Nati from
Colombia

I interviewed a woman who emigrated to Finland from Colombia. She met her Finnish husband while in Paris as an exchange student just like he was when she was completing her first bachelor’s degree in business. I met her when she was working on her second business degree. The married couple has been together for more than ten years and have two young daughters. Usually she travels back to Colombia once a year for a month or so to spend time with her parents in the city of Carthagena on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. It makes for a splendid place with a lot of color and people are commonly rather poor but merry. The differences are stark even within the country as I made friends with another person from Colombia during the same degree program in Haaga-Helia but she was from Bogota: the capital city. Bogota has colder climate, the skin even is distinguishably paler, and the people are more reserved.

Nati said that as she left her native country rather young, still a student, she has never worked in Colombia. She did have in mind the idea that hierarchy is looser in Finnish companies than in Colombia. Also, she noted that unlike in Colombia Finns are very punctual. Colombia is a Latin American country with more of the “mañana, mañana” -ideology. When I worked in a team together with Nati and other international students I used to correct for this bias by telling that the meeting or event would start earlier than the actual timing. This way I could manage to get the people from non-punctual cultures to come on time.

Nati revealed that in her opinion Finns as people take a long time before trusting anyone new. However, once the trust is gained it is for life. A common curious feature many Finns share in Nati’s opinion is the idea of spending free time at a summer cottage in the middle of nowhere without any modern amenities. I share her wonder at this: to use limited leisure time in a work camp without running water, electricity, or any nice things and only a million chores to do; such is insanity!

In regards the corporate world Finland is relaxed in the attitudes towards superiors. Managers are very approachable according to Nati and are usually called by their first name. So no fancy formalities like they would require in Colombia. This applies to both oral and written communication which are formal in Colombia and informal in Finland. She has since moved on to working in Stockholm but she says that the corporate cultures are very similar - only that the Swedes have even less hierarchy! Moving to Colombia seems rather distant despite many relatives still living there and though Nati’s family is very well off. As a child she had personal coaches for swimming and tennis, and her parents live in the same luxurious apartment complex where a famous former Formula 1 driver lives.

Anna from Germany

Anna came to Finland for family reasons (i.e. she fell in love with a Finnish boy - now her husband), but it was also important to her to finish her business studies. Therefore she at first participated in student exchange and then took part in the entrance examination at Haaga-Helia during the exchange year. As she succeeded in the examination, she was allowed to continue studies in Finland and graduated in 2009. Since then she has been working in different companies.

She completed high school in her native Germany and started higher studies there as well. She completed studies at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki and graduated as a bachelor in International Business in 2009. Due to lacking Finnish language skills she had problems finding a job matching her level of education after graduation. This is a rather common problem for many new graduates.She therefore worked in restaurants for two years. With increasing language skills she could get higher responsibility and finally got an office job in the year 2011. Since then she has been working as freight forwarder in the air import department of an international logistics company, right now on maternity leave.

One significant difference coming to Anna’s mind between Germany and Finland was that once you have a higher education degree in Germany, it is easier to get a job with good pay. In Finland it is more difficult to get a job with good pay or a higher salary in general. There is also a difference in communication. It is more hierarchical and formal in Germany. Otherwise she cannot mention other significant differences. This probably is, because she has more experience from working life in Finland than Germany. Also (working) culture differences between Finland and Germany are not that big in Anna’s opinion. Though one more variation came to her mind: Germans are said to be punctual, however Finnish people are even more strict when it comes to the aspect of time. People are "over-punctual" in Finland.

Anna listed some habits she thinks are a bit odd in Finland:

●     Some people tend to stick to given rules/working models too strictly. In her opinion, sometimes it would be good to question rules more, newly discuss matters and to find new best practices. 

●     Mono- vs multitasking: More people seem to be monotasking here. Often they do not understand how challenges of multitasking can motivate others and that multitasking is not a synonym for disorganization.

●     Having lunch at 10:30!

●     One has to bring a birthday cake when having birthday her-/himself. In her home country, the one having birthday receives the cake from colleagues/friends.

Management style is said to be more democratic in Finland. However, by now Anna has got the impression that this is true for smaller companies and decisions at lower level, only. Regarding smaller companies: Anna has experienced that employees have a bigger say in Finland. Opinions are asked, influence in decision making is possible. In contrast she has experienced and observed more autocratic /patriarchal management style in small German companies. Regarding big companies: her current employer is a large international company and management style is rather autocratic, at least when it comes to big decisions. Employees might be asked for their opinion and/or have some influence when it comes to less important decisions for example within the department.

At Anna’s current place of work the communication between colleagues and with clients is not very formal. This is true for the branch office in Finland and for dealing with Finnish clients.

However, when it comes to international communication between different branch offices or communication with international clients, the language used is more formal. Hence only communication Finland-wide is not as formal as in her home country Germany. When it comes to international communication/matters, there is no difference in the use of language. Finns know to switch to more formal mode when necessary.

In general Anna feels she is not too bound to any country and could imagine moving somewhere else for work purposes. However, for now she is satisfied to work in Finland and probably will do so for the next years. She is comfortable with the working culture. It would also feel wrong to leave Finland now, because it took quite an effort to study the language and to get a better job.

