Since Apple launched iPad in 2010, millions have made their way into education. As a result, it’s not surprising that more than half of the US preschool teachers say they have tablet computers in the classroom – nearly double what was reported just two years earlier  – even though the tablets are still mainly for adult use. “That’s an enormous jump,” said Ellen Wartella, a professor at Northwestern University and author of a study that surveyed 945 preschool teachers in 2015. “It wasn’t all that long ago that experts were debating the suitability of technology for young children“.

Another study, conducted in Auburn, Maine, randomly assigned half of the district’s 16 kindergarten classes to use iPads for nine weeks. Auburn was the first public school system in the US to provide iPads to each of their youngest students. In all, 129 students used an iPad, while 137 students were taught using traditional resources. Each of the 266 students were tested before and after the iPads were introduced into the classroom.

According to the literacy test results students in the iPad classes outperformed the non-iPad students on average, across every literacy measure they were tested on. Children who were taught through the use of an iPad also showed an increased interest in learning and were more enthusiastic about going to school.

In February Apple published its financial results for Q1 2018. The tech titan sold 13.2 million iPads during the period. Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly stressed how important the education market is in the context of the iPad, and the fact that it’s doing so well with institutional sales both at home and abroad backs that up.                                                                                      

We’re thrilled that over 1.2 million students of all ages are now using iPad and Swift Playgrounds to learn the fundamentals of coding, and over 1,000 K-12 schools across the United States plan to use Apple’s “Everyone Can Code” in their curricula, he said.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using iPads in the Classroom

The concept of using the iPad in the classroom makes a lot of sense due to its easy to manipulate touch screen technology, portable format, fast load-up time, extended battery life and the most obvious reason- kids love it.

Student engagement will likely increase due to the shiny new vessel for learning. Lessons will be more interactive and lively than ever before with competitions and games that really inspire creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. Apps for iPad classroom activities are designed to  help Pre-K students learn important concepts such as sequencing, sound-letter recognition and patterns while having fun all through the use of their tiny fingertips.

Beyond the immediate benefit of engaging students, iPads can improve education efficiency and standards. iPads in the classroom bring education to life. They save money on textbooks and deliver even the content educators previously struggled to represent.

On the other hand, as with anything else, pluses of having iPads in the classroom go hand in hand with minuses. In the first place, many schools find the iPad just too expensive. In March of 2013, Apple’s lowest priced iPad retailed for $499. Therefore, for schools working with limited budgets, it may be difficult to justify purchasing enough iPads to make a significant impact in the classroom.

One of the biggest criticisms of the iPad is its  inability to work with Adobe Flash and Javascript. A lot of content in schools and websites for kids are dominated by Flash. Although, some argue that the abundance of educational apps make up for it.

The iPad learning curve doesn’t just apply to students. Not every teacher has the technical knowledge to quickly pick up on the iPad’s many, and varied, uses. Switching over from traditional textbooks and paper and pen lessons to interactive iPad lesson means spending time and money on additional teacher training sessions. And even if they do understand iPad basics teachers may still need extra training to figure out how to adapt iPad learning for younger age groups.

Finally, it might be hard for students  to focus when they have in their hands a web-enabled device that can virtually take them thousands of miles away from the stuffy classroom.

Copyright: jfk image

Embarking on an iPad journey with young students

The possibilities for creative projects and activities involving the iPad in K-2 classrooms are endless. It’s easy and rewarding to make music on the iPad, using a variety of different instruments. Furthermore, taking an iPad on a walk in the woods during science lessons makes it simple for even preliterate children to document their observations to create a field journal full of images. They can either photograph or sketch what they see in the wild. Some apps will even allow kids to include narration with their images, adding a verbal language component to the activity. Solmson, kindergarten teacher at The Davis Academy in Atlanta, implements a digital storytelling project where students read a story and then come up with their own version of that story. Solmson records her students’ voices over their illustrations, helping each student create his/her own digital story. “The kids love this project and feel proud of what they have accomplished,” she said.

