ETJ 013: January Newsletter - Part 2/2
New President of Finland & The Minister of Education at Educa 2024
From social media concerns to bullying, Jutta Urpilainen continued the conversation to include the parents role, the division she observes in society and Finland's reputation in the world.
I want to say that adults also serve as examples. Adults also set examples for children when it comes to bullying and hate speech. And that's why I think it's terribly important how we as parents, but also how we as decision-makers use our own freedom of speech and how we talk about people. And I must say that I'm really worried about this in today's Finland. If we are talking about civilization. In my work, I have the last years traveled around the world and promoted children's access to school in the world's poorest countries. And I can tell you that today, Finland is no longer known in the world for Nokia. We are known for our education. It is our number one brand in the world and I hope that this will continue to be the case. And that's why we need to invest in education and teachers who are the enablers of that education... If we call our fellow humans 'parasites' or we divide people rhetorically into different categories, depending on whether they were born in Finland or they have moved here, this is also hate speech, which is a certain type of bullying, which is an example for our children also in school. And that's why in my opinion this kind of rhetoric and language use needs to be addressed in Finland.
- Jutta Urpilainen, Presidential Candidate 2024
Asked in particular about what is being done though education to avoid division and segregation, Sari Essayah highlighted the present government's initiative.
We are now putting 200 million [euro] specifically into improving basic education. That every child learns to read, write and count. And it is especially important to get learning support right from primary school and ensure that we have the opportunities and the necessary competence levels when we start further studies. And also the fact that we make sure that this kind of segregation doesn't happen, not geographically and not within cities.
- Sari Essayah, Presidential Candidate 2024
We can weaken ourselves or we can also be weekend from outside. That is, the kind of Finnish idea that we move forward. A kind of dynamism is currently missing in society. And we are in this kind of stagnation, where we easily argue with each other. And there is that bullying at all levels.. This has somehow become some kind of entertainment. And that is that democracy is weakening... We should have goals. We were on our way to the top of the world and would like to stay there. Nokia was mentioned and PISA was mentioned. We are falling in many of the measures we used to be good at. And it's because we lack that kind of dynamic, forward-thinking spirit. The spirit of constructing Finland. It's now more about at least preserving what we have somehow. And this is where we need leadership. We need visions for the future. Perspectives on how to, in this country, where the least number of children are born during the entire period of independence, that we should at least take care of them, and of those who then work as teachers and are trained, as part of their training, that their role would be appreciated. We are about to lose something that has been extremely dear to us that has kept the nation moving in a certain direction.
Half-way through the debate, the moderator pressed the candidates to answer how important they think reading skills actually are, considering the various alternative methods nowadays of acquiring information.
"How many of you acquire information yourself by other means than by reading, for example by listening to podcasts or watching YouTube news channels and similar?"
Everyone raised their hands, but a heated moment occurred between Li Andersson, former Education Minister, and Harri Harkimo, among many other things a successful entrepreneur, who struggled with dyslexia and bullying during his school years.
In my opinion, we are making a big mistake at the attitude level, if we start from the assumption that we have those weak readers and that there must be something else for them. The differentiation in reading skills is in my opinion one of the largest threats to Finnish democracy, because it affects everything. It affects learning in all other subjects. It affects your ability to follow public debate and news. If affects your ability to participate in it yourself, to formulate your thoughts, and express your feelings. So I'm starting from the fact that we have to be able to manage the education system, as well as through early childhood education, expose also those, who haven't been used to reading books at home, those, whose parents don't take them to the library every week, those, whose homes don't have long rows of bookshelves that you can familiarize yourself with from childhood. It starts from early childhood education. It starts from the fact that there is time for professionals to read aloud, develop vocabulary, play with words, with children, and then it must continue throughout the education system in that our teachers have resources and time to invest in that literacy promotion as well.
- Li Andersson, Presidential Candidate 2024
I don't really agree with Li Andersson. If you've ever heard me say that you should read more, I never say that, because I can't read that well. And you have to remember that there are many people with dyslexia, and then listening is the only possibility... I have to listen to those books, and I get much more information and knowledge if I listen, because in the time I read one book, I listen to five books. Now it doesn't quite go as Li said that everyone has to read, because listening is also important. It's important to remember those who have dyslexia.
- Harri Harkimo, Presidential Candidate 2024
These are not mutually exclusive. In my opinion, teaching is specifically about finding the right way to learn for everyone and the right form of support for everyone.
- Li Andersson, Presidential Candidate 2024
While the debate and several of the topics mentioned and not mentioned here will be returned to in upcoming analyses and commenting, the final comments from this presidential debate for this Newsletter will be the following:
I think that every child should be able to experience that experience of success during the school day. There is an old saying that a good upbringing gives challenges to the head, the hand and the heart. It is still so true today that every child should experience in school, in different subjects different children, that 'hey, I'm good at this, I know these things'. I want to say to all of you teachers; remember, especially in early childhood education and primary school, you are among the five most important human relationships for every child. It certainly gives a certain kind of motivation for every workday, how important your work really is.
- Sari Essayah, Presidential Candidate 2024
In closing, the moderator touched upon a challenging topic that in reality puts the entire education system upside down.
"We have a lot of problems that we don't have any facts about that you can read in books. After all, what is it that we should be teaching then? How do we survive a situation that is uncertain?"
I would probably start from the idea that today's young people, their life expectancy is above 100 years, which means that they will live a significantly different life than us. We are used to the idea that 'you study, you work and you retire'. When nowadays young people definitely have to think about it more from the angle of 'you study, you work, you study more, you work, you study more, and well, I'm not that sure about retirement'. But the basic point is that this means you have to constantly learn something new.
- Alexander Stubb, Presidential Candidate 2024
The full debate is highly recommended and watchable with subtitles on the YouTube Channel below, thanks to political YouTuber @fin_topsu.
We'll close this Newsletter with sections from the Educa Fair opening speech by Finland's current Education Minister, Anna-Maja Henriksson, welcomed by Yle's own Hanna Visala.
I have the pleasure of bringing the greetings from the Government to the opening of Educa 2024.
The role of school and education as creator of Finnish culture and civilization is undeniable. The education of each child is the key to the world and the future. It has also a central task for the construction of identity and society. It is in school that the foundation for equality, wellbeing, personal development and togetherness is created.
We strengthen basic education with 200 million euro. The government program includes numerous concrete action points, including improving the quality of early childhood education, raising the learning results and education levels, strengthening of the basic knowledges and skills... Basic skills in basic education will be strengthen by raising the minimum hourly amount by three annual study weeks. The increase will target mother tongue and literacy, as well mathematics teaching. We want to provide peace of mind and more time both for students and for teachers.
Topics from the Education Ministry's new policies will also be addressed and commented on throughout the year. For more information about the Finnish Educa Fair can be found in last year's highlight below.
With this, we start a new year of Newsletters with EdTech Journeys from Finland and beyond. Welcome to spread the word and join the conversation!
Published by Joni AlWindi
The EdTech Journeys Newsletter is a monthly compilation of events, columns, podcasts and stories highlighted at the EdTech Journeys platform. Feel free to visit edtechjourneys.substack.com for more information.