What’s changing? – (Foreign) Language Learning in Finnish CoreCurriculum for Basic Education

One of the basic principles of the Finnish core curriculum for basic education (FCC) is the idea that every teacher is a language teacher. This refers not only to the multiple languages and mother tongues that co-exist in a multicultural school, but also to the fact that each subject has its own language (discourse), terms and even signs (like math or coding).

We acknowledge that “the limits of our language are the limits of our world” (Wittgenstein) and thus the limits of our language are the limits of our learning as well. So, one critical way to improve learning, is to raise language awareness and start considering language as the means of and prerequisite for thinking and learning.

Languages are inherently linked to the learning of most of the transversal (21st century) skills defined in the FCC. One can’t think a way to enhance

FCC tree

 intercultural competence or communication and interaction skills without developing and applying language skills. Same goes with developing multi-literacy (reading, writing, understanding and creating multimedia) and ICT skills.

Building on strengths is one of the key principles of FCC. Thus, learning languages should also be built on individual strengths and be a process of empowerment, full of joy and creativity. According to FCC language teachers are obliged to apply diverse student-centered learning methods that build capacities to join (global) networks and work together with people around the world for sustainable future.

In future language learning will more and more take place in authentic environments and make use of authentic learning materials closely linked with students’ own interests, partly created by students themselves. Learning will focus on real life problems and real world phenomena and it’ll be inquiry-, project- or problem-based. Language learning will be one part of cross-curricular multi-disciplinary learning projects designed together with students and teachers.

In using diverse learning methods the focus is on pair and team work which naturally enhance communication and collaboration skills. Learning methods that make you move around and use your body (like drama, playing, singing, exploring…) are applied as well as the use of diverse communication methods and channels and, of course, information and communication technology, even students’ own device (BYOD).

Students are encouraged and guided to set their own learning goals and take responsibility of their own learning, become the owners of their own learning. At the end of basic education they’ll be self-confident and self-regulated learners who can cope and thrive in the unpredictable future.

The focus of assessment is changed from what has been learned to learning (process) itself. Assessment reflects the changes in learning methods. It develops from teacher-centered to student-centered practices (self- and peer assessment), from pointing out failures and weaknesses to focus on strengths, from standard to individual, from one-way to dialogue.

Ultimately, it’s our objective to help the students find their own voice to speak in many languages, be heard and be respected, stand-up with their feet firmly on the ground and with their heads in the clouds.

New Finnish Core Curriculum, international cooperation and eTwinning

The new Core Curriculum for Basic Education (approved on December 22, 2014) strongly supports the idea that school is closely connected to the community,  society and world around it. Finland is becoming culturally more diverse and global and local continuously mingle and overlap in our everyday life. This should be visible at school and inherent in teaching.

At school we work, if possible, together with schools and developers of teaching and learning from other countries. Basic education is a positive and constructive force for change in society, nationally and internationally. CCBE p. 16

eTwinning offers an excellent and easy way to co-operate with the developers of teaching. For registered teachers, the eTwinning portal offers a wide variety of ways to network and develop professionally. In different thematic groups (eg. Creative Classroom or Language Teachers groups) teachers can share their knowledge and get tips for teaching. If you want to exchange ideas and experiences on a specific topic, you can look for a Teachers Room. If you cannot find one, you can set up a room yourself. 

eTwinning also provides continuous professional development opportunities. Learning events and webinars are offered on many different topics, particularly the ones relating to student-centered pedagogy, ICT in education and 21st century competences. These are also included in new Finnish core curriculum and there referred as transversal (cross-curricular) competences (L1-L7).

The Core Curriculum for Basic Education brings up international co-operation combined with ICT.

During the basic education, students will have experiences of using ICT in international interaction. CCBE p. 21
Contacts with schools in different countries increase students’ skills to operate in a globalized world. CCBE p. 26

Twinspace (eTwinning’s virtual learning environment) has been designed and made just for this purpose. It offers students an opportunity to interact and learn together with their European peers and partner classes. Students can chat, write messages on forums, share photos, videos and a variety of files created by themselves or together with their peers in a safe and protected learning environment. This way they can enhance their intercultural and cooperation skills as well as communication and ICT skills.

An international project is well suited for multidisciplinaty, cross-curricular and phenomenon-based learning. In eTwinning projects foreign language and ICT learning are integrated in different subject- and content areas. At the moment, projects dealing with STEM subject areas (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) are especially popular. Global education, cultural heritage and cultural diversity related themes are also quite common. They encourage students to reflect on the state of the world and the future, engage them in making the world a better place and, thus, develop creativity and problem-solving skills. They also enhance "cultural knowledge based on respect for human rights, respectful interaction and diverse ways to express oneself and one's views." CCBE p. 19

International cooperation and eTwinning partnerships have, of course, a very special role in language teaching and learning.