Cultural theories

According to Hofstede (2010) there are various dimensions on which cultures can be assessed:

Power distance:

High scorers want more hierarchy; low scorers want balanced distribution of power

Individualism vs. collectivism:

Individualists “I”; collectivists “we”

Masculinity vs. femininity:

Masculine ones value competitiveness and macho culture; feminine ones are geared towards consensus and softer values

Uncertainty avoidance:

High scorers inelastic belief systems and no tolerance of odd behavior; low scorers practice > principles

Long term orientation vs. short term normative orientation:

High scorers have more pragmatic view of the world; low scorers treasure age old traditions & dislike changes in the makeup of the society

Indulgence vs. restraint:

Indulgence free satisfaction of natural human drives; restrained societies have tighter norms for natural human drives

Now, let us try placing Finland, Germany, and Colombia on these dimensions. These are only my placings and certainly individuals within each country have more differences.

Power distance: from the highest score to the lowest are Colombia, Germany, Finland

Individualism vs. collectivism: from the most individualistic to the most collectivistic are Finland, Germany, Colombia

Masculinity vs. femininity: from the most masculine to the most feminine are Colombia, Germany, Finland

Uncertainty avoidance: from the most avoidant to the least Colombia, Germany, Finland

Long term orientation vs. short term normative orientation: from the longer term to the shorter term are Finland, Germany, Colombia

Indulgence vs. restraint: from the most indulgent to the most restrained are Finland, Germany, Colombia

Germany receives all the positions in the middle because it is rather in between these two other outliers. Germany indeed is both Catholic like Colombia and Protestant like Finland making it a mix of both. Anna said it well in her interview that whereas Germans are punctual, the Finns are overdoing it. And then Colombians are not really known for their punctuality.

For comparison, below are the charts from Geert Hofstede’s website of these three countries. It is interesting that Hofstede does not see the situation similarly as I have penned down there. I made a small table containing both of our answers:

Table 1: Hofstede vs. Korhonen

It is rather refreshing to see that Germany is ranked as the most masculine out of these three but then again we are to keep in mind that Germans, whilst not the most macho nation of them all, are very competitive and it is important to keep in mind more than one of the definitions linked to the dimensions.

Fig. 1 Colombia on cultural dimensions

Fig. 2 Germany on cultural dimensions

Fig. 3 Finland on cultural dimensions

References:

Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. Revised and Expanded 3rd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill USA, 2010.

Geert Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations.  Second Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications, 2001.

Unpublished:

Interview with Natalia Heini, 28 Jan 2016.

Interview with Anna Juka, 3 Feb 2016.

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Assignment 1

I do not currently work in an educational institution nor have I actually ever worked in one. Therefore it is nigh on impossible for me to look at the values and norms of any other place than what I am closest to - which in my case is the city of Vantaa; my employer.

The values and norms in Vantaa are rather conflicting. The claims are there that the official values are about team spirit, doing things together, having a good atmosphere at work etc. This all is just lip service, I am afraid. Currently, my supervisor has been told by the HR department that there are rumors circling about a position he has applied for as a candidate - rumors claiming that he would have been promised the job already off the record before the job interviews etc. The whole place is rather toxic, really.

The value system is politically skewed so that starting from a certain level a specific party membership is the unwritten rule before obtaining a position in Vantaa. The official face may be that everyone has a chance, everything is transparent but this is not the reality. If I think back to the readings given in the first part of this course there were similar absurdities in the old book by Chancellor where he gave the example of gentlemen not being very fast in clearing their gambling debts but yet want to be seen as gentlemen in the society.

A random visitor might not notice anything amiss as it takes a while to observe the whole deal of what is going on. It does affect the permanent staff and this is what I fear is also rampant in the education services in Vantaa. The vicious cycle at its finest when the motivation is eroded by bad bad management, when initiative is discouraged as it could place one in a very dire spot, when critique is limited to coffee time gossip, when the management works to give rumors stronger wings, and when the employees are so unhappy they lose effectiveness but are also too poisoned to leave as they hope no longer.

Yes indeed, the latest round of feedback by the big boss was done by sending emails to employees and blaming them, insulting them. The employees were not heard or were they given any space to defend themselves. The values get shown off and are regularly polished but what happens behind the facade is a completely different story. This place is like a long forgotten garden at the gates of Mordor. It would need so much work to get it to bloom: get rid of all the plants that poison others and take up their space to live - and most importantly, defeat Sauron.

Assignment 2 - An Approach to educational life-story

Having spent a lot of time trying to find a person who would have lived during 1930s or 1940s and would still be alive and in a condition that would enable me to interview them but finding no such person I have decided to interview my memories of my grandparents. I had met and lived at the same time as my grandparents, or three out of four; anyway. My maternal grandmother Liisa was born in 1932 and died in 1996, my maternal grandfather Eino was born in 1929 and died in 2007. On my father’s side I only met his mother. My paternal grandmother Aune was born in 1914 and died in 2004. They all came geographically rather close from each others - it could be said that they all were born and raised in Luumäki/Valkeala and all ended up living in Kouvola.

Out of the three Aune had had the least amount of schooling in her life. Aune started her school life in 1921 during which the Volksschule became mandatory for all but the first years were still the same “kiertokoulu” that had been for the older children in the area. She studied for six years and after she was finished with school she went to work as a maid in a upper class family of Juho Manner. The school life of Aune was sporadic even during the mandated six years but she did learn to read and write and some basic mathematics. Aune aspired to become “kylmäkkö”, the person responsible for the preparation of cold foods but she could not finish the course as she could not withstand the coldness of the kitchen. She held a job washing cars in 1930s at gas stations and then finally settled for a job in a bakery where she remained until retirement. If the world had been different she might have gone on to study more. She remained very alert until the very end and had an appetite for books. When she was too old to read I was the one carrying books on tape to her so she could still listen to texts. She hoped she had had the chance of learning a language other than Finnish. In her retirement years she even traveled alone to Germany to watch an hours long play about the passion of the Christ in Oberammergau despite not knowing the language. She was fond of cultures and arts. One of her three sons became a principal of a school and an author, too.

