lyseon Peruskoulu. It turns out that there was a proposed schedule that we could follow, but our host AP was a little too shy of his so-called limited English and his easygoing personailty to insist that we follow any structure in particular. We learned that we could visit a biology class and and English class before checking out a unique program that is specifically designed to support newcomers to Finland with language support and cultural immersion.

At the Peruskoulu, we sat through a very familiar-feeling lecture style class on the composition of blood. Students copied diagrams into their notebooks and answered text-based questions. Nothing was a grand contrast between U.S. classes and here. There were even classroom plants under grow lights as you might imagine when asked to picture a science classroom. And to cap it all off, one of the seventh grade students whose notebook we had been peering over asked me at the end of the class, "Would you like to see my frog?" Of course I said yes, and she proceeded to show me pictures on her phone of her pet frog. This interaction absolutely tracks with my experience of little middle school weirdos back home, which felt comforting. Kids are kids everywhere.

Then, we got to meet with a SPED teacher in her office. It seems as though here in Joensuu, the caseload isn't quite as big, but teachers are still stretched quite thin. They have mandates to meet, meetings to attend, and material to modify and teach. And yet, there is a flexibility in providing services to all students, not just the ones who require it. This teacher, who functions as a pull-out teacher or even a self-contained teacher at times, showed us a set of differentiated textbooks and talked about the pressures and learning challenges that she sees in her students. This conversation gave me another set of familiar feelings and made me remember that back in Espoo, we met a harried school counselor (one for the whole building) rushing between floors*. Even in a country that seems like it has its education together, some of the services providers are still working in difficult structures. 

Over in the English class, we observed some conversation role plays and participated in a Kahoot. I'm relieved to say I got on the leaderboard. 

But the highlight of the day (after trying the salmon soup, that would NEVER fly in a U.S. school cafeteria) was the trip across the street to an old school building that now houses the newcomer immersion program. Finland does their language instruction for new arrivals quite differently than New York City schools. All students are in a stand-alone program for a minimum of one year, two years of needed. Then, after they are at the adequate level of proficiency, they are integrated with their age group peers. 

This particular program is part of their regular school day, and Anne and I saw students walking back and forth between the two buildings. Classes are all day and include a mix of Finnish language and theater/drama/art classes in a groups of 10 students to 1 teacher and 1 assistant. These are called Reception classes, which I assume is the direct translation from the Finnish. There is also native language support one time per week. But what makes this particular program unique is that they offer family services as well, such as "Women's School" and "Family School" that provides community and coaching to new arrivals, especially refugees, as they adjust to Finnish society. 

This program has the name Mahdollisuuksien Matkalaukut, which translates to "Suitcases of Possibilities." And as the war in Ukraine rages on, the Joensuu site has been welcoming Russian and Ukrainian refugees alike, in addition to those from other countries, many who are Arabic-speaking. So this name with its dual connotations of fleeing home and finding hope, really made me think of how differently our country is set up to receive refugees. Of course the numbers are on two completely different scales, but Finland was showing me a scale that was unmistakably human. 

Our evening programming took us to UEF, the University of Eastern Finland, for a panel presentation.  The introductory topics included the educational requirements to become a teacher and new initiatives such as piloting a new early childhood training program. Then we heard from professors working in the fields of Special Education, Arts & Crafts education, professional development and assessment. Some surprising revelations to me were that the majority of RTI interventions require no administrative decisions (the first two tiers) and that an individual learning plan is not the same as an IEP in the States. This seemed to match with the refrains of flexibility that our group keeps hearing about and the experience of the SPED teacher at the Peruskoulu. The other really, really cool thing to learn about was that the Craft programming (which includes music and physical education) make up about 1/3 of a student's schedule and is compulsory in grades 1-7. That this country prioritizes creativity and play should be the takeaway that is shouted from the mountaintops so that we hear it back over in Washington and state capitols around the U.S. I admire, envy, and want to travel back in time to be a schoolkid in Finland all at the same time. 

We capped off the evening with a delicious dinner at the luxe Teatteriravintola with the professors, all of whom had received Fulbright grants to study and teach in the U.S. I luckily had the ear of Erkko Sointu, a professor in SPED, who contributed to a book on behavior management that is on my to-read list. Maybe there's a research project if I ever get a UFT sabattical...

