This school is about 2 hours north of Helisink, in the town of Hämeenlinna, and like previous Finnish schools, first thing was to take off our shoes… no shoes allowed inside. The schools new design has only been in progress for two months - it was an old traditional school, with walls, corridors and stand alone classrooms. Now it was ultra modern, with no walls no corridors .. the only remnants are the stairwells and outside walls. We were taken straight to a open class area and left there to watch and chat with the students and staff in the open area. It has three classes, about 50 students, and a smaller classroom that had about 5 special needs students. 3 teachers working about the three classes (including the special needs class) there were no walls, except with the special needs class, but it had glass walls so the students could see and watch what was happening. There was potential for them to interact as needed. There were all some specialist classrooms beside the open area ( traditional style) these were used for teaching specialist subjects - like languages and the “attached” high school students would sometimes come across and use these rooms. But still plenty of glass, so students can see in and out. The first thing that strikes you is the “nests” or campfires , these allow the teachers to gather the students, and then give instructions etc. The teacher was telling us they start each day in the “nest”, and they talk about the goal for the day. Once the goal for the day is set, students can go off and find a space to work. There were a wide variety of chairs, table, couches, and there were portable felt walls that students could put around them to create a cozy space. Two young girls has done this and we're working quietly away and discussing their work in a little hidden corner Students were all engaged and working when we arrived, they all had little spots. They were excited to see us and some were happy to chat in English, others quite shy. They had been working in small groups to create a play. So we got to see one group perform for us. We were keen to question the teacher as they had only recently gone from traditional to open planned and collaborative almost overnight! They had three years in portable classrooms while the school was “gutted” and repurposed. She said she felt excited but confused at first, not 100% sure she was doing the right or knew exactly what she was meant to do. She said she was learning every day alongside her students on how to best use the space. The space encourage cooperation between the staff in the area. She knew not only her students but all the students in the area. She enjoyed working collaboratively and said the kids were very excited to move in, and at the start were excellent and valued the space, although now they still value and enjoy the space, she said some students have become a little bit “silly” and now need more supervision to remain on task. The other thing she said she had really noticed was that she was on her feet more and felt she was constantly on the move. The only real obstacle she said was the size of the tables, she felt they were a bit big and there was no large enough space/tables to do testing. There is no main focal point/front of class/teacher desk - she has a mobile standing desk in the classroom, but rarely is there except in the morning when at the “nest”. She is looking forward to being able to use the space more confidently and would not go back to the traditional way, even though she feels she still has plenty to learn about using the space effectively. They still had “their own” class, but they had flexibility and could negotiate with her colleagues in her shared space to take larger or smaller groups - it allowed small individual direct instruction for some, while the other teacher supervised the larger group. We asked about what the school had done to prepare the staff, and she said they had invested heavily in sending the staff to various schools that had opened planned learning already in place in Europe - she had been to Amsterdam and visited a number of schools there. We were then taken up to the staff room to meet the Principal. He was a man of few words, and very modest and proud about his school and what they had done. Although he had very few words they were very insightful words- TRUST TRUST TRUST - he said he trusted his staff, trusted their training to make it work. He said his staff were great, due to the amount of trust they had in each other. We asked how they went about in choosing the furniture - some of it was specially designed for the school. Firstly they got the kids to play with plasticine and make models of furniture they would like to sit in, they gave them a range of fabrics and colors to choose from. They talked about not wanting “lego colors” in the classroom - they wanted it to be more like home, a lounge room, a nice place for relaxing and learning. Parents were given info and filled in about what was happening, but no real direct involvement in the decision making process - left to leadership, teachers and students. Another key to the change was that the trust he had in his staff, and allowing them to make the “journey” in their own time at their own pace - not one teacher left, all going through together the change and challenges. It was definitely working- to be opened for only 2 months it has a lovely warm atmosphere the staff were very proud, and it was definitely working for the students. One of the impressive things was the Principal's office! Minimalist to the max!