Eino was from a wealthier family. His school was the same six years of Volksschule as was for all at that time. He studied to become a boilerman for the railways at first and having been in that position for some years he studied further to become the engine driver for the railways. In his case it was not as clear cut as for Aune who just got the bakery job without any further training but Eino had to pass entrance exams and the sort to be chosen to study. He seemed very satisfied with his choice and remained with the railways till the retirement age.

His wife had had a more difficult journey. Liisa wanted to continue education after Volksschule and she applied and was accepted to “oppikoulu” which was a kind of a continuum for Volksschule and was especially for people that had hopes of higher education. Liisa left her hometown and went to live with her uncle in Helsinki to get access to the best education in the country. Some background to this could be that her only sibling, an elder brother called Toivo, had drowned during the summer before he was about to start school. The parents had lost a child before school ever started for him and then they hoped more for the only remaining child. I mean she was in school during the years of the Second World War. Obviously it was also a good way of getting the child out of harm’s way as Kouvola received very heavy bombing. However, Liisa was homesick and she withdrew from the school after one year. She then did a course on becoming a typist and received a job in an office as a typist. She married at 19 and had three daughters before she was 26 years old. The times were not ready for her to become more than a homemaker. She never fully gave up, however. She managed to learn quite good skills in English language during her later life and was able to use her skills while traveling with her husband. She never had a career though.

Eino and Liisa’s three girls all achieved higher education: the eldest one became both an engineer and a teacher of mathematics, the second one became a mental health nurse and also a teacher of nurses, and the youngest one became a translator and has worked in the parliament for 20+ years. The home was very concentrated on reading, improving oneself, enjoying culture and the arts, and so on. I feel my grandparents were more intellectual than the times allowed them to be. There were options to study but they were not realistic for all.

Assignment 3 - Changing values

In this treatise we look at the values in motion in the field of education.

To make the students feel at ease and even to maintain their concentration some schools and teachers have employed gym balls as an option to regular chairs (YLE News 14 Jan 2015). This is one of the changes that Finnish schools on the move - a national program - has introduced to schools. This program relies on the idea that sedentary time is not good for either body or the learning process. The school kids are encouraged to be on the move at any viable moment even after school. (Liikkuva koulu 2012.) This is a rather stark change compared to older times when movement in the classroom was seen as a disturbance and wandering children might have been removed from the class.

In other respects, as well, the classroom has started to accommodate the students and their learning rather than fitting students in one box and one model for all. Many institutions of learning offer their students personalized learning plans and those plans cater to special needs and conditions, too. Below is the figure 1 that has these differences written down; how schools used to be earlier in Finland and how they are now or at least what the schools are approaching now.

For example, in my household there are several school-aged children, five to be exact (ages ranging from 11 to 15). The two girls attending the 6th grade at the moment have one week a year during which independent working is expected from the students. The students are given the goals what they should achieve and the teacher is available but other than that the students are on their own. The girls showed me that for example the history class during that week is a choice between reading certain chapters and doing the assignments as per the said chapters or the more ambitious student can make a presentation on a topic from 16th or 17th century; these choices are very varied from Elizabeth I to Shakespeare and from discussing certain paintings to writing about the philosophy of the enlightenment era. Such freedom did not exist in my time and especially not when my mother’s generation was studying at this level.

Whilst the changes are slow so that my kids probably could not tell of any changes in values since they started in school but looking at the bigger picture and longer time period the changes are evident. We have already passed the stage where the teacher is the ultimate authority who has even the right to corporal punishment and we are leaving behind also the stage in which the teacher is the figure speaking to the students who listen and obey. I have a memory in which I was ridiculed by my teacher though the teacher was wrong and I was not. I was only 8 years old and we were talking about the books by Tove Jansson. My teacher asked us to name any characters from the books. As I replied “Nipsu”, the teacher said I was wrong and the class laughed at me for answering wrong. I was not wrong, however. The teacher never asked for my forgiveness. Nowadays, the teacher can be more relaxed and admit they do not know everything. With the Internet available basically in any classroom the teacher can even suggest they look up the information together if there is any suspicion.

Figure 1: Changing values in schools

To me, though we are losing some control in the classrooms and my children have also complained that the teachers do not really have the authority to make the study space quiet during silent working but it still seems like a better alternative than having know-it-alls standing before the class and telling their ideas as the purest form of truth. It can be damaging to children if a high authority is telling lies - intentionally or not. For years I spent thinking I was flawed as I did not fit the only description my male teacher gave of menstrual period: that women do not really BLEED as much as just pass some mucus and even that only a spoonful or two during the entire period.

It is like not only are we seeing teaching in the traditional way but we have added meanings to it. Teacher is the one preparing others for new experiences and lives but also that the teachers have a huge duty to uphold. Not everything will be automatically seen as good because the teacher has lost some of the authority but that the teacher should back up the things taught with evidence. 

References:

Liikkuva koulu (2012) Finnish schools on the move: Increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary time among school-aged children, URL: http://www.liikkuvakoulu.fi/in-english (Site accessed 11 Feb 2016).

