{"id":215,"date":"2015-11-07T19:02:02","date_gmt":"2015-11-07T19:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/?p=215"},"modified":"2022-05-16T18:55:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T18:55:14","slug":"inside-of-a-finnish-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Finnish Classrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I creaked open the door to a first grade classroom, I noticed a dozen seven-year-olds sprawled around the room. About half of them were sitting at rectangular tables while the others were standing. Each one of them had a needle (a real one) between their fingers, intently sewing a Father\u2019s Day badge. A soft, contented hum wrapped around the classroom. This was their only afternoon lesson for the week, so I expected them to be a little fractious. They were proving me wrong.<\/p>\n

My colleague was hard to spot at first. She was sitting at one of the first grade tables at eye-level with a few of her standing students. They were watching her carefully as she quietly modeled the techniques of needlework.<\/p>\n

After the lesson, I discovered that her first graders were using needles for the first time. Judging by the calmness in the classroom, I guessed that they had lots of previous experiences with sewing. Nope.<\/p>\n

Before I stepped out, my colleague showed me a tray of needles. She shared that her only regret (about the lesson)\u00a0was that most of the needles weren\u2019t sharp enough (!).\u00a0Apparently, blunt needles aren\u2019t very good for sewing. As a former first grade teacher, I have to admit that I was biting my nails as I watched her students hold\u00a0these real needles! I was just waiting for one of the blond boys to start a miniature swordfight.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Since school started in mid-August, I\u2019ve been asked by many of my American colleagues to make generalizations about Finnish classrooms. They\u2019re really curious.\u00a0Admittedly, I\u2019ve been hesitant. First, there are thousands of classroom in Finland and I\u2019ve only observed a handful at my Finnish public school. Second, Finnish teachers are given a lot of freedom to find their own way of teaching and running their classrooms.<\/p>\n

With that said, it\u2019s been three months since I arrived in Finland. Lots of conversations with Finnish colleagues and classroom observations have helped me to make sense of Finnish classrooms. I\u2019ll share what I know right now.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Recall the picture of my Finnish colleague. She\u2019s quietly sitting at the first grade table while her seven-year-old students were practicing needlework for the first time. She\u2019s not anxiously pacing around the classroom, checking in on everyone. Although she has her eye on the students, she\u2019s not obsessively looking around. When she speaks to the children, her words aren\u2019t rushed. She\u2019s calm.<\/p>\n

My colleague\u2019s peaceful disposition in the classroom isn\u2019t exceptional. I keep observing other Finnish teachers who approach their work in the same way. They are careful to pace themselves as if they\u2019re long-distance runners. In the classroom, they\u2019re present with their students, listening carefully to them. Outside of the classroom, they\u2019re taking\u00a0regular breaks\u00a0throughout the day and connecting with other teachers.<\/p>\n

In the States, I often witnessed teachers (including myself) who worked tirelessly inside and outside of the classroom. I was a bit proud of my \u201cworkaholism,” thinking that it made me a stronger teacher. It\u2019s my sense that Finnish teachers see restlessness as a sign of weakness. Slowing down with students and colleagues is viewed as important.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

My wife\u2019s cousin is studying to become a teacher at the University of Helsinki. Over the summer, I was raving about a\u00a0classroom management book that focuses on starting the year off right\u00a0and she was really interested. I asked her to share what she’s learned\u00a0about classroom management throughout her studies. I was anxious to hear about Finland\u2019s best practices in this area.\u00a0I was dumbstruck when she told me that she hadn\u2019t taken a single course on classroom management.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, I sat down with a young colleague who echoed my wife\u2019s cousin. She never took a\u00a0classroom management course before graduating with a master\u2019s degree. She explained to me that her program was very theoretical, especially towards the tail end. I asked her to identify things that she missed studying before entering the classroom. Right away, she named classroom management.<\/p>\n

My colleague shared that her teaching program was careful not to provide answers; the university encouraged students to decide on their own ways of teaching effectively. She reasoned that this philosophy would explain the absence of a classroom management course.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, an older colleague told me that the typical Finnish classroom is atypical.\u00a0After a couple of minutes of discussion, I started to catch her drift. In Finland, it’s common to find classrooms that are very different from each other. This makes sense given that a\u00a0teacher’s individuality is deeply respected.<\/p>\n

