Becoming a Finnish Teacher

Our society transforms rapidly due to technological changes and changes in ways we connect and communicate with each other. No-one knows what kind of skills is needed in future society. In my opinion, one thing is certain: The future adults and teenagers need thinking skills as much as we do, or even more. How then, can we teach people thinking skills? Marja Hannula (2016)   has done an interesting Pro Gradu research for the University of Tampere on teaching kids thinking skills in elementary school. The idea is that if we teach kids philosophy, they learn to think independently, interact with each other and argue their case. Furthermore, they learn to understand ethics, consider options, ponder important questions, understand others’ thinking, form the relevant questions, reflect and correct their ways of thinking and behaving (Gregory 2010, 11.)  In her research, she explores how thinking skills are taught in elementary schools in Finland. To be more specific ...

In AMC's popular television series of The Walking Dead, the world as we know it has ended. Some virus has turned the dead into flesh-eating mindless creatures, and there are many more dead than living people. In this world, all the institutions have collapsed; there is no society, media, police, army, or any organized society outside small groups of people. Even though this is a fictional world, a somewhat similar collapse of civilization is possible due to climate change, epidemics, or major catastrophes. Therefore, it is interesting to ponder what the characters in The Walking Dead related to organizing education and what they maybe should have done.  The first days after the collapse are all about surviving. People start to teach each other practical survival skills (like fishing) and self-defense tactics when time passes. They have pretty organized shooting lessons, and they give each other advice on how to combat zombies. There is a heated debate on whether children should lea...

How self-esteem is connected to learning If students have good self-esteem, they learn better (Toivakka & Maasola 2011). This seems logical. If people have good self-esteem, they feel that they are capable of learning, and more importantly they are capable to utilize the things they have learned. This leads to curiosity, motivation and feelings of self-confidence.  Self-esteem is something that develops when we are with others. People observe others, compare themselves with others and learn how they are similar or different to others (Wenger 1998, Hakkarainen, Honka & Lipponen 2004). The signals we receive from others shape the way we see ourselves, what is expected from us and how worthy we feel we are ( Lonka 2014a,  Isokorpi 2008 ). Identity and self-esteem are further shaped by ideal self, which is the image we wish to achieve.  The picture below represents the different elements shaping the student’s self-esteem. The other students give feedback ...

I took many personality tests in order to reflect my own strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. it was pretty interesting to do those. Some of the tests were rather naïve and easy to predict. For example: are you an introvert? – Yes. Result: You are an introvert. There was nothing interesting about those. However, one tests surprised me completely. Not because the results were something new, but the accuracy how it described my inner thoughts and ways of thinking was quite fishy. Here is the link to 16 personalities – tes t.  My results reveled that I am an Architect. This seems to be quite intolerable personality to hang around with. “ It can be lonely at the top. Being one of the rarest personality types and being among the most capable people, Architects know this all too well. They make up just two percent of the population, and women with this personality type are especially rare, forming only 0.8%. It can be difficult for Architects to find people who can keep u...