Herttoniemenranta Primary School

I spent my last day in Finland at a public elementary school in the outskirts of Helsinki.

My first impression of the school building was openness and spaciousness yet somehow also coziness; the first story functioned as a wholly communal space festively decorated with a Christmas tree amongst reading, socializing, and dining areas, as well as a large stage. Learning areas on the upper level encircled and looked down upon this open space.

Classes were, of course, conducted in Finnish, though teachers made a point to discreetly (and indiscreetly) translate. I spent the day shadowing a third grade class. The children had just started learning English a few months prior in the fall. The first class that I participated in combined a general education class (21 students) with a special education class (10 students). Some children in the special education class needed more support academically while others had behavioral and/or social differences. These two classes operated in adjacent, adjoining classrooms; the learning happened separately as well as together depending on the activity.

That day a special teacher came in to teach the combined class a lesson on mental coping skills. Students were seated at five high tables. Students were given a red paper and a green paper. For the given scenario students were to list self-defeating thoughts on the red paper and encouraging thoughts on the green paper. The teacher began by eliciting encouraging thoughts from the students in response to the prompt “If you have to sing in front of the class.” Students raised their hands and engaged readily. The teacher translated the responses, from, “Everything will be alright I can do this.” to “I don’t give up.” to “I’m having fun.” to “I’m enough.”

Students partnered and wrote down self-defeating and self-encouraging thoughts for a scenario. Then the teacher invited groups up to the front of the class to face each other and go back and forth voicing alternating self-defeating to self-encouraging thoughts. After each duo finished this process the students and teachers clapped. The home room teacher whispered to me that students liked to be at school.

After the lesson the third graders regrouped to discuss their outing to take a swimming class that day. The curriculum states that every Finnish citizen must swim- students take four swimming lessons a year through the Finnish Swimming Teaching and Lifesaving Federation.

The day that I visited turned out to be a celebratory one; it was Itsenäisyyspäivä, Finnish independence day. I joined some first graders on the stage in the great common area as they practiced singing patriotic Finnish songs. The lunch was a special grilled salmon- delicious and free for all students.

There was a definite emphasis on multiculturalism. The English teacher Yanna told me that there were 39 languages spoken at Herttoniemenranta School. She estimated that 40 percent of students were not from Finland. I saw evidence that this multiculturalism was celebrated- many drawings with various international flags, “welcome” written in different languages, a large map with students’ home countries proudly marked and their names linked to countries around the world.