Thursday 28 April 2016

How to apply the SISU concept to Individualization Learning Process?


According to Finlandia University (http://www.finlandia.edu/sisu-our-finnish-identity.html), “Sisu” is not a momentary courage, but the ability to sustain that courage. It also can be defined as something mystical, something that can be roughly translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. Besides that, after a month in Finland, I started to believe it maybe be something important to VET3 Teachers, because different advisors have talked about Sisu and how it is related to Finnish life.

I have thought how to apply this concept to Individualization Learning Process and what it would means for teachers around the world. Then, during my strolls, I figured out what it would means into Learning Process.

I believe every teacher must be able to recognize the students’ needs, their weakness. Thus, he/she must regulate his/her approach for each student, working to avoid student failures. It is not easy, but must be done! It means that teacher should be interest in each student, how he/she has learned. Otherwise, teacher will just rank students grades.


It is a huge work for any teacher. So, teachers must have the same Sisu, as all Finns. Without it, they might fail as a teacher, because they would not be able to follow each student and help him/her to overcome the weakness. The learning process is more important than the grades. Believe or not, in my point of view, it is a big difference between Brazil and Finland System education.

Antonio Jr

Tuesday 26 April 2016

Brazilian teachers discussed about the differences between Finnish and Brazilian Education Systems at HAMK University

Brazil has thinking about how to improve its Education System, because this vast country has huge students’ drop out rates and poor outcomes in international exams which assess Math and Language abilities. So, Brazilian teachers decided that something needed to change. However, they didn’t know how to start this reform. Then, they have paid a visit to Finland few years ago up to now, looking for the reasons which make the Education in this Nordic Country so efficient, according to PISA and others International Exams.



On 25th April, 2016, Brazilian teachers from Macapá Primary School (a State in  Northern Brazil) met Brazilian teachers from Federal Institute Network, who are taking part in a Vocational Education and Traning Course (VET3 Teachers) at Hamk University. Both groups have studied about the Finnish Education System and its approaches and learning environments.

They could share experiences throughout a “learning by teaching method”, when the whole group talked about some interesting topics regarding school and society in Finland, and also how they are different from the Brazilian reality. The discussion table were hosted by VET3 teachers, who tried to instigate Macapá teachers to talk about their prior knowledge and Finnish experiences related to Student-Centered Learning and Design Learning Process in Finland. VET3 Teachers also asked about innovations, achievements and reflections about the challenges that would be struggled in Brazil.

In the following French lines, we will list the main topics discussed in our table:
  • Apprentice Active - students are protagonists in the learning process;
  • Shared knowledge - radically changes the traditional teaching bases in Brazil, because the teacher stop being the keeper of knowledge and becomes a mediator or facilitator of learning, acting as a coach.
  • Multidisciplinarity - the activities and content not remain the property of a teacher or discipline, and become tools shared by different teachers;
  • Flexible curriculum - the curriculum is very punctual, teachers and schools have greater autonomy to add topics and content appropriately to the realities and contexts of students;
  • Family participation in school - the community participate on school and work side by side with teachers. Their participation is effective in building and setting priorities and projects built by the school;
  • school standards - after visiting large and small schools, teachers suggested that the general conditions, methodologies, furniture and teaching and learning strategies showed very little variation even in different school contexts;
  • Less is more - teachers have found that the quality of education in Finland dispenses encyclopedic curriculum and propaedeutic approach as carried out in Brazil, as in developing learning less quality content;
  • Human values ​​- the basis of educational work is guided by the appreciation of the people, the ethical and human references that are fully disseminated and guide all actions of individuals inside and outside the school;
  • Autonomy - teachers and students share trust and autonomy in carrying out the work and learning process;
  • Trust - this is a key value in society and the Finnish school;
  • Teaching profession - there is a visible appreciation of the teaching profession in Finland, especially considering that there is much competition to become teacher; the criteria for this profession include the requirement for master's and didactic teacher training; teacher salaries vary little in relation to other professions, and the company is confident that the teachers are really committed to quality education because the school is unique for everyone;
  • The infrastructure of schools stimulates collaborative work with alterantives spaces in addition to the classroom where students can work together;
  • Student-centered learnig is still a challenge, so it is necessary to invest in  teachers’ training to support the changes that need to happen inside and outside the classroom.