As an American teacher at a Finnish school, I’m seeing how teacher-individuality is honored.\u00a0My teaching style is probably strange\u00a0to many of my colleagues, but I’m not being scoffed at (not openly, at least!).\u00a0During the first\u00a0month\u00a0of school, another one of my colleagues\u00a0recognized that I was using unfamiliar\u00a0teaching strategies. She told me that she was excited to learn from me this year. Also, she shared her hope\u00a0that I would learn from her, too.<\/p>\n

My colleague’s attitude speaks loudly about the\u00a0respect that’s placed on\u00a0teacher-individuality in Finland.\u00a0Teachers have freedom to find their own way in their classrooms and learn from each other.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Tim Walker is an American teacher and writer based in Finland. He writes regularly about education and culture at Taught by Finland.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Follow Taught by Finland on Facebook!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

This article\u00a0was originally published during the 2013-2014 school year. Thanks for reading and sharing!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I creaked open the door to a first grade classroom, I noticed a dozen seven-year-olds sprawled around the room. About half of them were sitting at rectangular…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nInside of a Finnish Classroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whoa there -- real needles in first grade!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside of a Finnish Classroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whoa there -- real needles in first grade!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Taught by Finland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taughtbyfinland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-07T19:02:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-16T18:55:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Timothy Walker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@timdwalk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Timothy Walker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Timothy Walker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3fc3861f9e3b261d2ef62a2d84c7dcb3\"},\"headline\":\"Inside Finnish Classrooms\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-07T19:02:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-16T18:55:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/\"},\"wordCount\":945,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/\",\"name\":\"Inside of a Finnish Classroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-07T19:02:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-16T18:55:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Whoa there -- real needles in first grade!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg\",\"width\":853,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inside Finnish Classrooms\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/\",\"name\":\"Taught by Finland\",\"description\":\"Finnish education lessons by an American teacher\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Taught by Finland\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/cropped-TAUGHT-BY-FINLAND-logo-C1-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/cropped-TAUGHT-BY-FINLAND-logo-C1-2.jpg\",\"width\":1576,\"height\":296,\"caption\":\"Taught by Finland\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3fc3861f9e3b261d2ef62a2d84c7dcb3\",\"name\":\"Timothy Walker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719b8afd21d842532e4d91b32554f594?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719b8afd21d842532e4d91b32554f594?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Timothy Walker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taughtbyfinland\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/timdwalk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/author\/taughtbyfinlandgmail-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inside of a Finnish Classroom","description":"Whoa there -- real needles in first grade!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inside of a Finnish Classroom","og_description":"Whoa there -- real needles in first grade!","og_url":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/","og_site_name":"Taught by Finland","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taughtbyfinland","article_published_time":"2015-11-07T19:02:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-16T18:55:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":853,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Timothy Walker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@timdwalk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Timothy Walker","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/"},"author":{"name":"Timothy Walker","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3fc3861f9e3b261d2ef62a2d84c7dcb3"},"headline":"Inside Finnish Classrooms","datePublished":"2015-11-07T19:02:02+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-16T18:55:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/"},"wordCount":945,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg","articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/","url":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/","name":"Inside of a Finnish Classroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-07T19:02:02+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-16T18:55:14+00:00","description":"Whoa there -- real needles in first grade!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sewing.jpg","width":853,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/inside-of-a-finnish-classroom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside Finnish Classrooms"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/","name":"Taught by Finland","description":"Finnish education lessons by an American teacher","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#organization","name":"Taught by Finland","url":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/cropped-TAUGHT-BY-FINLAND-logo-C1-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/cropped-TAUGHT-BY-FINLAND-logo-C1-2.jpg","width":1576,"height":296,"caption":"Taught by Finland"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3fc3861f9e3b261d2ef62a2d84c7dcb3","name":"Timothy Walker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719b8afd21d842532e4d91b32554f594?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719b8afd21d842532e4d91b32554f594?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Timothy Walker"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taughtbyfinland","https:\/\/x.com\/timdwalk"],"url":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/author\/taughtbyfinlandgmail-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":794,"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions\/794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taughtbyfinland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}