VET Teachers for the Future 2016 Course Blog

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