*I later learned at the UEF that the nationwide ratio for school counselors is 1:1,200 students. The American School Counnselors Associaotion recommends a 250:1 ratio of students to school counselors, yet the national average was actually 408:1 for the 2021–2022 school year. 

Day 9 - North Karelian Culture and Internationalization Days Conference

Thursday, November 10, 2022

We bagan this day with a guided tour of the North Karelian Museum. North Karelia refers to the region that's about halfway up the country and along the eastern border with Russia, where Joensuu sits (and what gives the name to those rice and rye flour hand pies). Our guide was fantastic, and the wealth of artifacts and information there reminded me that every place has deep history. 

After our morning at the museum and nearby craft markets, we headed back to the UEF for the Internationalization Days conference. When we got our itinerary, this was the section that I had the least clue about. It turns out that we would probably call is something like a "global education conference" in the U.S. There were all kinds of speakers, presentations, and vendors talking about student and teacher exchange programs, different resources for globalizing your teaching... and it even turns out that we were one of the presentations the next day! We had a little advanced warning and time to prepare, but whew - to represent American education and how it overlaps with Finnish core competencies?! More on that in the next entry.

We attended a talk by Nazanin Berarpour, Assistant Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy Helsinki. She explained about the role of public diplomacy and her take on where the trust in Finnish institutions comes from: in part, transparency and communication on government decision making. She also made me consider a career in the State Department when my teacher days are over. Hmmm...;)

We also heard a presentation on sustainability in global citizenship education from representatives from the city of Oulu. Their briefing highlighted that the smallest part of a global education or "internationalization" as they call it, is actual travel. They also included a pitch for one fo their grants, and maybe one day it will be something I look into. 

Finally, we went to a presentation that was an overview of their K-12 education equivalent in Ukraine by Olga Filipova, a professor who was being hosted by the UEF after she fled due to the war. It was really interesting to hear about the different languages used in instruction depending on the geographic locations. But of course over everything was the heaviness of the war and the reality that school cannot happen as usual in the country. It was an emotional topic, to be sure, but she emphasized that she did not want us leaving sad but rather hopeful. 

The day ended with two social events, the first being a happy hour with Fulbright Finland alumni. There were students and professors alike there, and it was nice to be able to see some familliar faces from our time in Joensuu as well as new folks. I could really get the sense just how large a network Fulbright Finland is. The second event was a formal reception at the Joensuu Art Musuem. The city sponsored this event for all the conference attendees. There was lovely food and drinks, but the best part was a special four-person kantele performance. This stringed instrument, similar to a dulcimer, is the national instrument of Finland, and when this ensemble played, it was so dreamy and ethereal. And the emsemble was comprised of young people. I love that their innovation put a spin on tradition, and I think that's a cool metaphor for what we try to do as educators. 

Day 10 - Internationalization Days Presentation

Friday, November 11, 2022

This day was brief but intense on the front end. It was our big presentation at the global education conference. What we ended up doing was breaking into small groups and taking on different areas of so-called "transversal competencies" of Finnish education and describing how we also use those in American education. A way to think about these competencies might be "soft skills" or the skills and dispositions that the Asia Society lists as hallmarks of global competence. Here is a link from the Finnish National Agency for Education describing the competencies at the secondary school level, but they are parts of their entire basic education.

Sofia (CA), Veronica (CA), and I took on the "Well-Being" competency and talked about how that comprises physical, emotional, and mental aspects. The session was run like kind of like speed dating where participants had a limited time at each station and then rotated at the sound of a timer. It was a little stressful to be representing the American education system to a room full of Finnish peers and education ministers, but we found lots of similarities in terms of what our students are going through, especially in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, screen time, and even gun violence. 

After our whirlwind session, a few Fulbrighters gave the closing keynote address (Shoutout Ryan, Michael, and Sofia!) while the rest of us went to the University of Eastern Finland teacher training school. This was basically a lab school where teaching candidates get their practical field experience alongside education professors and experiences teachers. There are 10 of these teacher training schools across Finland, a associated with a university. 