Opportunities are created for students and groups of students to network and communicate with people all around  the world. Information and communication technology offers a way and an environment to implement language learning in authentic situations following students' communication needs. CCBE p. 243

I started my first eTwinning projects 10 years ago just because I wanted to create possibilities for my students to use English language in authentic communication situations. It was quite another thing to tell about oneself, one’s own school and hometown

to a young European partner, who is genuinely interested in exchanging ideas and experiences, than to tell these same things to a classmate you know since kindergarten. The active use of language on discussion boards and collaboration when carrying out project tasks increased students’ motivation and significantly improved their language skills.

It is clear that in basic education all students won’t be able to participate in student exchange or mobilities and, environmentally, it wouldn’t be very sustainable. However, eTwinning offers everyone an opportunity for encounters and friendships across borders free of charge and without carbon footprints. It is Internationalization At Home (IaH) at its best.

Curriculum development - towards 21st century skills and literacies

Schools and learning worldwide are challenged by globalization and digitalization. New skills and literacies are required from the 21st century citizens. With people travelling more and more freely across borders to work and study, intercultural and communication skills will make an essential part of the new literacies. When using new technologies, we can travel anywhere and meet anyone (virtually) anytime. Digitalization and global networks are bound together in a way that is changing the world faster than we can imagine.

Instead of what, general education will have to be about how. How to find relevant information in the world in which new knowledge is being built constantly and its amount is growing exponentially? How to collaborate and work together in different kinds of teams, communities and networks that can be global and multicultural? How to find and use the best ICT tools and applications for a wide range of tasks and how to use audio, video, pictures and diagrams to present and express our ideas in the most appropriate way?

To cope with the constant changes, besides communication and ICT skills, citizens of the future will need flexible intellectual capacity to think creatively, learn to learn and reflect on their thinking/learning. But being a global citizen is not only being connected and move smoothly from one network to another. It’s also about feeling responsible for the well-being of the world, making choices that support sustainable development and fostering peace, equality and human rights.

To educate a new generation capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century, the school culture (the way we do things at school) has to be radically changed. In the future, the learning process will be characterized by asking questions, finding answers and building knowledge (rather than transferring information). Teachers and students will collaborate and work together in flexible teams and classes. Students will design their own learning and exploit their strengths in project-, problem- or inquiry-based learning activities. They’ll learn by doing, playing and discussing.

The learning environments will be diverse and open in many different ways.  A lot of learning takes place in real-life or virtual environments. Textbooks are used as any other sources, not guiding the learning process or defining its content. Students build and create their own eBooks and learning materials and share them with other learners. Students can consult experts and work together with their peers in other countries around the world and share knowledge and ideas.

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Hopefully, building communities across borders and making friends around the world will also make us gradually understand the true essence of global citizenship and this globe of ours a bit better place to live.

Sharing - at the heart of the new way of learning

We had a two-day seminar for 80 teachers and HTs interested in global education. The central issue and focal point of the meeting can be characterized by one word “sharing”. How does the internationalization of schools and global education support the culture of sharing and working together and help pulling down the barriers between different school subjects and the walls around schools? How can we gradually change the way of working and learning at schools so that, in August 2016, teachers and students are ready to start implementing and carrying out the curriculum-based learning of the new era?

The teacher's role has traditionally been to act as the guardian at the gate of knowledge. She weighs and chooses the information to distribute to her students at the appropriate dose of chunks. Knowledge moves in one direction from top (teacher) to bottom (student).

In a networked system information flows in all directions. Students and teachers form a network in which information, messages, and knowledge flow according to individual needs and interests. Self-interest and concealment of information will soon backfire. In a networked school, you are what you share. The teachers are learners alongside the pupils.

Knowledge sharing has not been part of the traditional school culture. Students that have been punished for sharing (= cheating). Textbook based teaching culture doesn’t encourage teachers to share (= extra work). But in printed educational material information becomes obsolete very quickly and the contents don’t tend to support the acquisition of skills needed at work and in life today and in the future. They need to be complemented and replaced by learning materials produced collaboratively by students applying the key phases of knowledge construction process: search, critical evaluation, constructing, presenting and sharing of knowledge. It's about learning to lean differently.

International projects have long been applying new ways of learning. It’s natural and meaningful to combine the learning of foreign languages, communication and ICT skills with culture, geography, natural sciences, history or any other school subject for studying collaboratively hands-on. The projects cannot rely on the information provided by textbooks, but the information is searched by students and constructed into presentations, quizzes, photo galleries and videos that are shared with a partner classes and students. Students meet on Skype and at forums, learn by discussing and chatting, asking questions and telling stories, in short, sharing.

The school will develop into learning community in which teachers and students work together sharing knowledge and experiences across class boundaries. Students can share what they’ve learned and experienced in the project by visiting other classes or at morning assemblies, by organizing exhibitions and creating photo galleries (online or real-life), writing in a blog, creating eBooks, giving workshops or organizing theme days, and by inviting parents, supporters and other stakeholders to visit school and the project website. Sharing is a skill that is learned by doing. It is a way of learning that empowers equally the sharer and the receiver. It will increase your responsibility and appreciation of your own work and the respect of others’.

I sometimes wonder if there was a special significance in that my project, which almost 10 years ago won the eTwinning competition in the series of pedagogical innovation, was called "Learning and Sharing"?