YLE News (14 Jan 2015) Koulutunti sujuu mukavasti jumppapallon päällä istuskellen,  URL: http://yle.fi/uutiset/koulutunti_sujuu_mukavasti_j... (Site accessed 11 Feb 2016).

Assignment 4 - Summary

My personal view of educational systems is rather complex. I do think that it is at times a gift to be able to be in charge of one’s own education. Though, however, as with most things in life the extreme freedom might work against everything that was aimed at with the given freedoms. Let me rephrase this; Grahn-Laasonen (13 Nov 2015) has unleashed a project in which students are to be given complete freedom in the upper secondary school regarding the written subjects. This means that it could be possible in the future to work through upper secondary school without touching subjects like mathematics, biology, geography, history, and so on - should the project seem worthy to make into a law. However, maybe a 16-year-old is not yet mature enough to decide what kind of upbringing they need for their future. Upper secondary school used to be the stepping stone into science and for that new information on many topics is required. If a teen decides to confine themselves to arts alone or perhaps forego philosophy, history, & psychology to fill the curriculum with natural sciences only - they are limiting much more than their choices of subjects. Some critics are seeing this as an assault that will lead to for example religious households skipping the uncomfortable and unpalatable theories that the school has been known to teach like evolution (Helsingin Sanomat 5 March 2016).

Freedoms should grow only with maturation and understanding. It is not to harm a toddler to watch over them at all times but to save them from themselves. Children and youngsters should not be put into peril, either and most certainly not by the school system. Freedoms come with weighty responsibilities. Us, teachers, also have to consider how much space we give to people because after all we are in this to educate people and to improve them and us.

References:

Grahn-Laasonen, S. (13 Nov 2015) Lukiouudistus alkaa – uskalletaan kokeilla!

 http://sannigrahnlaasonen.fi/2015/11/lukiouudistus... (Site accessed 7 March 2016).

Helsingin Sanomat (5 March 2016) Pian lukion voi käydä oppimatta maailmansotien historiaa tai evoluutioteoriaa http://www.hs.fi/mielipide/a1457069252917 (Site accessed 7 March 2016).

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A FRAME PLAN FOR FACILITATING LEARNING IN PRACTISE

Basic information about the series of Facilitating Learning in Practice

SeniorAcademy lecture series at Vantaan aikuisopisto (Lummetie 5, 01300 VANTAA) running from 20th January to 13th April 2016. The lecture starts at 1 pm and ends at 3:30 pm; the calculated time is 2.67 hours per lecture making the full seven lectures to be 18.69 hours in total. The lectures are held in the classroom 169. The guiding colleague is Heli-Kaarina Degerman. One lecture costs 6.00 euros. The topics are as follows:

20.1. Naisena viikinkien keskuudessa: Olivatko viikingit niin tasa-arvoisia kuin elokuvissa ja tv-sarjoissa annetaan ymmärtää?

3.2. Eläin syytettyjen penkillä: Poliittinen eläin ei ennen vanhaan ollut vain pelastusta kaipaava uhri. Käydään läpi aikajanaa eläinten aseman muutoksesta Euroopassa.

17.2. Utopia: Yhteiskuntasopimuksen määritelmä ja toteutus Euroopassa.

2.3. Rammat, vammaiset, vanhukset ja orvot: Sosiaalivakuutusten historiaa Euroopassa. Köyhäintalot, huutolaiset, Otto von Bismarckin yllättävät lakiuudistukset. Kerrotaan elämästä köyhäinavun varassa ja verrataan nykytilanteeseen.

16.3. Vallankaappaukset & vallankumoukset: Tutkaillaan Euroopan menneisyyttä niiltä kohdin, kun vallankahvaan on ollut muitakin yrittäjiä kuin sen silloinen haltija.

30.3. Kaksipäisen kotkan arvoitus: Salaliittoteoriat viimeisen tsaariperheen yllä.

13.4. Pelkkää kaskinaurista?: Luodaan aikajana. Ruokakin on poliittista!

Peer students to be announced later.

Student’s own goals for Facilitating Learning in Practise Course

I have never been in the position of a teacher in front of people. Sure, I have been working in daycare centers for years and I have had to go in front of people and talk to them on several different occasions but never in the role of an educator to an adult audience. So that is the main thing I want to learn.

This entire teacher training course has been my support. I feel that I am ready to try out and my support is the information and confidence I have gained so far from the good ladies Eila and Helena and all the peer students and other visiting educators.

My main worry is that I need to establish some rather new method of assessing people and what they have learned. My students could have debilitating memory problems like dementia and I still need to examine whether they have taken in anything I have taught them. I will be asking them to provide something of the last lecture to the next; anything that they could come up with. For example if they want to write a story regarding the topic I will gladly read it and actually ask for them to write something. Unfortunately I do not have any leverage as to make them all do it.

It is difficult to acknowledge my strengths as a facilitator of learning. I view this as somewhat an exogenous issue. The strengths are played outside of me; visible to others and not so much to me. I have been told I am patient with people and that I am calm and composed. These are words I would never ascribe to myself. The professional me has strengths invisible to me.

The learning curve for me personally will be best identified in the PowerPoints of my lectures. I will compile each lecture ready only after presenting the earlier one. Thus, anything I have learned about my students and about the methods I have used will be used to make the following lecture even more satisfying. It is like a person learning to knit: the first sweater is likely to have more errors and rougher outlook than the latest and most developed one.