High-quality training is one of the things that has made Finnish education so strong. The profession has required a Master's degree ever since 1979, and it was more difficult to become a teacher that a dentist through the 80s. That's not to say there aren't the challenges that any American teacher would recognize. Our host, Timo Martikainen, conducted his PhD research on the difficulty of teacher collaboration. 

Our last Joensuu school visit concluded, and we boarded the bus for another 6 hour ride back to Helsinki. 

Day 11 - Back in Helsinki - Oodi Library, Heureka Science Center, and a traditional sauna

Saturday, November 12, 2022

I like a good library. But this place -the Helsinki Central Library Oodi- is a great library. We went there because there are public conference rooms that we rented out so we could begin to do our group planning for our final takeaways. Not only does this space have conference rooms and working spaces, there are plenty of play spaces. By that I mean rooms to play video games, record music, sew, 3-D print, watch movies, have coffee, and of course read. This is truly a building for the public. It was designed with great input from the public, and I was so impressed by the inclusive nature and thoughtful design process that went into it. 

We had an interesting fishbowl structure to share our reflections so far: 4 people in a small circle with the rest of the group around in a bigger circle. The group of 4 bagin a conversation. When someone from the outer circle wants to make a contribution, they stand and switch places with whoever from the small circle is ready to tap out. 

We had a lot to say about the Finnish educational context as compared to our own. Throughout the trip, we talked a lot about the difficulties and pressures that American teachers face. However, we also acknowledged that there are really good things happening in schools all over the U.S. We see it firsthand on a daily basis, and we see it in spite of the barriers to our profession. So if we are looking for a unifying element that defines American education, it has to be the freaking perseverance.

After the whole-group discussion, Jermaine, Veronica, and I had time to explore the library and plan in our small group our "blip, booyah, and brag," in other words, a challenge, a learning, and a proud moment. We settled on the metaphor of a trip to the sauna to capture our experience, but more details to come...

We left the city center for lunch and a visit to the Heureka Science Center, which is a fully hands-on science museum. I'd imagine that this is a super fun place to bring kids or for a field trip. There were lots of areas to play and explore, as the sign out front proudly advertised, "Play is the highest form of research." The most unique exhibits was one on natural disasters and building structural and emotional resilience in the face of them as well as another on trees. I could appreciate how the universal truths of science concepts were woven into geographic and historic context.

We headed back to the city center via commuter train. With an evening to ourselves, I looked up another sauna, a more traditional one this time. Sofia was also up for going, so we set off to Kotiharjun Sauna. It's billed as the last wood-fired sauna in the city. You can definitely tell it's a relic from another time, when saunas weren't so readily accessible in city homes. It's more like a public bathhouse than a chic spa. But I was ok with that. It was still very popular. Rather than jump in a cold pool or the sea, you just step outside in the chilly air in your towel to cool off. (In your towel because, well, most people go inside the saunas nude in the traditional fashion.) There a locker room, shower room and sauna for women, and another set for men. I could see that ladies brought their snacks and drinks and took breaks in the locker room seating areas. It is definitely a way to get together and talk with your friends over an activity.

Sofia and I went another step further and booked a traditional scrub too. She came into the shower area in her galoshes when it was our time. Getting scrubbed, lathered, and rinsed felt very much like being cared for in a really elemental way; that despite the perceived closed off-ness of Nordic people (speaking as a tourist here and a native Midwesterner) everyone still looks out for your health and well being. 

With our rosy skin and full bellies from a vegetarian restaurant on the way back to the hotel, I went to bed happy.

Day 12 - Father's Day in Finland

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Today was a national holiday, so we were afforded a completely free day. (I wonder if this wasn't to give our Finnish staff a well-deserved break!) Some Fulbrighters decided to seize the day with a sunrise ferry to the UNESCO island fortress of Suomenlinna and then a bus to the historic village or Porvoo. Me? I checked out a hotel bike and went cruising around the city for some me time, museum time, and music.