They also reported their experiences as a teacher in Macapa. Antonio, for instance, who teachs to 5th grade, told us about his methodology. He has been stimulating his students to help each other. For us, it means he has been practicing collaborative work with the students. He tries to guide students during the solving problem process avoiding to give any answer. He thinks he has been helping students to develop autonomy, he was not conscious about that. Antonio, currently has sought to work with hot issues like zika virus and dengue. Now, Antonio figured out that he and many other colleagues have developed adequate pedagogical practices. But, he believes they need support from school and government to improve these practices and the students’ outcomes.

An other exemple is Shirlene. She teachs to 4th grade. She thinks she does not have any autonomy to do her job. This impression is based on the conservative point of viem from School’s Princial. According to her, the Principal used to disagree with Shirlene’s new methodologies. On the other hand, sometimes  her Pedagogical Coordinaora request her to develop a new and specific project. She told us that once the students start a project but she did not like the idea, in that moment, she decided not to help or prohibit the development of the project, she just observed far. At the end the students developed the first mathematics challenge in their school. Maybe, it was not the best way to increase trust and autonomy in her students. Nowadays, she knows that the dialogue is very important to develop of the students, the school and her own.

We met a teacher from upper secondary level, Carla. She explained about a brazilian government program that was developed in her school, PROGRAMA ENSINO MEDIO INOVADOR (http://educacaointegral.mec.gov.br/proemi). She teaches audio-visual art. In her classes the students must develop a short movie about their choices, all steps involved in production, like theme, local, music, actors, etc, were responsibilities of the students. It is not a PBL but it can became one, she told us that her colleagues do not believe in this program but if they will change their opinions, they may use this opportunity to improve de learning of the students.


We could see that in spite of different realities lived for the Macapá teachers and the teachers from Federal Institutes, our challenges and desires are quite similar.  We share the wish to build a highest quality education with Finnish student-centered approach in a Brazilian reality.


SYNTHESIS OF GROUP 1 (A1, B1, C1)

Sunday 24 April 2016

PROJET BASED LEARNING (PBL)



Hi everyone!

We are here to talk a little bit about Project Based Learning (PBL)! Last week Irma Kunnari (Principal Lecturer, Teacher Educator and Pedagogical Developer in HAMK, School of Professional Teacher Education) divided us in small groups and asked us to make a picture about what is PBL for us (see the figure below). These were the first step to start this issue with us (Brazilian Teacher´s in VET 3 program Cohort Spring - 2016), and the main objective of that activity was to assess our prior Knowledge about PBL.



Figure 1 - PBL (prior Knowledge)

These Picute were made by Alexandre D´Andrea and me, and I will briefly describe it right now. The PBL starts with a real problem that need to be solved. So the Students, the Teacher and the Stakeholders need to work in a collaborative way. First, they need to think about the problem and make questions about it. After that, in a dynamic way they need to use the Tools (Research, Devices, Techniques,...) and Resources (Financial, Equipments, Staff ...)  to find the Solution. 

This solution can be an Answer, a Product or a Process and based on these results, new questions, new tasks and new hypothesis can arise and other real problems can be assessed by Project Based Learning. 


***

At this weekend (23/04/2016 and 24/04/2016) Alexandre and I started to produce one short video to present the picture above and to show a little bit more about what we’ve seen about PBL in Valkeakoski Campus. To the readers that don’t know anything about Valkeakoski, let´s present it appropriately:


Valkeakoski is a town and a municipality in the south of Finland (if you want to learn more about the town: see these links: 01 and 02).




In the Valkeakoski Campus we visited three different institutions: Valkeakoski High School, Valkeakoski Vocational College and HAMK University of Applied Sciences. These three institutions work together in a large, cohesive Campus area.