Description of the changes in professional competences

Just to define my own field of specialism is an interesting question in its own right. I have degrees both in international business and international politics, and currently finishing my master’s degree on development management. Most people I know in my field regarding development management are entrepreneurs or to be more precise – freelance consultants. They might do a project or a field investigation for IMF, the Red Cross, or some small NGO (non-governmental organization) so they have to sell their own skills and make the client comfortable with the idea they can deliver what is asked for. Previously most people in this field worked in governmental institutions but development work has been outsourced in the past decades. The work is global in nature and as many positions are project based it means that while I could work from Finland as my headquarters, I probably could not shy away from travelling extensively and especially to the crisis zones.

Competences required in this field are similar to those needed in the teacher training. Networking is needed to both acquire the projects as a freelancer but also in the field when one has to connect the dots between the insurgents, the civilians, the aid agencies, and the government amidst civil war and the same applies to cooperation as well as interactive skills. To be able to work as a freelancer the entrepreneurial mindset is also required. One has to be able to pick up information quickly and connect the information to what is gathered of the situation already. These same competences are asked of students, too but obviously they need some time to mature to these challenges with time and experience. The field is not static so the workers cannot be that way either. New theories and new modes of working flood the field every day and the good specialist has to work their way through all that to see what is useful and practical. No one can work in this field with theory alone. Some competences are about the human mind: when working in a dangerous job that could end up oneself or employees kidnapped, maimed, raped, or killed one has to be strong in mind and body. As a lecturer on political history the challenges are so different but the M.Sc. is my latest and highest degree.

Description of course’s contents:

My competences were placed under scrutiny the moment I applied to do my teacher training in that institution. The teacher who also is in charge of the department of courses relating to the social sciences Heli-Kaarina Degerman wanted my CV, wanted to see my degrees and interview me if I was suitable for their purposes. The lecture series called Senior Academy has existed for decades and there are varied subjects regarding the many topics of social sciences. My proposals for the lectures were accepted fast as I have gathered somewhat a common thread: European political history from 9th century to this day.

There is no curriculum at the adult education center of Vantaa. They only have a course tray available but any individual is free to choose any course from there or not to attend at all. There is no steady student body. The aims of my course are to invigorate the minds of the elderly and give out information to the public.  I expect to have dialogue between the lecture goers and me on these matters that have something in common with them all, in their daily lives. During the discussions in the lectures we will hopefully achieve these targets.

Description of the learning process and the main phases

I teach at the adult education center of Vantaa. It is an institution open for everyone to learn new things. There are approximately 2,000 courses in a year. There are practical skill courses like cooking but also arts, languages and many others. There is no consistent pedagogical approach within the institution as there are so many different subjects, there are visiting lecturers and paid permanent employees, the audience is as wide as the adult population of greater Helsinki area from immigrants to the elderly.

Somehow I end up working with the elderly by chance. In my business studies I did my final project on how to prolong the working careers of the elderly. As people live longer there are also more possibilities in educating the elderly. Besides, if a person is 72 years of age and going to live to turn 95 why would it be waste of time and resources to try to maintain brains active for the following 23 years? Cognitive processes can be slower in the elderly and probably the amount of new knowledge offered has to be adjusted but I am hoping I cannot fail with the old rule of KISS (Keep It Short & Simple). To aid the learning processes I am to keep the PowerPoint slides simple enough and even to choose the font to accommodate the eyes of the elderly. I don’t think that the phases of learning vary but that more time is required to take in the knowledge and it is more likely that more information is lost after the lecture is over (I mean the elderly might retain less of the knowledge). Differences from person to person are probably bigger than between the young population.

Description of the characteristics of your students

The name of the lecture series explains much about the group of students the series is targeted at: they are seniors which in this context means retired elderly people who have time on their hands in the early afternoons during weekdays. This means that people are there of their own free will as this does not lead to a degree but it is for their own enjoyment and pleasure. If the topic does not incite them, if the lecturer is boring – they will not come. Though the working life is already behind these attendees it is still beneficial for many reasons for them to come to listen to the lectures. They gain more information; they question the knowledge and me which rejuvenates their brain. Also the lectures are very social in their nature and on those Wednesdays the people have company of others. The effect is multiplied by giving the students homework and food for thought even after the lecture is finished.

The backgrounds are widely varied as there are retired academics and then on the other hand elderly people who have not had much access to education and might just have primary school or its equivalent completed. Thus, there is a wide difference in the prior knowledge base and this has to be taken into consideration. Consideration is planned to be implemented in several ways. First of all, the language used in the lectures needs to be simple enough for people with little education but not too simple as to underestimate the people. Specialist language is not to be used if it can be avoided but if there is a need to use a foreign term it will be defined and explained to the audience. The lecture topics have been chosen so that they would intrigue the mind but so that there is something familiar the people could relate to.

Description of the methods used in facilitating and assessing learning

Due to the nature of the course it is likely that not all people will attend all the lectures. There are no exams or tests to use for assessment. The people will express their feelings about me and my lectures by either flocking the lectures or leaving the room empty. Undoubtedly, my supervising teacher at the teaching institution is likely to hear from the learners as to how they felt about the lecture series. The attendees have no specific goals as to what they need to learn during this lecture series.

My methods of teaching will be anything I can try and my worries are represented by this picture:

But in all reality and very seriously, my methods are to ask questions from the audience “do you know this? / have you seen that?”, to incite them to ask questions from me, and then just lecture. This lecture series has a history of several decades and I cannot diverge too far from the expected delivery of the lectures. My novelty is mainly based on rather quirky topics on some lectures. I do try to connect the lecture material to this day, as well. Many a lecture is formulated as such that I can tell an anecdote or two from my personal life as these familiar notes usually prove popular with the elderly.

