The Indian recipe said to grease the baking dish.\u00a0This was my first task. The others on my cooking team had different jobs. One of the Finnish ninth graders was cutting up raw chicken. The other was mixing the ingredients for the sauce. I definitely had the easiest job. Or so I thought.<\/p>\n
As I tentatively spread the margarine on the bottom of the baking dish, mounds of yellow kept forming. I had learned an obvious lesson: Cold margarine doesn\u2019t spread easily. My knife was caked with it.<\/p>\n
My Finnish colleague leaned over the dish and said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you use your hands?\u201d I thought she was being sarcastic, but then I remembered, in my experience, that Finns are generally not as sarcastic as Americans. \u201cUse my hands?” I said. “Really?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded. I knew that I could trust her; she was a veteran home economics teacher after all! I put the knife down on the counter, rolled up my sleeves, and pressed my fingers into the margarine. The stuff got under my fingernails, but I didn\u2019t mind. Within a minute, I had greased the baking dish. I turned to the ninth graders and told them how I wished I had taken this class as an American student.<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/p>\n At my Finnish school, eighth and ninth graders can take this class as an elective. This makes sense to me. Home economics definitely seems like the kind of class that American students would need to sign up for.<\/p>\n I was especially surprised to see several boys who had elected to take this class. What\u2019s more, they didn\u2019t even look awkward in the kitchen. They were competent\u2014and they weren\u2019t joking around either. (Later, Finnish scholar Pasi Sahlberg\u2014the author of Finnish Lessons\u2014<\/em>told me that home economics is the most popular elective for middle school\u00a0boys in Finland!)<\/p>\n My Finnish colleague told me that all of her students have come a long way, especially the boys. I learned that all seventh graders across Finland are required to take home economics for three hours each week. I was floored. I couldn\u2019t imagine having to take this class as an American middle school student.<\/p>\n In seventh grade, students have lots of opportunities to cook, but this isn\u2019t the only activity during home economics. They\u2019re wiping down the counters. They\u2019re doing dishes. They\u2019re also doing laundry. (Of course, their Finnish teacher isn\u2019t going to wash their dirty aprons for them!)<\/p>\n There are two hours of \u201cpractice\u201d each week, and there\u2019s one hour of \u201ctheory.\u201d I laughed when I first heard about \u201cthe theory of home economics\u201d, but my colleague and her students didn\u2019t think it was strange. This is the time that students learn about budgeting, energy-efficient practices, and nutritious eating. Another topic is setting the table. Students learn exactly where to place utensils, napkins, and glasses.<\/p>\n If I was back in seventh grade, I don\u2019t know if I would have taken this part seriously. A lesson about setting the table? I found a ninth grader and asked her about this. When she was in seventh grade, did her classmates take this seriously?<\/p>\n She responded without hesitation, \u201cOf course, this is what we need to know.\u201d I was impressed. Learning practical skills is something that\u2019s highly valued in Finland. My Finnish wife, Johanna, explained it perfectly, \u201cThis country is not preparing people to have housekeepers.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/p>\n As I looked around the home economics classroom, I kept noticing the skillfulness of these students, evidenced by what they were producing at their kitchenettes. None of the\u00a0tandoori\u00a0<\/em>chicken was overcooked or undercooked. The\u00a0naan<\/em>\u00a0bread was fluffy and golden-brown. The\u00a0basmati<\/em>\u00a0rice was soft, but not too soft. Working in teams of five to six people, they prepared all of these things within an hour. We even had time to spare, allowing us to sit down and eat the Indian meal unhurriedly. Of course, I found my fork and knife in the right places, too.<\/p>\n This kitchen experience got me thinking about my own strengths and weaknesses. I\u2019m in the habit of telling people that I\u2019m more of an \u201cideas\u201d guy. Give me a pen and paper, or a book, and I\u2019ll do some good work. But when it comes to producing with my hands, I\u2019m a bit pathetic. I\u2019ve assumed that I\u2019ve been a thinker since the very beginning, but these ninth graders were pushing me to reconsider this notion. Do I see myself more of an \u201cideas\u201d person because I didn\u2019t have as many opportunities to produce with my hands as an American student?<\/p>\n My fifth graders spend four hours every week making things with their hands in art, woodwork, and textiles. In fact, they spend more class time on these subjects than math! (My fifth grade students have just three hours of math each week.)<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/p>\n Since school started I haven\u2019t heard anyone use the term \u201cspecials\u201d to describe subjects like art, music, physical education (P.E.), textiles, woodwork, and foreign languages. This is a strange realization for an American teacher like me. \u201cSpecials\u201d is a term that is firmly entrenched in the vernacular of most American educators and parents.<\/p>\n \u201cSpecials\u201d implies that these classes have a different standing than subjects like English, math, history, and science. The message is that \u201cspecials\u201d are not as foundational for students. They\u2019re extras.<\/p>\n In Finland, \u201cspecials\u201d are not bonus classes. Exactly half of my students\u2019 classroom hours are made up of art, music, P.E., textiles, woodwork, and foreign language studies. Out of 26 total hours of classes, 13 are devoted to \u201cspecials.\u201d Three hours are allocated for math and music each week.<\/p>\n I wonder if this well-rounded curricula continues to exist in Finland because standardized testing is almost entirely absent. Students in Finland are tested at the end of high school, but according to my Finnish colleagues, these tests do not interfere with teaching and learning at the elementary and middle school levels.\u00a0Over the last two decades in the United States, greater emphasis on the tested subjects (literacy and math, specifically) has narrowed the curricular experience of American children.<\/p>\n My experience in the home economics classroom has shown me that all boys can cook and subjects like music, art, and woodwork are not \u201cspecials\u201d but essentials. Also, I\u2019m starting to see that I\u2019m not just an \u201cideas\u201d person. Every student, including older ones like me, can become competent in lots of different areas. Students need an education that provides them with lots of diverse opportunities to produce with their heads and hands. In Finland, I\u2019m seeing what this delicate balance looks like.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Timothy D. Walker is an American teacher living in Finland and the\u00a0author of the new\u00a0book\u00a0Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms<\/a>.\u00a0He\u00a0is a contributing writer on education issues for\u00a0The Atlantic.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Follow Taught by Finland on Facebook!<\/em><\/p>\n