You can watch your vídeo below:



***

Another task related to PBL I made in the last week with my Homegroup (Antônio dos Santos Jr, Conceição de Maria Cardoso Costa, Leonardo Emanuel de Oliveira Costa, Rita Rovai Castellan, Rodrigo Alves e Rodrigo Rossi) was one small presentation about PBL. In this presentation a question arose: What must have a project to be considered an instance of PBL?

Based on Thomas (2000) we can say that a Project to be considered a PBL must  have the following points:

1. PBL projects are central, not peripherical to the curriculum.

2. PBL projects are focused on questions or problems that "drive" students to encounter (and struggle with) the central concepts and principles of a discipline.

3. Projects involve students in a constructive investigation.

4. Projects are student-driven to some significant degree.

5. Projects are realistic, not school-like.

(Thomas, J.W. (2000). A REVIEW OF RESEARCH ON PROJECT-BASED LEARNING. )



To learn more about PBL, you can also access these links below:




We also separated another videos:







Resumo (Em português)


Conhecemos um pouco mais sobre o Aprendizado Baseado em Projetos (PBL) nestas três semanas aqui em Hämeenlinna. A primeira tarefa que fizemos em pequenos grupos foi montar uma figura que mostrasse nosso conhecimento a priori do tema. Esta tarefa eu realizei com Alexandre D´Andrea do IFPB. Num segundo momento com a minha família (Homegroup) aqui em Hämeenlinna realizamos uma pequena apresentação sobre PBL e durante este trabalho uma pergunta surgiu: O que um projeto deve para ser considerado um PBL? Depois disto, tivemos a oportunidade de fazer uma visita no Campus de Valkeakoski (uma cidade no sul da Finlândia). Estão presentes neste Campus três intituições que trabalham de forma integrada: Valkeakoski High School, Valkeakoski Vocational College and HAMK University of Applied Sciences. A ultima tarefa realizada neste final de semana relacionada com PBL foi a confecção de um vídeo de 2-3 minutos sobre a figura de nosso conhecimento a priori e nossa visita ao Campus Valkeakoski.


Links em português:



Thursday 21 April 2016



What is Individualization in Education?

This week, Mr. Simon talked about individualization in Education. He started his lesson requesting us to explain what each group understood as Individualization in Education. We discussed it inside our Homegroup (Trust Family ;) ) and, after that, we explained how it could happen using the picture below.


We tried to show how individualization is affected by three factors: 1) School, 2) Teachers and 3) Student. We believe that each component not only affect the individualization process but also there is a relationship among them.

After all discussion in classroom, while I was resting in my Finnish home, I tried to develop a mathematical argument to summarize my thoughts. So, tell me, what do you think about my model?

Individualization process=(School support+(teachers self-regulation)^2+students self-regulation)*(autonomy*trust)

Where:

School support=(flexible curriculum+infrastructure design+teachers training)

Teacher self-regulation=(technical knowledge+pedagogical knowledge*)

Student self-regulation=(responsibility+venture)

*How students learn and how to improve it

I believe this model can explain the critical conditions for individualization process occurs inside a School, allowing Teachers to observe each student as a unique person. Take a look the teachers self-regulation, in my opinion, is more important than the other two factors and it is improved by training about how students learn.

It is the reason why Federal Institute Network needs the Vet Teachers for the Future (BRAZIL-FINLAND) Program.


Sunday 17 April 2016

Collaboration: it is what Finnish School has to teach to Brazilian School

Hi! I am a Brazilian Biology teacher. Today, I am taking part in a Vocational Education and Training at HAMK University of Applied Sciences, supported by Brazilian Government (SETEC-MEC and CNPq). I am here to learn about the Educational System from Finland and the Finnish way to teach. This is my first letter about my thoughts after some days inside this new reality. In this text, I would like to share with you what I have seen and improve my English ability. So, let’s try it!