I have requested Discovery Kit camera set on loan from JAMK to tape at least one session of the lecture series. This filmed lecture will then be submitted for assessment to peer students and Eila Burns as the teacher overseeing this facilitating learning module. The lectures will be given in the old-fashioned manner with me talking in front of the group and using PowerPoint slides showed on the wall to demonstrate my pictures and other materials.

The starting point for the whole lecture series is very student centered already. It is enhanced by not having too rigid lecture materials which leaves more time for interactive connection between the lecturer and the learners. I am not teaching children but adults. As their background is unknown to me other than that most of them are already retired from the working life there could be people within the audience who know more on the topic than I do. I will leave the plan open so that a dialogue is a possibility for example should there be a specialist of the field I am lecturing on.

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Agatha Korhonen

Task 3: Learning and Teaching Today

We, the teachers, have no say over whether or not the new technology will come to feature in our teaching. We can, however, still control how and when we use the new technologies. Peterson-DeLuca (2015) tells us that the hundred teachers interviewed during the school year of 2013-2014 told that they had approximately 14.5 hours per year for their own continued education on the matter of new technologies. This is less than half an hour per week.

Below, I have reproduced the SAMR model which focuses on the reasons as to why a teacher ought (or perhaps, ought not) use the medium of newer technologies in the teaching. This model recognizes four levels of technology use in education.

Fig. 1.  SAMR model: four levels of technology use in education

The first level, Substitution, concerns itself with the aims of technology use. What is gained if an iPad is used instead of paper and pen? Why are we substituting the old tech with the new? Obviously, if the teacher cannot answer that, why use the new one?

The second level is Augmentation: what new does the new tech bring to the assignment at hand? Perhaps something is improved by the use of technology.

The third level is Modification: redesign enabled by the technology. For example, it takes forever for one teacher to check answers for children’s times table tests but a computer can give instant reaction if the answer is wrong or right.

The fourth level is Redefinition: so much can be done with the technology that could not be possible without it! For example, those times tables tests could send report cards automatically to parents’ email boxes so that at home people are up to date where the students are good and where they need more exercise.

Not only are teachers feeling they do not receive enough training pertaining to the new technologies but they also score the technology available rather low according to Peterson-DeLuca. Especially the speed of the Internet connection receives only 2.67 out of 5. So, for the learning in the digitized era to be relevant, the tools need to be in working condition and the ones using the new technology need to know how to use the potential within them. It is a process in which the teacher quite often has to ask the class whether any of the students can troubleshoot the piece of new technology that is not functioning as desired. We are all learners with this new technology.

As a very new teacher I have tried to take on the technology by the horns. I make mistakes and sometimes I need to fall back on the older technology as the newer one fails (have PowerPoint slides at hand if Prezi stops working, use video camera if newer intuitive camera does not respond) and so on. It takes time to work with the technology and having to prepare time so that there is a plan B or that time needed to set up the systems to go; usually these are not included in the working hours but it will deduct from the class hours if the systems fail to start in the beginning of the session.

References:

Peterson-DeLuca, A. (2 Dec 2015) No Magic Pill: Missing Pieces in Education Technology Innovation, https://medium.com/@ashley.petersondeluca/no-magic... (Site accessed 7 March 2016).

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2. Familiarizing yourself with legislation of education

Introduction

In Finland the profession of teaching as well as the contents of education is both well regulated by the law. In the following it will be investigated how these laws, regulations, decrees, and acts affect the profession of teaching, what is expected of students, what are the legislated tasks of teachers and how is the quality assurance in teaching guaranteed. There are several parts to the legislation and in this paper it is approached from the practical point of view; showing what it means in reality for the students and teachers to be in accordance of the laws. The current author does not work for an educative institution, therefore; there are no interviews that were made regarding this task and there are no organization specific case studies.

Interview results

In the interview with Dr. Marja-Liisa Kakkonen, Head of Business Management Department, Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences, it was stated by her that MAMK is having a dialogue with potential employers as to see what kind of people and how many of them are needed in the working life. This is to better respond as the supplying side to the needs of the labor market. Also, the University of Applied Sciences has to stay ahead of the game by trying to foresee the trends in education and in the employment sector to stay relevant. In practice MAMK trusts that its teachers pay focus to the matters and develop their work in real life, as well. There are specific teams for development in three areas: marketing, financial administration, and entrepreneurial management. Unlike with Universities, the ministry of Education has talks with the Universities of Applied Sciences to agree on things like what are the targets of education in Universities of Applied Sciences.

To conclude, the Universities of Applied Sciences are only semiautonomous and work together with the employers. This will later be shown to be true also on other matters in the comparison offered by this paper.

Laws and decrees regarding the students

In Vocational Education and Training Act (630/1998) the assessment of the students is explained to be based on competences that are shown in actual working life situations. For example the current author has a degree as a nanny (perhepäivähoitaja) and she did it in competence based education so that she had theory classes twice a week in the evenings but the main deal was to work in a daycare center long enough that the supervisors of the training period were satisfied that required competences were shown in reality. This included a period in the kitchen of the daycare center to show competences of cooking for allergic children and making a meeting for parents and daycare center workers to discuss the plans for children according to the laws regarding early education. In the Vocational Education and Training Act 25 § it is mentioned that everyone should have an individual study plan in accordance with the aims of the education.

