Erasmus projektin kautta meille saapui elokuun alussa italialainen matematiikan ja fysiikan opettajaksi opiskeleva Elisa Durbano työharjoitteluun elo- ja syyskuun ajaksi.
Seuraavassa Elisan kokemuksia suomalaisesta lukiokoulutuksesta ja työskentelystä meidän lukiossa:
I completed a 150-hour internship at the
Finnish school Kokkolan Suomalainen Lukio, located in the Ostrobothnia region,
thanks to the Erasmus for Traineeship program, which lasted two months (August
and September). I chose this because Finland has an excellent educational
system that uses the best math textbooks.
Here, I was welcomed by Vice Principal Anneli
Kauppi and Principal Markku Anttila. They introduced me to the Finnish school
system and specifically to their school. I later met my tutor: Mikko Juhani
Pihlajakangas, a math and physics teacher.
Together with my tutor, we defined my weekly
schedule, including lessons from various science subjects with different
teachers, allowing me to observe different teaching methods and subjects.
I participated as an observer and supported
students in basic math lessons (a course that all first-year students must
attend) with teacher Kirsi. The topics covered included percentages,
proportions, fractions, rational and irrational numbers, functions, systems,
etc.
The lessons are 75 minutes long with a 5/10
minute break. The teacher introduces the new topic, and after the short break,
in the last half-hour, students work on exercises related to the explanation
individually, but they can consult each other while the teacher supervises,
walking around the classroom and helping anyone who is stuck.
The teacher has students in her class who
have not chosen the "science track" and are therefore likely weaker
in mathematics, so her explanations are very slow, and the exercises are quite
simple. At the end of her lessons, the teacher assigns homework, typically
around 7 or 8 exercises.
The theoretical part of the lesson involves
the teacher projecting the textbook and commenting on it step by step,
developing clarifying examples or writing on a sheet and projecting her notes.
With this second approach, students must write down the teacher's notes in a
notebook, making it easier to maintain their attention.
During the week, the teacher projects the
corrected homework exercises and discusses them with the students. Then, she
adds a small portion of theory, and after a short break, the class begins to
work on exercises individually or in small groups in the classroom under the
teacher's supervision, or in the hallway on couches independently, but the
teacher occasionally checks in to ensure that they are indeed doing the
exercises.
All teachers always have the ability to
monitor the progress of the exercises and the students' performance directly
from the textbook's website.
I also participated as an observer and
supported students in games and problem-solving lessons with teacher Janne Y.
This course takes place in a classroom dedicated to group work with desks
arranged in islands, each group accommodating up to 6 students. The teacher
explained to me that this course does not have a final exam but aims to make
students think critically. To earn course credits, students are only required
to attempt to solve problems such as logic games and math olympiad-style
questions, keeping track of their progress. Students can choose to solve them
in groups or individually
During two 75-minute sessions, students
tackle problems and then receive corrections and explanations from the teacher.
One 75-minute session is dedicated to completing exercises without a “lesson,”
so some students choose to stay in school under the teacher’s supervision,
while others work from home independently.
I also participated as an observer and
supported students in the mathematical models course for students following the
basic track. This course is elective. The teacher, Matti, begins with a
lecture, writing on a sheet and projecting the theory and examples to the
class. Afterward, he gives a short break and then assigns exercises to be
completed independently or in groups, while he moves around helping students
who are struggling.
Matti asked me to assist in supervising and
providing targeted help. His class included foreign students who preferred to
communicate in English, which made it easier for me to interact with them and
offer concrete assistance.
I also observed advanced physics lessons with
Professor Erkko, covering modern physics. His teaching approach surprised me
because he frequently refers to real-world applications of the topic during
each lesson and always provides a historical context for the discoveries and
inventors.
The teacher tries to show how inventions are
not created by just one person, but rather how ideas are shared and developed
in various ways. The lessons are conducted with the support of the textbook,
allowing students to view theory and exercises simultaneously. Additionally,
the teacher can make modifications to the text for the students.
Erkko has a very theatrical teaching style,
often changing his tone of voice and using facial expressions to make what he
explains more entertaining.
I also observed Professor Mikko’s
introductory physics course. This subject is mandatory for all students. The
teacher opened the first lesson with a problem: If I drop a golf ball and a
bowling ball from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which one will hit the ground
first?
The students had to choose from four possible
answers:
- The
golf ball
- The
bowling ball
- They
land at the same time
- Something
else happens
He then demonstrated what happens in reality
and inside a tube where air is absent, simulating a vacuum.
In the next lesson, he assigned an open-ended
problem to stimulate students' interest in the subject, encourage cooperation,
and inspire them to discover new information. This course often involves group
work, and the teacher tends to form the groups creatively. For instance, he
distributed pieces of different images representing various forms of energy.
The students first had to reconstruct the images to find out with whom they
would be working and which type of energy they would research further.
Lessons
During the internship, one of the aspects I
frequently reflected on was the use of digital textbooks. From the first day of
school, students are provided with a personal laptop for all three years of
high school. Through their computers, they can access Wilma, Teams, the online
textbook website, and useful software like GeoGebra. Wilma is the equivalent of
our electronic gradebook, allowing for communication between students, parents,
and teachers, and contains all the information about the school and teachers.
When a textbook is opened, students can view
the theoretical chapter alongside exercises, and they can scroll through them
independently:
I find it very useful for students to have
the theory so easily accessible while working on exercises because it is seen
as a resource, and students tend to consult it more frequently than Italian
students who use printed books.
The teacher starts with the theory from the
book (e.g., definitions and theorems), then delves deeper into formulas or
conducts cross-research online to explore other aspects, such as historical
context, using sources like Wikipedia in English or other reliable sites.
Teachers believe the textbook is a
fundamental tool for their explanations because they think that using it helps
students with their studies, especially because Finnish students tend not to
take notes. They find everything they need for studying and exam preparation in
the textbook and the teacher's notes. The teachers project the textbook and
highlight the key parts, drawing examples or exercises from it.
Teachers rarely write on the blackboard;
instead, they project their notes, as if using a blackboard, or they use a
graphic tablet to write on the digital textbook, without turning their backs to
the students.
They explained to me that this depends on the
course and the class. If the students are generally in their first year and
noisy, they tend to make them write more to keep them occupied.
Conclusion
I believe these two months of internship have
been very useful in comparing different approaches and deepening my knowledge,
enriching my repertoire of laboratory activities. I witnessed very interesting
chemistry and physics experiments that made me reconsider the appeal and
stimulation of scientific exploration and interdisciplinary projects.
During this period, I also attended a lecture
on artificial intelligence, which highlighted both the positive aspects of AI
as a learning support tool and its negative potential as a shortcut for
students or a tool that can be misused when students ask it to complete
assignments for them.
Talking with the teachers during lunch or
coffee breaks gave me the opportunity to better understand Finnish culture and
discuss contemporary political issues. I was surprised at how I was included in
the teaching staff from the very beginning, and my colleagues were all helpful
despite the language barrier. I was also fortunate to meet two colleagues who
speak Italian: Kamilla and Roosa, who helped me better understand the school
system. Additionally, I met two students: Ludovica, who spent 6 months in Kokkola
last year through the intercultural exchange program, and Agnese, who is
currently in her exchange period this year. Sharing our experiences with each
other was stimulating and made us feel at home.
Agnese, Elisa ja Ludovica