There are many ways in which  iPad can be integrated into play and learning activities rather then used as “edutainment”. Through a combination of the tools and thoughtful teaching strategies, children are able to try out alternative ways of doing things, make connections between elements, create new forms, solve problems together, modify their work and see things from others’ points of view.

In the end, no one would argue that the iPads offer zero advantages, but no one should argue that they’re perfect, either. Simply providing children with an iPad and saying, “Learn!” won’t do much. Teachers should take time to consider what their students’ needs are and how they can address them both with and without technology as well as strike the right balance between traditional and iPad-friendly ways of educating young minds. iPads may be more complex than blocks or crayons, but when used strategically they are just like any other tool in the metaphorical child development toolbox.

Do you think that preschool classrooms are benefiting from iPads? If yes, what ways you’d like your children to use them in kindergarten? Share with us your thoughts and ideas.

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Kids who haven’t yet learned to read can use the app to craft their own interactive stories and games by simply snapping together colourful graphical blocks, much like LEGO bricks or puzzle pieces, without any of the obscure punctuation and syntax of traditional programming languages. ScratchJr is available as a free app for both iPad and Android tablets.

Giving Children the Tools They Need to Create and Become Creative Thinkers

People view coding as a narrow technical activity, a valuable job skill useful for only a small subset of the population but Scratch aims to make coding accessible and appealing for everyone, says Mitchel Resnick, the LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab and director of the Scratch Team.

The original Scratch programming language is already used by millions of older kids, but it was too complicated for younger kids. Therefore, the Scratch team redesigned the interface, simplifying it in order to make it more accessible to younger kids and ScratchJr was launched. Platform is the product of a collaboration between the DevTech Research Group at Tufts University, the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, and the Playful Invention Company.

How Does ScratchJr Work?

Through moving and interacting with the library of kid-friendly characters, children will begin to understand how the commands they put together impact the activities on the screen. Users can move characters in any direction, have the character speak, record narration, and choose to hide or show the character. Users can also add customized backgrounds by importing their own photos and change the look of a character using visual editing functions. These technological tools have been inspired by the best kindergarten materials (blocks for building, crayons for drawing, dolls for role-playing, tiles for making geometric patterns), with the aim to allow children to express themselves creatively on the computer. In addition, children can share their interactive stories and games on the Web and engage with other kids in an online community that provides inspiration and feedback.

Copyright: Photo smile

Transformative Potential of Digital Technologies in Education

According to Resnick, in most places where technologies are being used in education today they are used simply to reinforce outmoded approaches to learning.  Both Scratch and Scratch Junior are projects of Resnick’s Lifelong Kindergarten research group, focused on developing new technologies and activities that, in the spirit of the blocks and finger paint of kindergarten, engage people in creative learning experiences. In this way the group hopes to realize what they consider the greatest potential of technology in the educational context.  If creative approach to learning has been so successful in kindergarten, it should be applied in other parts of the educational system as well.

He believes that digital technologies, if properly designed and supported, can play a transformational role in education and extend the kindergarten approach, so that learners of all ages can continue to learn in the kindergarten style”Š and continue to develop as creative thinkers.

What Makes for Good Learning Experiences?

Research has shown that many of our best learning experiences come when we are engaged in designing and creating things, especially things that are meaningful either to us or others around us. In addition, coding allows kids to learn a new method of communication and expression. Coding teaches problem solving and analytical skills that force children to grow intellectually and think outside of the box. As young children code with ScratchJr, they also use math and language in a meaningful and motivating context, supporting the development of early-childhood numeracy and literacy. In other words, children don’t just learn to code, they code to learn.

Creative Thinking – A Crucial 21st Century Skill

Computers are not just information delivery devices and communication enablers. They are also a medium through which people can create, express and share their creations with others. If we want to take advantage of new computational technologies we need to preserve the creative thinking mindset that is natural to kindergartners. They are quick to find smart solutions to problems that remain unnoticed by  people with a fixed mindset.

