Week 6: 8th February – 14th February

Personal and Cultural Development

Sauna, to my surprise, has become a weekly occurrence. I’m beginning to think I will gain the mentality of a Finn and be lost without it when I return home! This time round though, it was stepped up a notch. From immense heat in sauna to a cool down session in the snow, then back to sauna, all in just a bikini! It can be a crazy culture here, but one must experience it for oneself to experience the thrill. As well as this, I have bought into the student culture of ‘party trousers’ or overalls. Most Finnish students own a pair of these in the colour that represents the subject they are studying, and personalises them by sewing on patches that are often obtained as tickets for parties. I am the proud owner of a blue pair that represents ERASMUS students, and have sewn on one patch to get me started. Perhaps when I have a few more to add I will add a photo to show my overalls in all their glory.

I spent a fantastic weekend in a small town called Forssa this week. Forssa is about one hour and 15 minutes by bus from Turku and is the hometown of Matti, my Finnish friend that was on ERASMUS at Stranmillis last year. He took me to his friend’s place where we played a Finnish game called Alias, very similar to our game of Taboo. It was adapted slightly to allow me to play in English since I couldn’t understand most of the words in Finnish! Although, I did pick up some new words that my Finnish teacher would be proud of me for. :) The next day, I went with Matti and his brother Olli to the place where Matti did his compulsory army training, that every male Finn completes at the age of 18. This was an insightful experience, especially from the stories Matti had as the army grounds brought back memories for him. Following this, the three of us went to an area of amazing Finnish landscape, where I tried cross-country skiing for the first time. Actually this was my first ever experience of any type of skiing! I was shocked that I managed to keep my balance the entire time apart from one fall following an attempt to ski like I was some sort of professional! Too confident, too soon. Of course, Matti being Matti, he made me feel better by purposefully falling in deep snow that is almost impossible to get back out of!

Professional Development

My professional highlight of this week has been observing a bilingual education lesson, and attending a guided tour of the primary, secondary and international schools associated with the University of Turku. From the lesson I observed, I gained a better insight into the real practise of teaching English as a second language. The teacher gave me a lot of good ideas that I plan to adapt to suit my own teaching style. This was an experience that has begun the fulfilment of my hopes and aims of my school experience here in Finland.

The similarities and differences of the education system here and the system at home are beginning to emerge more prominently. Teachers here are given a great deal of trust and are encouraged to pursue further education or research without having to justify or prove its worth. They also have power in what they decide to teach in terms of the curriculum. There is a national core curriculum in place in Finland, but most communities and individual schools adapt this and create their own, more specific version. The flexibility and responsibility given to schools and teachers here is evident, and, in my opinion, motivates those who work in the teaching profession. Pupils, I have noticed, are also extremely motivated to learn, and are involved in meetings that teachers have with their parents. I think this is a valuable experience for children to self-evaluate with the help of their parents prior to such a meeting, and then compare this with the teacher’s evaluation. This is an example of the true meaning of a pupil as an ‘active participant’ in their own progress in learning. Furthermore, it has been suggested that pupil motivation in Finland is due to the lack of pressure from national tests and ranking. Students here are required to sit only one national test in their entire school career, known as the ‘Matriculation Exam’. This can last up to six hours for one exam, which seems like an intense shock considering no formal examinations are taken prior to this.

Now that I have seen more of the Turku International School, I am even more fascinated as to how the teachers manage multiculturalism on a day-to-day basis in the classroom. This is something I will observe and gain insight into in time as my School Experience module goes on.