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page on Finnish wetlands from biology textbook
The goal of environmental education is to strengthen children’s relationships with nature and to act responsibly in the environment, and to guide them towards a sustainable lifestyle. Nature can also be a place for aesthetic experience and relaxation. Through positive experiences, the child learns to enjoy nature and the surrounding environment, and their relationship with nature is strengthened.
The goal of environmental education is to strengthen children’s relationships with nature and to act responsibly in the environment, and to guide them towards a sustainable lifestyle. Nature can also be a place for aesthetic experience and relaxation. Through positive experiences, the child learns to enjoy nature and the surrounding environment, and their relationship with nature is strengthened.
~Basics of Early Childhood Education (2022), Finnish National Agency for Education
~Basics of Early Childhood Education (2022), Finnish National Agency for Education
Curriculum standards and guidelines can contribute to the formation of a nature connection for students. With this goal in mind, the Finnish national curriculum encourages municipalities to emphasize local features and utilize local resources. Like most educational frameworks, there are content objectives in each area of study. However, the Finnish curriculum also includes transversal competences which provide an integrative element for upper secondary studies (grades 10 - 12 in the U.S.). Well-being and ethical/environmental competences are most relevant to this project and are emphasized below. (Interaction, multidisciplinary/creative, societal, and global/cultural are the other transversal competence areas.)
The flexibility of the curriculum is one thing that stood out during my time in Finland. While the ability of municipalities to make adjustments is similar to how U.S. states and local districts develop content standards, curricular components like transversal competences promote a thoughtful approach to learning in both educators and students.
Finnish curriculum examples
Finnish curriculum examples
EXAMPLE 1: From the National Core Curriculum for General Upper Secondary Education (2022), 2.2: Underlying Values, p. 13 - Finnish National Agency for Education:
General upper secondary education helps the students understand the necessity for a sustainable way of life and builds a competence base for an economy that promotes the well-being of the environment and citizens. The students understand the significance of their own actions and global responsibility in the sustainable use of natural resources, mitigation of climate change, and preservation of biodiversity. General upper secondary education encourages responsible agency as well as engagement in international cooperation and global citizenship in keeping with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
EXAMPLE 2: From the National Core Curriculum for General Upper Secondary Education (2022), 3.2: Conception of Learning, p. 15 - Finnish National Agency for Education:
Learning occurs in interaction with other students, teachers, experts, and communities in different environments. Learning is diverse and bound to the activity, situation, and culture in which it takes place. Language, physical elements, and the use of different senses are also essential for learning. In general upper secondary education, students are guided to observe connections between concepts, fields of knowledge, and competence as well as to apply what they have learned previously in changing situations.
EXAMPLE 3: From the National Core Curriculum for General Upper Secondary Education (2022), 3.4: School Community, p. 17 - Finnish National Agency for Education:
General upper secondary education enhances the students’ physical, psychological, and social wellbeing and imparts capabilities for maintaining it in different life stages. The impacts on student wellbeing are taken into consideration in all planning and development efforts of the school, and student participation in them is also ensured. The perspectives of well-being guide all activities of the general upper secondary school as well as all staff members’ work, both in daily encounters and as part of the instruction.
EXAMPLE 4: From the National Core Curriculum for General Upper Secondary Education (2022), 6.7: Biology, p. 210 - Finnish National Agency for Education:
Transversal competences in the subject
The instruction of biology is based on understanding biodiversity and its development. The building of a sustainable future is a central theme in the instruction. The objectives of transversal competences are integrated with the objectives for biology.
The instruction of biology reinforces the students’ well-being competence in a natural way. The instruction increases the students’ appreciation of how significant a clean and healthy environment with rich biodiversity is for the holistic well-being of people. Biology emphasises the differences between and diversity of individuals as well as explains the biological background for this, providing the students with tools to understand diversity. The students are guided in setting their personal goals, and they are supported and encouraged at different stages of the learning process, which promotes self-knowledge and perseverance.
EXAMPLE 5: Along with the transversal competences, Finland's curriculum is also closely associated with the United Nations' Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (see below). These goals provide an excellent framework for bringing sustainability concepts to classrooms.
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