Becoming a Finnish Teacher

  It was once thought that human brains develop in a straight line as people grow from children to teens and adults. It was assumed that all brain parts develop gradually at the same pace. With advanced research on brain development, we now know this view is inaccurate. Studies have shown that teen brains are unique and that different parts of the brain develop at very different speeds, meaning that teen brains work quite differently than adult brains. For teachers, it's helpful to understand these unique features of teen brains, as it helps to better understand their decision-making and behavior.   There are three main ways in which teen brains differ from adult brains. First,  teen brains are more adaptable (or "plastic") than adult brains . Human brains constantly adapt based on what we do and think. For example, it has been observed that the brain areas responsible for spatial awareness are larger in London taxi drivers than in others. If people play musical instrumen...

Building learning communities is important since people learn from teachers, materials, and from each other. Sometimes working together in a group is the main learning method. This is good since in the working life people need co-operation skills anyway. When conceptualizing thoughts and even preliminary ideas it is good to get feedback from others and redevelop their own thinking. There are several methods of how to facilitate group bonding and contributing. One example is a dialogical method of learning. This has been developed into the systematical method by DIALE-project (see the website here ).  There are even very detailed methods teachers can use when facilitating learning in groups. These have been profoundly described on the webpage .  Learning communities might face challenges when people come from different backgrounds, for example, different cultures. It is good to acknowledge the differences in cultures in order to understand each other's behavior, which might see...

Howard Gardner argues that intelligence is a multi-dimensional concept. Humans have a variety of specialized and partly independent intelligence. According to Gardner, intelligence is a biopsychological information processing ability, which is also influenced by culturally learned practices and values. The types of intelligence are: linguistic (comprehension and self-expression), mathematical-logical (problem-solving and coherent reasoning), musical, physical, spatial and visual (perceive spaces, directional, easily understand essential features of objects), intrapsychic (ability to understand own weaknesses and strengths) and interpsychic (the ability to get along with others and understand them). Gardner's listing has been criticized because those kinds of intelligence are mainly based on intuition. It has been argued that intelligence could be regrouped and named in so many different ways and that Gardner’s list is lacking potential intelligence such as philosophical and abstra...

Research in developmental psychology has a tradition of just over 100 years. The first work on the subject was "The soul of a child" written by the German physiologist William Preyer (Ruoppila 1995). Children's intelligence and cognitive development were initially studied mainly through questionnaires. The aim was to correct and prevent developmental delays. Big names in developmental psychology include Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, Jean Piaget, Lev S. Vygotski and Erik. H. Erikson. Key concepts in developmental psychology include biological maturation theories, environmental learning theory, constructivist theories, and cultural development theories (Cole & Cole 1993). Essential research questions include the continuity or discontinuity of development, the question of what makes a person develop, how much the environment affects, how much genes affect, and how individual differences are formed. A related discipline is Social Psychology (Korkiakangas 1995). It typ...

The technological advancements transform our society at such a rapid pace, that it is difficult to foresee what kind of knowledge and skills the future adults need. It seems clear, however, that teaching and learning needs to adapt to fulfill those (yet unknown needs). According to Linturi (2014), this means that teaching and learning will be personalized, and it will be more focused on teaching skills than transferring knowledge. The responsibility of learning will be transferred from the teacher to the learner. Since society is more and more socially constructed it is essential to learn co-operation and working in groups.  When considering these changes in the light of different human perceptions we notice that there are some challenges to consider (in red color in the figures above and below). There is no big change in the light of human perceptions on whether the students are taught skills or knowledge. The present system is easy to apply ( Behavioristic, Freudian, K...