First of all, Brazilian Teachers have been teaching their students at the same way during last decades. They have been applying the teacher centered approach, mainly in classrooms where students are alone, organized in a row and forbidden to talk to each other. Pay attention, it does not mean that teachers avoid new technologies inside the classroom. Actually, it means that they have just conveyed concepts to students and scoring the students’ marks, most of the time, with multiple choice tests. Unfortunately, some teachers do believe that they are preparing students for the real world or marketplace, where standardized exams happen (ENEM, Vestibulares and others). But, the world is looking for other Skills and competences...

Finnish Teachers, on the other hand, have been developing and changing their approach since 1970, when new policies were started as a part of the new educational system. These teachers have been trained to apply the student centered approach, a pedagogic strategy in which teachers acts as a mentor/coach during the students’ learning process. Making a long story short, it means that they are interested in help students to develop their own competences and social intelligence, more than train students to solve “X” exams.

The background which supports the Finnish way to learn can be explained by one word: Collaboration. Students are stimulated to study and to work by themselves and together, sharing ideas and responsibility, while teachers trust that students will do their job. For it works, not only new learning spaces were developed (I will write more about that later), but also new pedagogical concepts, such as: self-regulation and individualization. Thus, Finnish School has been responsible to provide professionals to solve complex problems, and also preparing them to communicate what they did.

Here, I allow myself to make a personal highlight. Maybe the new concepts which were listed above are new just for Brazilians. I pointed out it because I have a Major Degree as Biology Teacher and, today, it is my job. However, I have never heard anything like that in any Brazilian School. Public or private schools.

So, to summary up, I believe Brazilian Schools should be remodeled to incorporate the collaboration concept not only in its curriculum, but also in teacher practices. We can not keep teaching students without sharing knowledge. Future is right now, when social networks (Facebook) and internet (Google) play important roles in our society. So, we must teach our students how to think, how to create, how to make new things. World problems are here and others are coming soon. We must share ideas to find new solutions.

Antonio dos Santos Jr

IFRO Porto Velho Calama
VET Teachers for the Future
HAMK University

Monday 11 April 2016

First impressions about Finnish education (Group 4)

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So, we are in Finland. A group of Brazilian teachers hungry to learn how to learn. Here, we would like to share with you our first impressions about Finnish education. We don’t expect to explain everything with all details, but we suppose to present for you basic reasons to make Finland one of the best places to learn how to learn.
We discussed about Finnish Education during last week. We were looking for how society is connected to the education system structure, the role of the teachers and the students in the learning process and the assessment process.
First, the most important word in Finland seems to be “TRUST”, which is passing through the whole society, in all everyday activities. Since we arrived here, some facts is calling our attention. Believe or not:  when something is lost, the owner might be sure that will recover it. Or more unbelievable than that, we saw many unlocked bikes alone. Also, we could see  coats and bags hanged to a hook in public places, like University and Pubs.
Second, and another astonished thing for Brazilians, the English is just another way to communicate. Here, we found people in different places and occupations talking in English, showing one of the good aspects from Finnish education. It is just a tip about what means good school for All! Here Teacher is a very popular and desirable professional.
Third, the flexibility of the education structure is another good aspect from the Finnish education. There is a national curriculum (considered by Finnish liked a scaffold) but it can be completed with local needs. For example, each school can have particular issues. Moreover, the structure of Education system is very organized and structured.

Fourth, the role of the teacher and student draw our attention too. Different of Brazilian common sense, classes are based on student centered learning. Teacher acts as a coach in this situation. It does not mean that he/she is not important. Actually, teacher is systematically training to improve their skills and to learn new techniques to teach. On the other hand, students have individuals plans of study and they are stimulated to be responsible for their own learning. Teachers trust that students will do their job!
And, to conclude, assessment in Finnish school is the way in which the learning process may arise. It is not more important than the learning process, but a tool to measure the outcomes reached for each student. It makes the learning process very clear for anyone: Teachers and Students. For us, it can be understood as Autonomy.

This it it! Not really… We are just in the beginning of our adventure in Finland. For sure, we’ll have lot of things to tell you. For now, it is possible to say that this nordic country have something really different and all of us are excited with this experience!

