A week left before the Helsinki Education Week- feelings from the organisers

Many of the event organisers are familiar with organising small gatherings or events daily in their schools like teaching classes. However this is the first time for many that their doors are open to more than their usual class crowd. 

“I’m participating in the week for the first time, but certainly not for the last. Sharing knowledge is personally very important to me”, states Jukka-Pekka Anttinen from Käpylä Comprehensive School while inviting everybody to attend his event about a journey to recognise emotions held online (in Finnish).

First time participant Sara Nurttila from Helsinki City’s student wellfare project (in Finnish) is excited about the week. “ I’m waiting for an inspiring panel discussion about the cooperation between home and school, that were holding together with Finnish Parents’ League and Helsinki Parents’ Association representors.”

Some of the events offer tailored learning packages that can be used for getting familiar with inclusive education (Kaikki mukaan! Kaikille sopivia toimintaideota varhaiskasvatukseen (in Finnish)) and troubleshooting in mathematics education that you can order to be organised at your own school (Inspiroiva matematiikan opetus (in Finnish)). In addition there are about 94 in-person events, 32 Online events and 24 hybrid events.

There are over 900 participants already in the events and the amount is increasing every day.

“I’m most excited about getting all the planning and organising done and hopefully hosting a good event as a result. This is a great opportunity to get to organise an event”, Kerttu Saatsi states joyfully, who is a 15-year-old student organising her own event on teaching mathematics from the viewpoint of a student (Matematiikan opettamisesta oppilaan näkökulmasta(in Finnish)).

Organising an event and participating in events in itself is an experience that maps down learning no matter the age of the participant or organiser. Many international education experts are also visiting the week, who find Finland's investing in education as interesting and a source of inspiration. 

“It is actually my dream to be able to come to Finland and experience the incredible work that the Finnish teachers do. We have scrolled through the week's programme and mapped all the possible places we could visit during our visit in Helsinki during the education week” describes Iryna Minkovska who is hosting the “Fight and Inspire: Educational Systems in Extreme Conditions” event. “This is a very important event for us both on personal and professional levels.”