Copyright: Syda Productions

How to Get Kids Excited about Coding

One of the most distinctive features of ScratchJr is that young learners can use the app even before they know how to read. This creates the potential for children even younger than ScratchJr’s specified age range to get a jump on learning code. The action of using digital blocks, photos, and backgrounds to make meaning can serve as a new method of creative expression for young students, and can add to the choices for multimodal play in both classroom and home settings. Unlike traditional programming  where it can take days of coding just to get something to move around on screen ScratchJr lets children see pretty good results almost instantly, which then pushes them forward to develop their coding skills further.

Coding as a Way to Help Children Achieve Their Dreams in the Digital Age

The Lifelong Kindergarten Research Group’s mission is to nurture “a world full of playfully creative people who are constantly inventing new opportunities for themselves and their communities”. ScratchJr does this through early hands-on exposure to coding and computational thinking. The idea behind ScratchJr is to provide young children with opportunities to work on projects, based on their passions, in collaboration with peers, in a playful spirit. It helps them prepare for a world where creative thinking is more important than ever before as well as see computers as the valuable learning tools they are rather than merely fun playthings.

Do you think it’s important to introduce children at an early age to the world of coding? Are your kids familiar with ScratchJr? What sorts of projects have they made with this app? Share with us your stories and experience.

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Early childhood education is an important step in educating young minds and offering stimulating opportunities for exploring and learning. Those who contributed to the discipline of early childhood education came from occupations and professions outside the academic domain. What they had in common was an understanding of children. And that is what makes early childhood education unique; it starts with the child and not with the subject matter.

Historical Foundations of Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education has roots that reach far back into history. For over 2,000 years  the issues of “why” and “how” to teach young children have engaged philosophers, psychologists and educators seeking to discover universal laws of child development.

• Plato (428-348 BC), a leading Greek philosopher, believed all children were born with a defined amount of knowledge, and that education served to ‘remind’ them of this inherent understanding of the world, and help them use it in their everyday lives.  Plato viewed play as a form of anticipatory socialization. If children were to become builders, he suggested, they should play at building houses. The teacher’s role was to try to direct children’s inclinations and pleasures through play towards their final aim in life.
• Quintilian (AD 35-95), educator in the new Roman empire, was also an advocate for play, and encouraged parents to choose their children’s tutors and nurses with great care, emphasizing learning through imitation rather than intimidation.
• Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a keen advocate of universal education, and believed both boys and girls should be educated to read independently so that they could have access to the Bible, instead of relying on verbal retelling. He believed the school’s role was to educate the intellectual, religious, physical, emotional, and social aspects of children.
• John Amos Comenius (1592-1670)  published what many consider to be the first picture book dedicated to the education of young children. Comenius believed all children to age 6 should be taught in their native languages. He was also the first to introduce the concept of “grades”, or different levels of education determined by each individual child’s age and developmental stage.
• John Locke (1632-1704) developed the theory (known as “Tabula Rasa”, or “Blank Slate”) that children come into the world with an empty mind, and that knowledge and learning is received through experience and converted to understanding through reasoning. Locke strongly believed in “nurture” over “nature.” This belief led him to emphasize the idea of early education and changes in parental care, such as allowing young children to explore their world physically without restraint and the use of gentle forms of discipline. He emphasized respectful, loving relationships as the best way for adults to inspire the child to replicate their behaviours, and that learning should be fun, not a task to be imposed.
• Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a French writer, philosopher, and social theorist. His belief in the innate goodness of children led him to propose early schooling that enabled children to direct their own activities, free from the constraints imposed by “society”. He also believed education should begin at birth and continue well into adulthood, emphasizing the differences between the minds of children and adults, and adjusting educational methods accordingly. According to Rousseau, children learned best by experiencing and exploring their environments. This idea is still incorporated into ECE programs today. Such child-centred education, emphasizing activity and the use of senses, was thought to foster the development of each child’s moral and intellectual potential.