Resumo

Chegamos a Finlândia e várias coisas nos surpreendem a cada dia. Um dos princípios mais importantes da cultura é a confiança. Coisas inimagináveis no Brasil acontecem aqui. Um exemplo disso é a possibilidade de simplesmente estacionar uma bicicleta e ao voltar encontrá-la no mesmo lugar. Essa confiança também se reflete na educação. Aqui o centro da aprendizagem é o aluno e o professor acompanha e auxilia no processo de aprendizagem. Os professores recebem treinamento sistemático e precisam concluir o mestrado para atuar em todos os níveis da educação. A flexibilidade curricular é uma característica do sistema educacional, permitindo aos próprios alunos possam individualizar seu aprendizado. Isso é só o começo, ainda há muito a aprender e a compartilhar. Nossa jornada está apenas começando. Por hora, podemos dizer que neste país existe alguma coisa realmente diferente e todos nós estamos muito entusiasmados com esta experiência.

Group 3 (G3 Less is More).

First Impressions about Finnish Education: surrounded by the winds of change

After a week in Finnish lands coming from Brazil, our group has managed to understand a little bit more about Finland, regarding to Finnish behavior, educational system, social structure and  the people in the country. After some days of uncomfortable jet lag effects and the necessary adaption to different climate conditions, we could experience a significant week living in Hämeenlinna and five valuable days of lectures at Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK).

Our first impressions about Finnish Education are centered in some basic ethical principles in Finland, as the nation became independent from Sweden and Russia in the beginning of the 20th Century and finally could choose to be unique in their way of life, even after suffering the effects of the 2nd World War.  After being able to successfully host the Olympic Games in 1952, the promotion of trust among Finnish citizens were incorporated in the daily behavior of people, including the Educational System. This was the very first principle that has impressed us in Finland. After that, we've realized the Finnish Dream is about good school for everybody (equity and quality), and the Finnish Way of Life addresses independence, resistance and the ability to find their own way: "Only Dead Fish follow the Stream".

In our opinion, Finnish people believe in Education. They respect the whole process of Education and they understand that learning is a construction road and the teachers and the students need to be focused on that. In this regards, the Finnish education is taken seriously since the kindergarten stage, and that concern can be reflected in some assumptions like the mandatory qualification of teachers in Master's Degree to be able to lecture. All people, regardless of their social level, are entitled to the same good level education. Teaching is based on less is more. 

Besides that, some other characteristics of the Finnish Educational System can be presented below, such as:

a) The student based education: the education is given throughout the learn process based on the student, in their creativity, and their previous knowledge about certain issues or subject. 
b) Training teacher: in Finland there is concern for the training of teachers, in special for the technical school. All the teachers need to do a pedagogical course to be able to teach. 
c) Individualization: Another important point is the commitment of the students in their learning process and each person have the possibility to choose his or her own way to learn. Since childhood, children learn and process information received from books, teachers and the environment in a very particular way. Some of them need to do manual contact (like educational toys), some need to hear or see or read many times a text until it absorbed by their minds. When they grow up, these characteristics remain with the person, and it is part of teacher work to know how handle it for each one. Do lectures in only one method and expect the same understanding for all students could bring some of them to a failure feeling, which is bad. Part of our job as teachers is to recognize them as individuals belonging to a group and the teaching approach should consider all the spectrum of learning abilities. Included with this, the assessment also should not be performed in a widespread way, avoiding unfair evaluations between them.
e) Teachers are autonomous: No one could understand more the students than their own teachers. The general educational pattern comes from Finnish Government, but the daily approach is done by teachers, who has freedom to choose educational methods and the learning timing. In that way, classes can be conducted differently regarding their own characteristics and needs.
f) Use of technology: the use of technology is a reality in Finland, but there are some immigrant digital teachers  and then they have difficult to use this resource in their classes.

We also notice the importance of intervals between activities. When students come back to class after a short period of break, it seems they are able to pay more attention to the lectures. The interval is also important to make stronger the relationships between students and the teachers.