The skies were miraculously clear again, which made it a a gorgeous day to be out and about. First up was a stop at the cute Cafe Regatta for some hot chocolate. They were only just getting the fire started so that patrons could warm their food over an open flame. Next, I went to the Finnish Design Museum where I learned more about everyday items such as Fiskars scissors, clothing, Iittala glassware, and of course, Angry Birds. After, I headed up to the Finnish National Museum , which deserves an entire day to itself! The exhibits are meant to walk you up from the lower level to the top of the building in choronological order. Somehow, after I left the neolithic area, I managed to walk backwards through time. It truly is a comprehensive, interactive, and extremely well-designed museum experience. 

I ended the day with a marvelous choral concert in the Temppeliaukion kirkko. It's known as The Church of the Rock for how it is carved directly into the rock formation, and it has a unique round construction, and apparently very good acoustics. I caught the concert at intermission but managed to hear the Spira Ensemble and the Finland Youth Choir sing Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and a few other pieces in Finnish and Swedish. My absolute favorite was one where the youth choir surrounded the audience and create an atmosphere of the forest with bird chirps and whistles and wind sounds. It was magical.

After that full day, I biked back to the hotel, but not before visiting a thrift store for some Marimekko finds - hey, it's Finnish design. ;)

Day 13 - Two Options After Basic Education

Monday, November 14, 2022

We heard it repeated that there are "no dead ends" in Finnish education, which is to say that there are options past the basic education, and even those options can be doubled up and doubled back if a student wants to change course.

To start, basic education describes grades 1-9, or in other words ages 7-15. Basic education ends with lower secondary school, our equivalent of middle school, even though the Finnish lower secondary school goes through 9th grade rather than 8th. School is still compulsory until the age of 18, but students have two choices of how to attend what we would think of as high school. One option is an general academic-focused upper secondary school. This option leads to a university matriculation exam and eventual study at the university level. The other option is vocational training. It still has academics, but the focus is on vocational training with the possibility of students being able to have the qualifications for an entry-level job upon graduation. 

We visited one of each of these schools in the suburb of Vantaa. First up was the Mercuria Business College. One of the Fulbright Finland interns attended this school and was happy to tell us about her experience and how she was more able to "show her learning by doing" rather than through exams. We learned that study paths can be individualized and tailored for eventual internship placement but that the performance-based evaluation criteria is set by the government. We visited a Customer Service class that included terminology (in Finnish, English, and sometimes Swedish) and role play for various situations. We also toured the facilities, which are meant to look like offices so they evoke the world of work, study areas for students with SPED needs, and ate in their cafeteria. What a difference to know that employees at any shop or business had multiple years of training in customer/client relations! Other career paths could be in marketing, payroll administration, sales, and communication.  And just the fact that students could be involved in their compulsory education to such a degree and know that it leads to a living wage and a career path gives so much more autonomy and sense of security than K-12 public education in the U.S. 

We also visited the Martinlaasko Upper Secondary School, which happened to be in the same set of buildings. While this was a typical upper secondary school that follows the national curriculum, this school also had specialized programs in the natural sciences and math as well as drama and the arts. We even saw the kids playing in gym class in just their socks - yikes! The most interesting part of this tour was a panel discussion with students. To hear their perspectives was amazing. One girl's family had immigrated to Finland, and two of the boys had spent some time as exchange students in the U.S. I asked what they liked and disliked about living in Finland and elsewhere, since they had firsthand experience in both. They shared about the wider availability of sports activities in the U.S., as in you don't always need to be competition focused in order to join a team and play. However, they all unanimously agreed that knowing that their health could be taken care of in Finland was both a draw to live there and mental and economic relief on their families. And this was coming from 17-year-old kids! 

Again, it was crystal clear that education is a product of the values of the society it's a part of. And in Finland, there appears to be lots of individual choice undergirded by collective care. 

The evening was ours, so I headed back to Espoo for a run with a local running group. (On-on!) And I added another sauna experience to the tally. This time I could see what it was like for a private home to have a little sauna area. I felt the generosity of being welcomed into someone's home in this way. 

Day 14 - Final Takeaways and Farewell Ceremony

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

This was the only day where I let myself sleep in. "Sleep" might be a stretch because I think I was just so sad that this was our last full day that I really only lie there and think about this incredible trip. We didn't have anything planned until lunchtime and our debriefing event. I still managed to walk around the city center a little bit because, with this being our last full day, I had to soak up every minute. 