• Most of us probably think of kindergarten when we consider early childhood education. We can thank Friedrich Froebel (1782 – 1852), a German educator who created kindergarten in Germany in 1837, for that. Froebel’s idea was born out of the desire to socialize young children and to expose them to an education in science, music, and language outside the home. Following Rousseau’s philosophy, Froebel advocated respect for young children’s needs and the importance of sensory training. He promoted the importance of play as the educational “medium” through which children could reach their intellectual and emotional potentials. Suggesting that children progress through different age-related “phases”, he proposed that certain materials, or “gifts”, be incorporated into the kindergarten curriculum to correspond with these phases, hence enhancing development. This notion of appropriate “match” has been the cornerstone of many contemporary early education programs.
• Maria Montessori  (1870-1952), Italy’s first woman physician, continued the Froebelian tradition within a different context. Concerned with the welfare of young, poor urban children in Italy, she established her “children’s houses” in Rome in 1907. Like Froebel, Montessori implemented an early education curriculum that was founded on a developmental theory, employed play as the instructional method, and introduced developmentally appropriate materials designed to facilitate sensory and cognitive skills. Her method, which like kindergarten also spread throughout the world, was child-centered and child-directed, meaning that individual students learn based on what they are interested in at the time.

Approaches and Teaching Methods in ECE Today

The Montessori Method – Self-Directed Learning

In a Montessori classroom, the main interaction is between the child and the materials, not between the teacher and the child. Initially, the teacher demonstrates the proper use of each set of materials, after which children may work on them individually or in small groups. The teacher’s role in a Montessori school is to observe in order to connect the child with the suitable materials. Children learn through experience, by observing and doing. They practice life skills like buttoning, zipping, cutting, and gardening, enabling children to care for themselves as well as their environment. Learning in the Montessori classroom is cumulative, constantly building on what was learned prior. Activities are primarily individual, and children move around the classroom freely, choosing their own activities. The emphasis is on self-directed learning; children pursue their own interests at the pace that best suits them, rather than moving through teacher-led lessons as a group. Children develop respect for each other and their classroom, placing items back on shelves before reaching for new ones. Their work is taken seriously, and not regarded as play.

The High/Scope Program – Plan-Do-Review Process

High/Scope was founded in 1970 and emerged from the work Dave Weikart and Connie Kamii did on the Perry Preschool Project. High/Scope provides broad, realistic educational experiences geared to children’s current stages of development, to promote the constructive processes of learning necessary to broaden emerging intellectual and social skills. In a High/Scope classroom, students are engaged in learning ‘centers’, including building, dramatic play, math, reading, music, writing, art, science, and motor development. A typical day would demonstrate a three-part process: “Plan-Do-Review.” Beginning with planning, the class and teacher discuss and create plans for a certain play period. Children go about their various activities, (Do) while teachers observe and offer support. The “review” process takes place after the play period, where students and teachers gather to discuss what they have found. This helps children understand their own actions, and enables connections between action and language. Children’s work is proudly displayed on the walls of the classroom.

Waldorf Schools – Hands-On Exploration

Developed by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) in 1919, Waldorf programs aim to educate the whole child “” “head, heart, and hands.” Children in Waldorf schools are allowed to remain ‘childlike’, under the belief that there is a time for every aspect of development, and that children ought not to receive formal education until after the age of 7. Learning is hands-on, achieved through cooking, art projects, storytelling, singing, puppet shows, dress-up, and play. The teacher stays with the same group of children from preschool through eighth grade. The focus in the Waldorf classroom is on sensory exploration and self-discovery rather than formal instruction and merit, helping children develop  a sense of compassion and responsibility. The use of electronic media, especially TV, by young children is discouraged in Waldorf schools.

Reggio Emilia Schools – Classroom as the “Third Teacher”

Loris Malaguzzi (1920-1994) founded the Reggio Emilia approach at the Italian city of the same name. The Reggio approach fosters intellectual development through a focus on symbolic representation. The primary curriculum is in-depth project work based on the interests of the children. Children are encouraged to express themselves through ‘natural languages’, including drawing, painting, working in clay, sculpting, constructing, conversing, and dramatic play. In a Reggio Emilia school, educators pay close attention to the look and feel of the classroom, which is often referred to as the “third teacher.” The goal is to create a room that is beautiful, joyful, inviting, and stimulating. Teachers document the children’s discussions, remarks, and activities through notes, videos, and photographs. This makes learning visible and helps parents to understand what their children are learning; teachers get to know the children better; and children see that their work is valued.

