Teacher as Observer

Since returning from my Orientation in Helsinki ten days ago, I have been busy setting up school visits, meeting with university professors, and reading, reading, reading. This fellowship time is a gift to me in many ways. Primarily it is the gift of time. Time to question, reflect, read, research, observe, repeat. I am free to organize my time and my days in the way that will help me do these things. I find that reading for a few hours and then having one meaningful conversation with a Finnish educator can be an incredibly productive day that sets me on a new course of questioning.

Finland provides the perfect backdrop for this type of inquiry and process. The reflective practice, the work/home balance, the quietness, the ways in which children are playful and adults are quiet, these all combine to allow me to slow down. My questions morph into new ones: where do culture and educational practice intersect? To what degree are schools microcosms of a society’s values? How can one culture learn from another? Are practices and attitudes in a social democracy transferable to a capitalistic, individualistic democracy? Do we help our young children by pushing them to reach milestones at the same time or do we harm them with such practices?

You may notice in this video that Finnish students create and build things. They even iron in school. Headmasters or principals (rehtoris) leave teachers to teach, and they probably teach several classes themselves. Teachers-in-training experience high level instruction that requires them to process information and ask themselves how they will apply the theory to their own practice. These same teachers-to-be examine and conduct research for years before they graduate with a Masters degree and begin their careers. They are in the top 10% of the applicants for teaching programs and they are afforded respect and freedom when they have their first class because of the rigorous training and their proven abilities. Imagine having to take an aptitude test and have an interview to see if you are suitable to be a teacher.

The photos capture the color and comfort of a few schools in my area. Teachers take breaks on comfortable couches, eat “pulla” or other snacks with their morning (and afternoon) coffee, and students work and play in hallways. I hope to capture some of these things as I move through schools observing. After 22 years of teaching, I am the student.