In Vocational Education and Training Act 34 § it is given that the responsibilities of the student include the requirement of being present when tuition is given unless the student is excused. The student must dutifully fulfil what is expected of the student and the student must act in a proper fashion. Thus, to show up and be present in the place and time of tuition and to behave like a human being to another is written in the law for the students to follow regulations. There are, then, laws regarding the rights of teachers in case should the student be less of a proper person.

Students in the universities are the most free in almost all senses of the word. Universities have the autonomy no other form of schooling in Finland has as Universities decide who gets in and on what grounds; who gets extension to their study time, and on what grounds. There is no mention of being able to command students to undertake drug testing in universities despite Universities have also degree programs that lead to specific jobs such as a medical doctor.

Evaluation of education

As mentioned earlier the current author does not and has never worked in an institution of education and has never worked as a teacher previously. In such a situation it is difficult to choose a specific piece of legislation to pinpoint to a certain direction. However, Opetushallitus or in English Finnish National Board of Education gives support in quality assurance. The institutions of education are supposed to assess themselves critically as well as to follow the quality guidelines set nationally. Other methods are available, too, such as peer reviews and Balanced Scorecard method for Vocational training institutions (Opetushallitus 2015). It is mentioned by the Finnish National Board of Education that currently they do not give out prizes for the best quality institutions regarding the tuition but that the board is developing new methods of motivation for institutions. It could be that they found that placing educative institutions in a ranked order in a country that wants to offer equal quality education to everyone is counter effective. The board wants everyone to improve their methods but do that so that prizes are no longer offered.

As a measure against using students as a means of financial gain it is said in the Vocational Education and Training Act 9 § that it is not allowed to start a degree program or such only with the aim of making money. Ministry of Education and Culture makes the decisions regarding students and what is to be taught. The permit for offering education can be cancelled if rules are not followed. Therefore, there are these external forces working that have made rules for educative institutions and also see if institutions follow the rules or not.

The University Act goes as far as naming the official universities that have been accepted to give university education in Finland. This act also offers the universities autonomy regarding their own affairs and this is given to safeguard the liberty of arts, science, and the highest level of research. Such a statement is unique to the act regarding universities. However, it seems that in reality the recession has made the government of Finland to reconsider giving such freedoms to universities. Lately, the minister of education has written a letter to universities urging them to a) get rid of research that is not fetching immediate financial gains, b) do top notch research despite shoestring budgets, c) produce graduates that have the best competitive advantage and so on (Ministry of Education and Culture 27 Oct 2015). Thus, the universities are living on borrowed time right now as the Act might see a swift change as per the external forces that might want to be the ruling body for universities replacing their freedoms.

At the current time teaching institutions are supposed to be transparent and free of corruption, therefore the Act on Universities even goes as far as mentioning that in the eyes of the law the staff is responsible in accordance with the Criminal Code whereupon it says that no official is free to accept any gifts or advantages that are given so that the official might decide in favor of a person behind the gift that this is a crime, states so in Criminal Code of Finland Chapter 40 1§. In effect Finland is supposed to have a system of education that is based on degree programs being offered free of charge to students, the educative institutions not making financial gains from the process of teaching people, the institutions being uncorrupt, and assessing the students without preference; and the institutions themselves being under the microscope of the external organization such as the Ministry of Education and Culture that can abrupt and cancel the tuition if rules are not followed.

Qualifications in the Acts

In this chapter the legislative database ‘Finlex’ is cited as the source of the Acts. For the teaching profession the qualification requirements are given in segments as per the level of education. To be the teacher for the class in the primary school, not just a subject teacher; one has to complete the degree of a teacher in the university at Master’s level, at least 60 credits from multidisciplinary studies of subjects and themes taught and at least 60 credits studies in pedagogy. To work as a teacher in a subject one has to have a degree from higher education as well as pedagogy studies completed. So, then a person could have studied biology in the university and then have also studied pedagogy to work as a biology teacher in the primary school. There are differences; in the vocational education the teachers are required to have at least three years of relevant work experience from the field of the subject being taught but also needs a degree from higher education, and pedagogy studied. If the subject matter is one that requires to be legalized in the profession such as a nurse, the teacher needs to have the legal license to practice that profession to teach it.

What becomes to the things that are requested of teachers these are multifaceted. Teachers are supposed to support students to grow into humanity and to grow as ethically responsible members of society whilst teachers provide them with knowledge and skills necessary in life. That alone is a long order for teachers to fulfil. But summarizing the requirements for most people in the teaching profession it is to have the knowledge of the subject that is to be taught and combined with it the pedagogic skills of an educator. It can be that the knowledge is based solely on theoretical knowledge such as in the case of a primary school teacher but can also include working knowledge like in the case of a vocational teacher. There are exact limits on the minimum requirements such as needing this and that many credits achieved at a university or so on to be able to profess the role of a teacher in a primary school.

References:

Finlex (2009) Yliopistolaki, URL: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2009/20090558 (Site accessed 29 Dec 2015).

Finlex (1998) Asetus opetustoimen henkilöstön kelpoisuusvaatimuksista,

URL: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1998/1998098... (Site accessed 28 Dec 2015).

Finlex (1998) Laki ammatillisesta peruskoulutuksesta,

URL: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1998/1998063... (Site accessed 28 Dec 2015).

Finlex (1998) Perusopetuslaki,

URL: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1998/1998062... (Site accessed 28 Dec 2015).

Finlex (1889) Rikoslaki, URL: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1889/1889003... (Site accessed 29 Dec 2015).