Bank Street Approach – Learning by Doing

John Dewey (1859-1952) and his theory of “˜learning by doing’ influenced this developmental approach. The focus of Bank Street preschools is on a child’s mental, social, emotional, and physical growth. In these programs, the child is an active learner and gains knowledge about the world through experience. Students set the learning pace, and the teacher serves as a guide. Bank Street approach teaches lessons through hands-on activities, such as building blocks, puzzles, clay, and dramatic play.

Which Educational Philosophy Is Best?

As the preschool options seem endless, many parents wonder if they will ever be able to choose a program that is a good match for their child. Here are some guidelines to help them in the process:

• Carefully consider your child’s personality and learning style before investigating the options. After all, you know your child best.
• Research the various types of programs available, and make the selection of those that best fit your child’s needs.
• Visit each type of school and then try to determine the program that feels right for your child and family.

What type of ECE program do your kids attend? How did you choose your child’s preschool? Share with us your thoughts and experience.

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Children’s early years are the foundation for all that is to come. Neurological research demonstrates the early years play a key role in children’s brain development, for children’s early experiences – that is, the bonds they create with their parents and their first learning experiences – affect their future physical, cognitive, emotional and social development deeply. In recent years, researchers found out that the human brain develops the vast majority of its neurons, and is at its most receptive to learning, between birth and three years of age. In fact, the intake of new information is critical to the formation of active neural pathways (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).

Therefore, optimizing the early years of children’s lives is the best investment we can make as a society in ensuring their future success. However, many times ECE is simply being taken for granted by governments and taxpayers, who think the investment is not worth the cost.

Current Overview for ECE

According to UNICEF, too few children are attending pre-school programmes, especially among the poor. While family and home environment are critical to a young child’s survival and development, the access to good-quality care and education programmes outside the home are as important in providing children with the basic cognitive and language skills they need to flourish in school.

Yet holding proven benefits, the access and attendance to preschool programmes varies greatly across regions, remaining very low in many parts of the world. As shown in the chart below, more than half of children aged 3 and 4 in Latin American and the Caribbean attend early learning programmes, while just one in four do in sub-Saharan Africa.

Percentage of children aged 36-59 months who attend some form of early childhood education programme, by region

Source: UNICEF global databases, 2016, based on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and other nationally representative surveys, 2005-2014.

ECE in Serbia

According to a press release from the World Bank in February, Serbia has joined global leaders in Early Childhood Development by investing in its children to support their success, drive the long term competitiveness of the Serbian economy, and create growth and jobs. The press release states that Serbia is adding about 17,000 preschool spaces for children thanks to a new Euro 47 million Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Project approved yesterday by the World Bank Board of Directors.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said “The fact that 25 percent of children worldwide are stunted is a global crisis that threatens to lock young people into lives of poverty before they reach their fifth birthday,” and that “Investing in children’s education and care is not only the right thing to do, but also enhances economic competitiveness. With early stimulation, good nutrition, and regular preschool, children learn more and earn more as adults.”