See more about that at  Education for All




Summary in Portuguese

A Finlândia é um país nórdico conhecido por sua excelência em Educação. Após a sua independência em 1917, o país optou por trilhar um caminho pautado na ética, o que promoveu um sentimento de confiança entre os filandeses, refletindo diretamente em seu Sistema Educacional. Com um sonho baseado em uma boa escola para todos, a Finlândia investiu em igualdade e qualidade de ensino, levando sua população a acreditar na educação. Todas os finlandeses, independente de seu nível social, têm direito a um ensino gratuito de qualidade. Esse investimento é percebido desde os níveis iniciais de ensino (jardim  de infância), em que todos os professores necessitam ter Mestrado em Educação, acreditando sempre que "menos é mais". Como princípios norteadores da educação finlandesa temos o estudante como foco do processo, o investimento na formação e na autonomia dos professores, a percepcção da importância da indivudualização na aprendizagem e o uso de tecnologia a favor do ensino. O somatório dessas características tem colocado a Finlândia entre os principais países em ensino de qualidade.  

Group 1 - Reflections of our coming to Finland


When we found the opportunity to come to Finland a lot of thougths come to our minds. We are very engaged in our institutions so coming here could represent to let down some projects in Brazil. We had to count with our colleagues to help us with the work left back.
We were worried about our families, our aging parents, our children. But in the other hand it is just three months and we have the opportunity to reflect about teaching, learning about Finland education and make contact with a lot of Brazilian teachers. After these thougths we had to talk to our directors to receive the permission to go studying abroad and to write our projects. When we started writing our projects we met teachers that came from VET I and VET II to share experiences and research the needs of our institutions.
In Brazil, when speaking of the Finland, the people remember the education, the nordic mythology, the pilots of Formula one, and others examples. However, the country is so much more that . Finland is a strong nation.

  • Exchanging experiences
We are a group from different places of Brazil. We are from north, south, center, southeast and northeast of Brazil. So, we're from different Institutes and each one have a personal experience in teaching. One of the most important things to come to VET teachers program in Finland is exchanging experiences, we can learn more with finnish teachers and students and we can get more knowledge with ourselves.

  • Our english proficiency
Staying in Finland is a great opportunity to know Finnish culture. For us this opportunity is good to enhance our English. In the classes we can practice our English in writing, reading and speaking a lot. It's an excellent opportunity knowing that we can teach in English language in Brazil. When you teach your classes in English, your classes are opened to the world. So, you can exchange experiences and make networking.

  • Our projects
Brazilian education is largely based on traditional teaching approaches. The main resource used are the lectures delivered in a teacher centered model. In Brazil we call it “cuspe e giz” (spit and chalk). We think that Project Based Learning is a great and innovative way to perform a student centered education and immersing in the finnish education will be the chance to see it as it develops. Although there are different areas like electrical engeneering, agronomy, geography, math and others among the VET teachers, we all think that PBL is a great tool for every teacher. We already learned in Finland that we can transform PBL in Passion Based Learning,

  • Immersion in the culture
The experience in VET III, at Finland, is an opportunity to open new horizons about the Finnish education. It is an opportunity to acquire experiences about the finnish life style, the culture, the gastronomy, the different forms that the finnish peopple see the education. This atmosphere provides to learn as “Linking People”. Linking people is an opportunity to meet people and share knowledge. This program  offers to each of us the opportunity to learn about each Instute and start a network of knowledge and also build other relationships such as friendship and team spirit. In Brazil, we are not used to truly share our ideas with other Institutes, however we believe that "Linking people" is truly build shared knowledge, and then we will have better results.
For us the VET III process was easier, because we rely on the contribution of other teachers. Participants of VET I and II spoke several tips about the city, the behavior of people who live here and the program as well. This program provides many opportunities in the changing perspective of behavior as Professor and as a citizen. This course is expected because we have a plunge opportunity in the culture of a country completely different from ours. Finland breathes education and we are feeling that as we start to investigate it.

