Five facts we have learned so far... By Oxente, Guys!

Fact number #1 

One word that comes first across my mind at any time I think about Finnish education is Autonomy. I am really glad to hear and see it how teacher and students can work with different tools and both contribute positively to a meaningful learning. Another strong word is individualisation - In Brazil we are told to try the best we can to find ways to reach homogeneity in our classes. We can notice, during our daily practice, it is somehow utopic, but still some educators insist on affirming this is possible.

Moysés

Fact number #2

Another surprising observation came from students behavior in the class because it is not the same in Brazil. Most of the time, we do not have students attention to the activities and lots of bad behavior. In contrast with what we have seen in Lyseo where students showed a strong respect for the teacher figure and commitment to their learning process.

Marcelo

Fact number #3

The aspect that called my attention in Finnish education was the teacher appreciation. Not only because of salary issues, but also as a professional. This respect/appreciation makes young people willing to be teachers. Unfortunately, it is not true in our country and that's why there is a big deficit in number of teachers we need and we have.

Cris

Fact number #4

I came to Finland quite skeptical about the veracity of a truly effective educational system. Even with only two weeks here, I'm happy to say that I was wrong. Obviously there is no perfect system, but  the one here is efficient. This has been proved during the classes, in the readings, as well as in our interaction with HAMK students. It is notorious that the Finnish educational system provides high quality education for free. This at least in my view, reflects the dynamics of Finnish society.

Luís

Fact number #5

I am impressed how Finnish people made the best choice ever: EDUCATION. Finland has been a very poor country, but it started to change after investing on education. We could see in some decades of its history how it affected Finnish people's lives. I wish the same for my country. That's why we all came here to start something challenging, step by step.

Gabriela