Benefits of ECE

• Socialization: Interacting with people other than the child’s family in a safe environment is an essential element to children’s social developments, for it helps them overcome shyness and gain self-confidence.
• Cooperation: Sharing, cooperating, taking turns and respecting others are all favourable points that children may learn while in a preschool program. It may be hard to teach them those values later on.
• Multifaceted development: Early childhood educators are trained in identifying areas that lack support for each individual child and building programs and activities around these, contributing therefore to a child’s emotional, social, physical and mental development.
• Passion for learning: Children are natural born scientists, for their curiosity and will to discover. And what better place would it be to deepen in them this natural feature than a school, with lessons given in a fun and exciting way?
• Respect: A preschool environment, where everything is shared and civility and manners are both taught and learned organically, makes itself the best place to nourish in children the virtue of respect.
• Teamwork: The majority of preschool activities are centered around teamwork, for it teaches respect for the opinions of others, listening, cooperation and equality. Therefore, learning how to work in a team at an early age is socially attuned and more employable.
• Resilience: It is easier for children to develop skills in managing themselves and their emotions in a consistent, secure and fair social environment as a school. There, experiences such as bumps, bruises or losing a game from time-to-time may happen, but this is the foundation for building coping strategies for greater challenges in life.
• Concentration: While dealing with new experiences, new friends and new environments, in a school children will also have to learn the ability to listen, follow directions, attend to tasks and participate in group activities, what leads them to develop the essential skill of concentration.
• Patience: Sharing a teacher’s attention, a toy, the playground or waiting in line for a game are all lessons which will eventually help children become more patient adults, virtue seemingly lost in modern times.
• Confidence and Self-Esteem: Positive interactions with other children and teachers is able to flourish in children a positive, healthy and secure view of themselves that will eventually allow them to approach situations and problems confidently throughout their lives.
• Exposure to Diversity: ECE is able to guide children to the valuing of difference and diversity, leading them to realize that everybody is unique and special in their own way with their own culture, beliefs and ethnicity.

Final Considerations

Early Childhood Education can help foster social competence and emotional development. Actually, it is widely recognized that early childhood care and education constitute the foundation of a high-quality basic education.Investing in ECE is a powerful way to reduce gaps that often put children with low social and economic status at a disadvantage. The returns on such investments are highest among poorer children, for whom these programmes may serve as a stepping stone out of poverty or exclusion.

With that being said, it is about time you become an Early Childhood Education advocate, just as all the supporters of the Novak Djokovic Foundation. Be a change in the world, be fair, be human.

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The Novak Djokovic Foundation and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University have awarded four Harvard advanced doctoral students the inaugural Djokovic Science and Innovation Fellowship. Sonia Alves, Joshua Jeong, Rebecca Lebowitz, and Linda Zhao are all in the advanced stages of doctoral programs across the university, and each receives a grant during the 2017-18 academic year to support their groundbreaking research.

Alberto: Firstly, congratulations on being awarded the Djokovic Fellowship. Tell us a bit about yourself and what made you want to apply.

Sonia: I grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, with two older siblings. My parents are both immigrants from the Islands of Cape Verde. I graduated from Charlestown High School, a Boston public high school in 2006, and went on to Smith College, a small, private, liberal arts college, double-majoring in Education and Psychology.

After graduating in 2010 from Smith, I worked as a research assistant for three years at Boston Children’s Hospital at the Stress and Development Lab. That was my first introduction into the research world of adverse childhood experiences. The Stress and Development Lab is a psychophysiology lab where we conducted studies on adolescents between the ages of 13 and 21. As a part of our study, adolescents were hooked up to psychophysiology equipment such as EKG (electrocardiogram) and impedance cardiography tape around the neck and torso. The study I was working on examined differences in physiological responses among adolescents who had experienced abuse and violence in the past and those who had not, and tracked their later mental health outcomes. The work I did in the lab fascinated me and made me want to take the research further by examining this work within the context of academic outcomes.

Alberto: It’s a fascinating and vast topic to consider. What is your dissertation going to focus on?

Sonia: So, by working with the young people at Boston Children’s Hospital, I realised that I was interested in their academic outcomes. If you’ve experienced trauma as a child, how do you function in the classroom, and is it difficult for you to learn? And, if you are succeeding, what are the protective factors buffering the effects of adverse experiences? Is it a great after-school program, a great teacher who goes above and beyond? That’s what I am now here to find out!

My dissertation is looking at children exposed to community violence, such as being a victim and/or witness of a violence-related act such as a shooting or mugging. I’m trying to understand the mechanisms underlying the association between childhood community violence exposure and academic functioning, as well as the protective factors at play.