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The first thing that greeted us here, was a driverless Bus! We were all pretty excited, we didn't get to go in it, it was coming into the Design Factory as the entrance was its overnight parking bay. Once in we were greeted by an extremely enthusiastic young lady ( sorry can't remember her name). She spoke about how the Design Factory was a new way of thinking re: interdisciplinary courses, and for "start ups" , prototyping, collaboration. The idea that the "factory" had spaces were meant to look "unfinished" - this was a purposeful feature, to show ideas were flexible, growing evolving- if not fixed, allowed people to invent, discover new ways. This concept was certainly highlighted, when they wanted to make more use of the available space- the factory had high ceilings, they wanted to build an mezzanine level, but to get the building specifications, and constructions costs were way too high... so what did they do to solve the problem? They bought in shipping containers- the inside served as collaborative work spaces, the roof as their mezzanine level!! Just way cool! Simple eff estive and way cheaper! What the Design Factory does is allows people to prototype and have experts on hand. For example you could design something on paper, could be a great idea. You can send all your specs to China and get them to build for you. You do this and the Chinese follow it to your exact specifications- no send you back your model or what ever you wanted them to copy for you. The Design Factory allows you to design on site - they want you to problem solve and gave a go yourself. So for example you gave an idea and want to design something... you can find workers on site who you can talk to and get ideas, then if you need something 3D printed you can do it there and then and get help if required, or you may need to machine some metal parts. There are experts who know how to use the metal lathe then they can either teavpch you how to do it, or they will do it themselves. There are all sorts of workshops with specialized equipment available for students to use. one of the coolest things about the Design Factory is that they are spreading their model across the world, and have one in Melb at Swinburne. Now you may think it's just another Design Factory in another part of the world, each one doing their own thing using the same model... well it is BUT.. they are all linked, with a live camera in each of the kitchen, chill out area. This camera beams into another kitchen dining area of another design Factory. They were beaming into Portugal when we were there. So we could see who was about over there and visa versa.
The other thing they had was a "Facebook wall" - each person could place there picture on the wall and it had their contact details and what skills they had and were willing to share with someone/ help someone. So if you really wanted to make a really cool webpage to show off your product, but didn't know how to design a web page, you go to the wLl and see if there was someone on there willing to help with web design... easy peasy! This was a secondary school, and we didn't have to take our shoes off here!
They were at the very beginning of the change process, and had a pilot class in implementing the Phenonemal based Curric. They had only converted 3 classrooms and had more glass walls between the classes so they could have passive supervision between the rooms if students moved from one to another. They main thing they had really worked on in this area was the acoustics. They had accoustic panels on the walls, carpet that absorbed the sound and also easy cleanable. They had a music system with speakers. The sound quality in the room was definitely nice - you could tell no question that the acoustics were good in this standard sized classroom. There were a variety of table height for students to work at - from standing to sitting, there were stools, chairs, cushions to sit on. They are working on developing more areas over the next three years. They have 4x75 min lessons and their final exams have two sitting sessions each year - they have choice to do 4-6 exams to complete and pass. If they fail, they have a second chance or can do some in one half of the year and some in the second half of the year. Each exam goes for 6 hours, it questions from the previous 3 years of schooling - yr 10,11&12. They do not have to stay for the whole 6 hours, it the have 6 hours to complete it. We got to chat to a few students ( they heard we were about so came and found us) - their English was excellent. So we asked about how they learned English - English is a stand alone subject it is not integrated, but they all said they Learnt their English mainly from the Internet - YouTube, songs and online newspapers. The Principal also said the change was very challenging for her, and her staff - but she can see it is the right way to go, and has to keep the Vision Strong and choose any new staff wisely. The other thing that she said that the Finnish Dept has given them plenty of support of “coaches” to come into the school and work alongside teachers in the classroom to assist with the change over. We saw this in action when we visited the classroom. We had assumed the two teachers in the room working with the kids were team teaching, but one was the IT coach, from the Dept. the students were using iPads and green screen and making movies on iPads. I was really impressed with the acoustics in the room- and feel we need to make sure this is taken into account in our build at galen. The first thing that's strikes you when you arrive in the area is the newness of everything. It is a new suburb, new buildings, new housing constructions going on, then there is this massive modern building in the middle of it all. Which is - combination of the school, library and youth center. the next thing is finding the entrance... we headed towards the big glass walls, as the steps and everything says entrance... but UhOh, nope.. it's a way smaller inconspicuous entrance at the side. The big glass wall is the side of a huge open space, and dining area. It has a big stage and is used for concerts and performances. Before we actually got to do a tour, we had to abide by the school rules and take our shoes off or wear "socks" over our shoes .. . We were given some background to the school- the new community/suburb required a library, school and youth centre - if all three were separately build they would have been small and less likely to get what they wanted, so they decided to mutually benefit each other and work together - the school leadership had developed the pedagogical Model they wanted to adopt - and set out a competition for designers/architects. 3 years later the school was up and running. Despite the large open area in the central part of the school, the actual class rooms are small, they have clusters of three classrooms and a common break out space. Within the three classrooms there is one extra teacher - so this allow the classes to breaking to various groups, and allows small groups, larger groups. Special needs students also have a separate class, and is also in a smaller space near each cluster of three classrooms. Each cluster of classrooms have a colour theme - green wing. Blue wing... etc There are also images/ artworks of birds around the learning areas - representing that birds are carriers of seeds, and that they are drop the seeds about for trees, plants to grow. The seeds representing knowledge. The other thing about the school was the flexible time table. We spoke to a student, or should I say, she spoke to us, and she said some days she started at 8am, some 9am & other days 10am. As this school has a primary section and a middle school, specialist teachers who teach in the primary area are required to teach there specialist subject in the middle school classes - so that teacher is unavailable at certain times for time primary class.. so the kids either start late or go home early, depending on the timetable for there teacher.
