First Day at School

After my first day at Hollihaka, spent with the 7 and 8 year olds (1st and 2nd grade), I have noticed many things about how this elementary school is run differently than what I am used to. First of all, it is interesting to notice that the children are allowed to run around and goof off much more freely, yet when it is time to listen and do work they are much more respectful and obedient—it takes a lot oess effort for the teachers to get them in order. This made me realize how bizarre it is that in America we are so obsessed with making children form perfect, straight, quiet lines to get from place to place, where the children are not allowed to touch each other or even the wall or say a whisper—I have always felt strange about this custom but now I feel that it is almost deranged. Americans, I think, become confused as to what 'being good' and 'obedient' are. They think it is being stone statues in front of other people (adults), when really I think it is being eager to learn and understanding that that takes a certain amount of self-restraint... not repression of their humanity.

Secondly, between every learning session, maybe 3 or 4 times a day discluding lunch and recess, there is a 15 minute break where the children play outside and most of the teachers gather in the lounge and have coffee and tea. It creates a mental break that I think is great for both teachers and students, but especially teachers. This also creates a space of community and communication for the different teachers.

Then there is the issue of supervision. Americans are either too paranoid, too distrusting, or both. There is not truly any difference between a hyper Finnish 8 year old and a hyper American 8 year old. But an American would never leave a class of them unsupervised. Finnish teachers, however, do not mind leaving their classes unsupervised if there is something that needs to be attended to elsewhere. They let the class know where they are going, and what the children should do when they are gone. They also do not have a panic attack if the children did not listen to their instructions, they don't expect them to be as good without supervision as with, and if things have gotten too out of hand for their liking they tell the children so. But they also can trust the children enough to not kill each other... and at least today I observed most of the children actually doing the work they were told to when the teacher was out of the classroom.

There also is a greater emphasis on technical skill, and I believe it is in 3rd grade when they start to go to what we Americans would call shop class. All classes also do 'textiles' at least a few times a year it seems, which I think is mostly sewing. The school's Headmaster told me that “We believe the human is more than just a brain, so it only makes sense to work with the hands in school.” Today outside the door I saw a 9 or 10 year old hammering on iron for the shop class.

As for more traditional lessons, the 1st grade lesson book on letters also had things to color on almost every page. At least when I was a child in school, lessons were lessons and coloring time was coloring time. For the younger children I think it makes sense to mix them, it provides a mental break, and incentive to finish the work on the page, and a subtle association of enjoyment is added to such lessons.

Finally, here the school has way less bureaucracy. It has grades 1 through 6 with about 300 students in all. The headmaster deals with things like what chairs to buy, what heating companies to employ, and he involves all the teachers and sometimes the parents in those decisions. This is, of course, much work for him, but it also creates a feeling that this is our school, and I think that would foster better community and respect for the institution.