Alberto: At the Novak Djokovic Foundation, we’re proud to be able to support this kind of academic work, and we also work closely on the front lines with communities to provide better opportunities for children. What do you think are the gaps between academic theory and practice and how can they be bridged?

Sonia: Throughout the years, I have read a lot of the work on adverse childhood experiences, but I have had little experience with conducting applied work in this area, because I come from a very lab-based background. So, as a second-year doctoral student, I set out to obtain a Master’s degree in Prevention Science and Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education within the counselling strand, to gain some practical experience. Two days out of the week, I interned in the counselling department at a local Boston public K-8 (Kindergarten through 8th Grade) school. While interning at the school I conducted individual and group counselling sessions. This work allowed me to begin to explore how research and practice can come together. I think one of the great things about this Fellowship is that I can use the time during the Fellowship year to think about such questions. The environment is supportive and will help me think innovatively. I can practice, look at policy, conduct research and talk to others to help provide real solutions.

Alberto: Are you more inclined to stay within the academic field or do you see yourself more as a practitioner, or perhaps a combination of both?

Sonia: Some days I wake up and I’m like, “Oh, I want to be an academic.” Other days, I’m like, “No way, let’s get some practice in!” And then other days, I’m like, “No, I need to find a way to do both, right?!” As of today, I see myself in the academic field, but also making it a focus of mine to collaborate with community organizations. I would love to continue to conduct research in Boston while also collaborating with community leaders. There are exciting times ahead!

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When taking a look at international ranking tables, Finland’s education system is always rated in the top ten of the world. Many countries are impressed by the educational achievements of the small country in Northern Europe. Despite its high standards, Finland’s government is still finding ways to improve the way pupils learn at school. The country’s plan to remove school subjects from the curriculum is its most radical idea to date.

Reasons for Removing Subjects

School subjects have been part of the curriculum for many decades, and removing them sounds like creating unnecessary disruptions to teachers, pupils, and parents. Undoubtedly, a lot of work needs to be put into the realization of this project, but establishing a new educational system makes a lot of sense when looking at the skills today’s pupils are required to develop at school. As Marjo Kyllonen, the head of the Department of Education in Finland, puts it: “the needs of pupils are constantly changing”.  The subject-focused education system was beneficial for pupils in the 1900s, but the skills pupils need to develop in order to be successful in the 21st century cannot be taught properly while still following this old-fashioned system.

Bringing the Radical Idea to Life

Authorities have long thought about the best way to deliver this new teaching approach, because students will still have to study math, history, literature or physics at some point in their schooling. Their plan is to remove the old subjects and replace them with interdisciplinary modules. For example, in such a format, pupils will study the topic of the Second World War from different subject perspectives, including math, geography, and history. Another example is the newly developed module which is called Working in a Café. The module will incorporate the study of economics, English, and communication skills. This way, teachers can change the structure of their lessons. Group work will play an important role in lessons, while no student will have to worry about the traditionally known format of teacher-pupil communication any longer. This means that pupils will study the subjects by discussing topics in small groups, rather than listening to the teacher or waiting anxiously to give answers.

Focusing on Ways to Teach Pupils to Think for Themselves

Only seniors will be introduced to the new system. Pupils at the age of 16 will have the chance to choose the topics they want to study for themselves and which they think are most important to their futures. Rather than having unmotivated pupils who wonder why they need to know difficult concepts in chemistry or math, pupils will have the ability to pick courses that they like, are good at, or which will have an impact on their future.

An Education System Under construction

In comparison to other countries, the Finnish education system is based on collective work. In order to offer interdisciplinary modules, teachers of different subjects will need to cooperate in several different mediums, including the development of a new curriculum, sharing knowledge, and sharing teaching materials. By now, around 70% of teachers in the city of Helsinki have started to prepare materials for lessons within the new system, which will be used for information purposes. As a result of all the additional work, teachers can expect to receive a raise in their salaries and hopefully deal with pupils who are motivated to participate in the new modules. In order to be properly prepared, authorities plan to implement the changes to the education system by 2020.  

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