The attention provided by the staff of HAMK, specially Marja and Sara, and all the teachers and coordinators, was fundamental for the success of the partnership between Brazil,Finland, and the VET programme.

Sumário (Less is More)
Quando pensamos em vir para a Finlândia diversos questionamentos vieram à nossa mente. Nós estávamos preocupados com nossos familiares e com o nosso trabalho, apesar de serem apenas três meses. Estudar na Finlândia é uma grande oportunidade de conhecer a cultura finlandesa e também melhorar o nosso inglês. A educação brasileira é amplamente baseada em abordagens tradicionais de ensino e pensamos que o aprendizado baseado em projetos é uma maneira inovadora para realizar uma educação centrada no aluno. Essa imersão na educação finlandesa será a chance de observar como o processo se desenvolve. A experiência dos VETs anteriores contribuiu para que a nossa vinda para a Finlândia fosse mais fácil, além disso a colaboração da equipe de HAMK, especialmente Marja e Sara, e todos os professores e coordenadores, foi fundamental para o sucesso da parceria entre Brasil, Finlândia, e o programa VET. 
https://www.facebook.com/brianjyc/videos/10205423818866432/
- Flávio Lopes, José Luiz Amado, Miguel Albuquerque, Patrícia Lopes, Rosângela Melo, Wlamir Teixeira


Sunday 10 April 2016

HOMEGROUP 2- BUSCAPE-FAMILY: Reflection of our coming in Finland



Hi Everyone!

We are very happy studying about the Finnish Educaction and its aspects.

About the our Reflection of coming in Finland we have a lot of topics we would like to share with you. Enjoy it!

We are the HOMEGROUP 2: BUSCAPE-FAMILY!



 Vicente de Paulo Ferreira Marques Sobrinho

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I am teacher at Federal Institute of Espirito Santo in the metallurgical and materials coordination. My project aims to contribute to the continuous education of teachers and continuous improvement of the technical course curriculum of metallurgy and materials in line with the competitive and innovative needs of the productive sector.

Azenaide Abreu Soares Vieira



I am from Mato Grosso do Sul and I work at Federal Institute of Mato Grosso do Sul since 2013.

I am an English and Portuguese Teacher and my research is about Distance (or online) Education. In the period of training in Finland I wish to understand how Online Education works in Finland and how the students learn English as a second language in hybrid context.


Erika Tiemi Anabuki




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I am Teacher at Federal Center of Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG), in Leopoldina- Minas Gerais. I teach Electrical Engineering and subjects related to this area.


My project is about the approach of my school with the productive sector and how the Finnish Education can help me in the classes. I have a lot of expectation about the Finnish Education and Methods, and I am searching creativity and new approaches.


Juliana Campos Sabino de Souza



I’m a Math Teacher at IFB. I teach on Basic Education and Technical on subject of mathematic and also on Basic Computing for the 3º age. My project is about PROEJA (educations for youth and adults) based on PBL, student centered learning and group forming, but I think that it will change a little bit (or a lot of…) ;)


Izidro dos Santos de Lima Junior

 


I am Izidro from Ponta Porã, MS, Brazil. I work as a Crop Entomologist teacher. My project is about relationship between Private Company and Public Company (IFMS), how improve the rules in my local
job.


Robson Gonçalves Félix


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I’m from Federal Institute of Mato Grosso do Sul. I work and live in Campo Grande city, the state capital. I’m physical educator teacher, and nowadays I act as Director too. Despite I do prefer work with students, the management is a great challenge and I hope contribute with our development with this action. I hope learn and discover new ways to improve the curriculum and management strategies.

Expectation before our arrival




We had a lot of expectatives about our project and the trip. Some of them were the worry if CNPq would aprove the project and if our institutes would aprove our liberation. We didn’t know about Visa, accommodation and scholarship. The situation before our arrival in Finland was very hard, considering the short time for organizing everything (less 1 month).  





But, after all, it was good and we could come to Finland, successfully, meanly because the HAMK’s staffs helped us a lot. We are very thankfull!