Finnish National Board of Education (2010) Vocational education and training in Finland, URL: http://www.oph.fi/download/131431_vocational_educa... (Site accessed 28 Dec 2015).

Ministry of Education and Culture (27 Oct 2015) Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeri Sanni Grahn-Laasosen avoin kirje yliopistojen ja ammattikorkeakoulujen johdolle, URL: http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Verkkouutiset/2015/10/avo... (Site accessed 29 Dec 2015).

Opetushallitus (2015) Laadunhallinnan tuki, URL: http://www.oph.fi/saadokset_ja_ohjeet/laadunhallin... (Site accessed 29 Dec 2015).

Unpublished sources:

interview with Dr. Marja-Liisa Kakkonen, Head of Business Management Department, Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences

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Learning diary of Agatha Korhonen

24 Aug 2015

I have not studied with people for years. I am so full of anxiety.

25 Aug 2015

I am relieved that this group does not seem to be that bad. I have to say that the first impression I have got is that teaching as a profession is not at all what I expected. I had a very traditional idea on my mind regarding teaching but it seems teachers are now ‘facilitators of learning’ and this seems rather difficult. It is like we are to bend to fit different needs of the students. Like if in the earlier times teaching was the block test and each subject had only one shape which to go through and students were these blocks of different shapes. Now we are to be a mould to envelope all shapes within. A tall order for someone like me with conservative views on the matter. It seems teachers should be very technologically enhanced, as well!

23 Sep 2015

My boss told me about a student room where I could stay for 20 euros a night. Which is nice as it is around 50 euros cheaper than the cheapest hotel in Jyväskylä. This city is so empty and I have always considered Helsinki to be rather small!

24 Sep 2015

Again with the dissidence against the system. I still cannot see the benefit in the warm up exercises. They seem to trivialize my adulthood, maturity, professionalism, and the meaning of what I consider “fun”. Yet, no epiphany on this. I accept that my maturity is reaffirmed by me participating in an activity that I cannot side with. It can be useful as I might need to use the methods that I do not agree with. I can learn to be the professional that will not openly rebel against what is brought forward by my peers. My students might not see me eye to eye on the meaning of fun, either. Then it is that I can still engage them in the activity like I was engaged in participation by Tafor, by Rosanne.

Luckily, I managed to have the PLP talk. One more thing crossed off of my list. A bit more relaxed. Also, agreed on the tentative schedule for the project for the next five weeks. One sentence is still resonating: “we as teachers are the creators of the leaders of tomorrow”. Complex thinking blew my bank. Connectivism has been the word. What does it really mean is a bit shady still. Other than using digital means to learn. Courses next year to learn better.

28 Oct 2015

Full swing ahead with the  project and we are having some nice talks during the seminar as we are also contacting each other on Skype.

29 Oct 2015

Learning how to teach drains me. Energy slipping away. We had two visitors from the Netherlands. There were talks of how school system works over there. Majorly different from ours. Remember to fill in the forms for teaching practice.

30 Oct 2015

Difficult to adjust to my work. I wish I was teaching instead of this office and paper hell.

30 Nov 2015

I am ill as a dog. Enterovirus has taken me and the entire family hostage. So no seminar for me this time around. Which is bad as the learning circle presents the frame for the project.

20 Jan 2016

My first lecture. I have a lot of expectations and many worries. Can I do this, do I have it in me to carry the interest of the audience for 2.5 hours? I am not the expert in my first topic, either. Will it show?

21 Jan 2016

I thought I would get to be around for the Cultures & Communication class but then the place where I am to sleep for the night or more like the people from that place texted me that I need to get there ASAP or lose my bed for the night. So, after some frantic discussions with the teachers I went with an iPad on loan from the school and listened in on the lecture by using the Internet connection from my mobile phone. First time for everything!

22 Jan 2016

Had talks with my learning circle. We felt like we were on the same page.

1 Feb 2016

I was so wrong about that same page. A member of my learning circle called me and was just about to quit the whole circle. So I had to talk him out of it. There has been some unpleasant change of words between the guys of the circle and it is rather uncomfortable trying to be the mediator.

25 Feb 2016

It is getting closer to the end of this teacher programme. I am full of self doubt at the moment. The numbers of attendees on my lectures have dwindled by two thirds. Next time I am to use this piece of technology I have never even touched before. The project should be finished already. The learning circle is full of fights and insults. There is the pressure of finishing whatever is yet incomplete for the programme. Yikes.

17-18 Mar 2016

The seminar. Sleep deprived, hauling a huge camera set with me and arriving just ten minutes before the seminar started. I needed the warm up routines badly as a way of becoming more relaxed prior to the presentation. The feedback we got was nice though and the Dutch were warm and welcoming as always. As we had had no time to rehearse the presentation it was a bit weird. The Prezi is not common to us and there were some clutches and we were all nervous. I noticed a hiccup on the online site of the project during the presentation, too.

21 Mar 2016

The weekend did not bring any relief as it was so full of work. Well, at least the presentation of Talent Tutor is behind us now. Time to tie up loose ends like finishing the portfolio and writing self assessments still needed for the whole program to be over and done with.

13 Apr 2016

My last lecture with my senior group. The people would have wanted to stay on longer. The topic was about food and it was a nice topic as everyone has experiences with it. We had a nice discussion once again. I am a bit afraid I am spoilt now as I expect that with younger students such discussions might be rarer.

18 Apr 2016

Weird that there is no new lecture in the works. I would have liked to keep going. I was going through my notes to compile a portfolio and noticed that there were still some good topics I had left in the back burner for lecture ideas.

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