We walked to a little café in the Kaisianiemi botanical garden and park and then had a little bit of time to wander before we met back at our hotel to hear each group's presentations and takeaways. All of us were divided into about 6 groups, and it was truly astonishing to see and hear the different ways that everyone encapsulated their Fulbright TGC experience. We had music, original artwork, jokes, photos, acrostics, and even a rhymed retelling of the epic poem the Kalevala. Our group described the experience through the metaphor of the sauna process (and included some Moomin characters because why not?). Through all the creativity, it was clear that this field experience meant a lot to each and every participant. And sometimes the best way to understand ones's own context is to have something else to compare it to, and coming to Finland did just that; it helped me put back into focus what is truly important about working with children and quality education as a right in society. I feel extremely proud to be representing American schools with this specific group of caring, passionate, and insightful teachers, and I am even more proud to think of how we will spread out back across the country -from California to the Carolinas and in between- and share what we have learned.

Terhi met us again to offer congratulations and our diplomas.  Kudos to the Fulbright Finland staff too for putting together such a fabulous program as the first ever TGC cohort for Finland. Cia, the program intern, had a little suprise up her sleeve - a pop quiz on the Finnish language. And we all thought that certainly Tarja was joking. She had shared Finnish language tips and notes with us from the beginning, but still... a real test?! That would get graded?! Even for me, someone who loves languages, Finnish is extremely daunting, but you know what, my brain still had picked up enough of the patterns to get the highest score. (Thanks to Duolingo?) Or maybe I made the most lucky guesses! Now I have an extra souvenir -a silly children's book all about Finland- that I'll cherish with the rest. 

That wasn't the end of the surprises. At our final farewell dinner, in a move that was extremely heartfelt, Tarja made a toast to every one of the teachers. She shared small memory, story, or how she will remember each of us. A classy way to sum up the experience from her eyes. With lots of hugs and feelings of gratitude, we parted ways for the night. 

Day 15 - It's not "Goodbye," It's "Thank You"

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Not one to let any moment of this trip go by unused, I woke up early so I could go to Allas Sea Pool, another sauna complex that uses seawater for their swimming pools. Some folks were there for lap swimming in the heated (but not too warm) pool; since it was November and quite cold, the leisurely swimmers had knit caps on while they were paddling. I'd never seen that before, but it made sense because the warmth of the water only applies to the part of you that's in the water. 

I spent some time scurrying back and forth over the snowy ground from the little sauna in the women's locker room area to the swimming pool, and a few times I even got up the courage to descend into the cold pool which is directly fed from the sea. Brrrr! I'll say that it felt a lot better once I found the bigger, toastier sauna attached to the main building. Also, once I told my body to relax and that I knew we would be ok, it was easier to let go and actually feel the sensation of cold water without panic. There's probably another metaphor for this trip in there... something about just leaning in, or change might feel hard, but you can always deal and regulate your own reactions. 

I left the Sea Pool when it was a brighter but still gray, cloudy morning. On our first full day in Helsinki, the Fulbright Finland staff told us that a tech start-up convention coined the slogan that only a true badass would come to Finland in November, the grayest month of the year. Despite that my experience generally matched this weather assertion, I can say that it still completely charmed me. And with a few sea/lake plunges and ideas to bring back to inform my teaching context, maybe I am a bit of a badass. 

One more spin through the city center got me back to the hotel in time for my group's departure. I travelled back with all of these thought swirling in my mind like snowflakes over the Helsinki harbor.

Last night when we were saying our goodbyes and short speeches, Kendall (FL) made a point to say that it's not goodbye but thank you. We all felt profound gratitude for the ability to have this experience, for the hospitality of our hosts, and for each other in helping us think, share, and make these memories. 

I know I'll be processing everything about this field experience for a long time to come, but I think what I'll bring to my teaching for the rest of the year and in the future isn't a set of lesson plans or Finnish novels or anything like that. Instead, I think it will be an attitude of trusting my students more to set their learning paths, prioritizing play, breaks, and creativity, and also, I am going to try harder to take care of my own well-being, even if I don't have a sauna at home. ;)

Thank you, IREX and Fulbright! And kiitos to my cohort and Fulbright Finland!