Is this a model of education that may have value to our learners?

Good day all. I have friends in Finland who have been talking with me about Education for a number of years and some of the changes they are implementing in their country fascinate and inspire me. Below I have a link to an article describing Finland's latest movement away from class subjects completely. The focus is on the individual and what career or college aspirations the person has. I have been a fan of such a shift for years and I am glad we now are getting some models to look at and explore how it may work. Do you think it would work with your learners? Focus just on the learners if you can. I know "the system" would have such a hard time adapting to most any change. Funding, administration, public support and many other factors are challenges to any change, but for the sake of discussion about what might work, do you feel a system like Finland's would work for your learners?

The article for your reading pleasure. 

 

Comments

Hi Ed, Just a note that it sure makes sense to me. Similar to a project-based or cross-disciplinary approach- which were usually my most memorable and valuable learning experiences! And certainly models how to learn (and become life-long learners) in today's digital world!

Hello Ed and all, Finland's Phenomenon-based Learning sounds fascinating to me. Some members are likely aware that Finland's education system is among the best in the world. Are they poised to become even better through implementing this new model?

Personally, I think it would be amazing to adopt a model like this for adult education. I can share a small example of how I recently had the opportunity to implement something that seems a little similar-- though not nearly as fully developed as what Finland is planning. This semester I collaborated with another teacher to teach an academic English course for a group of skilled immigrants. We had engineers, teachers, nurses and even one physician in the class. The goal for these students is to enter a training program or graduate school.

The last unit we studied in this course was environmental issues. My co-teacher and I worked together to guide students in exploring this issue. My section of the course focused on reading and writing, and my colleague focused on listening and speaking skills. The final project in my class was to write an academic research paper. Students were allowed to choose a topic related to the environment. Topics selected included wind and solar technology, electric cars, sea level rise, and deforestation, among other topics. Of course, they had to use the internet to conduct their research, which could include articles as well as audio podcasts and videos. They needed to ensure the materials they used were credible. They collected their documents and other files in their folders on our class Google site. We used Google to provide feedback--both teacher and peer to peer-- during the process, too. Students engaged in the final activity just yesterday, which was our final class. This activity was structured similar to speed dating. They sat with a partner and had five minutes to share the highlights of their research. After five minutes their partner had five minutes to share. Next, the students moved to a new partner and, once again, they shared what they learned from their research. We did three rounds of speed dating. Through this activity the students not only improved their skills in communicating what they learned through their research, they also got to hear about their peers' research.

The final project for the listening and speaking part of our course was to work in a group of three to design and conduct a survey related to an environmental issue. As a group, students chose a focus area and then wrote 10 survey questions related to the topic. Each member of the group needed to survey at least 15 people. They were required to enter their data into a spreadsheet and prepare a presentation in which they reported their findings to the class, which featured graphs highlighting the most interesting data. They also had to write up a brief summary of their findings.

The students not only learned a great deal about the topics they selected, but their learning was enhanced by the many ways technology was integrated into everything they did. Needless to say, they had many opportunities to improve their English through reading, writing, listening and speaking activities. They were also developing teamwork and communication skills with every activity they engaged in. The students were highly motivated throughout this month-long unit. Without exception, the students deeply valued these learning experiences.

My colleague and I agree that our collaboration throughout this course has been one of the most valuable experiences in our teaching careers. So ... yes! I would love it if it were possible to provide more of these kinds of experiences to adult learners.

There are amazing teachers in this community, and I know many have had the opportunity to implement project-based learning. Please share your stories, teachers!

Thanks for raising this question and pointing us to Finland's innovation, Ed.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, Teaching & Learning CoP

I have seen several analysis of Finland's approach to teaching and learning. I think it is great. To me education is making a practical, logical and relevant relationship between the knowledge and reality within a given context. If education doesn't bridge the gap between the "head" (ideas) and the "hands" (doing) then it is wanting. I think Finland's approach focuses on learning experiences where students see / make sense of the knowledge they learn in a practical way. Thanks for sharing!