Walking around the school, there were many teachers working in small groups. They were required to meet at least 1 HR per week in their collaborative teams. As we entered the school we were greeted by a lovely "Welcome Wall". The kids had obviously done some research. There were kids all about, doing their thing, they all seemed to know what they were doing. Chatting away to each other, some in dress ups, some working quietly, some on iPads, some at computers, some playing games, all along the "corridors". We noticed this as we were taken up through to one of the main learning spaces in the school. The Principal, Mikko, chatted to us, about how the school developed, to what is was today. Clearly the students were at the centre of the schools philosophy. Creating a culture of possibilities He talked about "Dream Castle" - he wanted the students and staff to "Dream it, Believe in it, and build it - the future." The key ingredient was in emphases on Drama and Performing arts, getting students to act out, their learning, understanding. He wanted a "cozy" atmosphere - safe- happy kids- so they enjoyed learning. Passion over PISA Results They were a Microsoft School - yet they used many different devices - each device has it value as a tool, not one could do all - there iPads, tablets, chrome books, computers each one used as needed. There was trust in his staff, they were professionals, belief in their training, and knowledge of the curriculum - so the real learning was building relationships with each other, the students and families - how to work together. To ensure that everyone worked well there was a significant amount of structure behind the "flexibility" in the learning and teaching. There were all all sorts of "Agreements" - teacher-teacher; teacher-student; teacher-parents; student-student; each with very explicit ways to work cooperatively together with professional development to go alongside each agreement. With changes of staff, students the "agreements were updated yearly. New graduate teachers were taught how to work collaboratively with staff and students - it formed a larger part of induction of any new teachers and staff. They build solid Professional Learning Communities. "It was about winning hearts and minds and a Circle of Trust" He referenced Michael Fullan - Deep Learning - a Global Partnership. Mikko, also tried to give us a little bit of an idea about the new Phenomenom Based Curriculum - and how it links in with traditional style teaching. There were 4 classes of Students with learning needs, The students were in separate classes, but were "paired" with mainstream classes, and would sometimes do activities together or just one or two students would join in when they could. Mikko explained that due to the "normal" becoming ever increasingly "wide", the teachers needed to concentrate on their wide range of abilities, and the students with learning needs had the required attention they needed as well. in all classes there was a wide range of seating, sitting, lying options for the students, each area had its purpose. The "canteen" was available all day. There were NO BELLS, teachers decided when there was break time and when they would have lunch, recess. The students could sit in the cafe area, or eat any where they wanted, some of the younger classes would bring their meals back into the classroom and eat them. There was one extremely interesting piece of equipment that was being used, there were a number of close circuit cameras about in the spaces. Teachers could open up the app and look at the cameras around the school in each of the spaces, and see what ones were free or being used, as well as keep an eye on their students if the students were working in another learning space. There were large screen around the school displaying the close circuit video feeds.
The tour is also about repurposing space, even though this is not an educational one, our hotel in Helsinki was originally Helsinki Prison.
There are plenty of reminders with one or two original cells remaining as they were, and pictures about showing what it was like. You can easily see that it was a prison due to the architure, but they have turned it into a very comfortable hotel. We met Cathy and Megan at Singapore -airport, fellow SCIL Vision Tour people from QLD.
We have arrived in Helsinki, 7C with a top of 8C ... brrrr. So here we are, all checked in and ready to go!
We collated questions that staff had emailed us over the last week or so. Now we are just waiting to board our flight, Melb to Singapore, SIgnpore to Helsinki. Schools & Places we will be Visiting: Viherkallion Koulu Primary School just outside of Helsinki in Espoo. This school is one of 80 schools worldwide that is part of Microsoft Mentor Program, which began in 2014. They are leading the way in their use of technology in engaging and improving students learning and outcomes. more info here Saunalahti Koulu Primary and Middle School, also in Espoo. This school has an extremely modern open design, that not only serves the 750 students, but is open to the wider community after school hours. It serves as a leisure and sports centre and the library also becomes a community library. It was opened Aug 1st 2012 Article on the school here Aalto Design Factory - Aalto University, also in Espoo. The Aalto Design Factory created for a research project focused on creating an ideal physical and mental working space for product development and research, in 1997. It began in an old Wood Research Laboratory - which has been totally repurposed for the project. Its success saw it grow into the Future Lab for Product Design,in 2006 and in 2008 became the Aalto Design Factory. In 2010 its continued expansion and success saw a new type of Inter disciplinarian University being formed, the Aalto University. They need to step out of their disciplinary silos to efficiently collaborate with people representing a multitude of disciplines and cultures, as well as to adopt a holistic view to confront the challenges presented by the working life. Quote from - |
Bernadette Albertson & Maree TimmsPassionate Science Teachers at Galen Catholic College Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia CategoriesArchives |