The expectation before my arrival was the contact with the culture of a first world country, learn the best practices of the education system applied in the schools in the three levels of education. To observe good conservation practices of the environment and good security practices at work.
In the follow link you can find information about VET PROGRAM (Programa Professores para o Futuro- CNPq) and HAMK ORIENTATION.


Food Experience


We thought how could be our experience with finish food. We had some previous idea, and when we arrived we found some food similarities here. In the main aspects, the food isn’t so different from our. Despite the differences, we had so many good impressions about the finnish food. The finnish people eat a lot of vegetable (meanly salads), fruits and hunting meat (elk, reindeer…). It was very different for us, in addiction that the most of us doesn’t like vegetables! Finnish people eat more salad than brasilians. So, we hope to lose some weight (kkk).



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About food in Brazil, we use different kind of spices, and our basic dish for lunch is rice and beans, beef, chicken, pork or fried egg, tomato, lettuce or cabbage, cassava flour and pepper sauce ... In Finland I could see a basic dish for lunch consists of lettuce salad with three choices of sauce, pasta lasagna, pork sausage, pork meatballs, fried chicken and pizza with ketchup.


By the way, we just can’t understand how can you live without barbecue? We miss brazilian barbecue a lot...


We are in trouble in buying food in the Market because sometimes we would like to buy one thing and at end we buy wrong stuffs. In fact, we try to buy the things according to the picture on the package.


Relationship with the Nature

We knew about the Finnish Nature, that it was very strong and beaultiful. But when we came here we were very impressed with the nature and its relationship with the citizens. The finnish people are careful with the environment, they love their lakes, trees, flowers, animals and respect  their space in the world.

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Most of finnish houses have a big yard, housebird and horticultural. We noticed that a lot of finnish people have dogs and stroll with them on the streets and parks. The dogs’ breed are different comparing to brazilians´ dogs. Here, we saw a lot of Labrador, Akita, Husk… In Brazil we usually see “Vira-lata” (a mix of differents dog’s breed) and poodles.

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The finnish trees are different too. They are seasoned, and in the winter they are without leaves and flower. In Brazil we don’t have wheather variation and the trees and flowers are the same throughout the year.

We saw that finnish people like to do sport related to nature, for example trecking, running, bike and skying. It is very interesting for us, because we could do this for the first time.

Life’s aspects

We had to buy some clothes to adapt our life in Finland. Some of us bought the cotlhes in Second Hand Shops, and they were cheaper than in Brazil.

In our accommodation there are plenty of fire alarms… And the electrical sockets are different, even the voltage (+-230 V). In some regions in Brazil are 220 V or 127 V.

The windows usually don’t open. The sun is weak, and the finnish people love it. We even  don’t use sunscreen. If we were in Brazil we were sweating…

Most of finnish houses doesn’t have gate. The distance between the houses are small, and there are not walls separating the house. Trust is in everywere!


HAMK

HAMK is a great university with different courses and great infrastructure. We were welcome and we are having a good experience here. The teacher are very attentive and the classroons are excellents to study and work.

Here, we can find different restaurants, include Indian restaurant.
In the follow link you can find information HAMK UNIVERSITY.

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Expectation in Education


Finland is a dream in Brazil when we think in Education, all the examples about how to do a good education is about Finland. We see article about Finnish Education, in our pedagogical course an we can see that Finland is the way to do something better in education. And before we came here we were so anxious to see in loco the Finnish way to do education, and our coworkers required us to learn a lot things to send to Brazil, they are/were in expectation about the Methods.

Meetings  

Some photos of our meetings we had in Finland...

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The first lunch learning at Indian Restaurant (08-04-2016)

Coffee  learning (without coffee and with wine) (08-04-2016)

family begins in this way!!!


“You are a prisioner of the road you follow. Only the untrodden snowdrift is free.” Finnish poet by Aaro Hellaakoski

"Você é o responsável por suas escolhas! Busque o impossível, trilhe os caminhos inexplorados. Seja livre!"