Chinese class (Grade 1)

It was a grade one class, Finnish students learning Chinese as a foreign language. Pia taught in Finnish most of the time, but the students, after having learnt for a month, could already say ‘Ni hao’(hello), ‘tai yang’(sun), ‘yue liang’(moon), ‘xing xing’(star), ‘zai jian’(goodbye), and sing songs in Chinese about numbers and greeting people. The kids kept saying ‘Ni hao’ to me, and when they left, some of them would come up to me and said ‘zai jian’ individually. One of the little girls was even wearing some pictorial language t-shirt.

They were singing songs and playing gestures with ‘tai yang yuan, yue liang wan, xiao xing xing’(the round sun, the moon crescent, little stars) - and my contribution was ‘xiao xing xing shan yi shan’ (little twinkling stars). The students loved it, and Pia reinforced these words in different ways, eg playing games, songs, and asking them to listen to it and do the gestures etc.

Pia also showed pictures of mooncakes to let the students draw a bit after a long day of school (the lesson was the last one). She used technology really well by showing pictures of mooncakes on the projector screen.

The experience was that they mainly learnt by doing and following the teacher. The policy of the school was that the grade one chinese students should not learn pin yin and too much of writing practice (for fear that this might cause confusion with their mother tongue phonetic system and be too frustrating for some students). They could pick up the language very quickly and were very keen to learn the words. Pia was rather worried that learning Chinese words would be too much at the beginning, so they only learnt the numbers and a few very simple words in Chinese. Mainly conversational Chinese, and none of them was afraid to use Chinese at all.

They sang me this Chinese song 'Our friends are here'. How amazing!

Music class at Meilahden ala-aste

Kasia, the music teacher, said the four most important things in music learning is: singing, playing an instrument, listening and dancing (using body expressions). And they focused on learning by doing.

I recorded these two songs:

There were two songs that I recorded:

Autumn

Finnish folk song: Kirppu ja härkä

She has shown me a song that she has composed for the school, and translated for me. A simple, yet remarkable one. Some of the lyrics read: there are many important things in life, one of which is that we are learning together. We will never forget the school.

They also sang other songs including: Souda, Souda sinisorsa (bird swimming in a lake) that is a song composed by Sibelius.; 'water drops' by Sibelius as well, and the teacher just asked the students to listen to it with their eyes closed.

The little children have sung at least 6 songs in the span of 35 minutes, a song welcoming me, a song warming up, the school anthem, the songs in the music book etc.

In the music lesson I could see how they started with the forest, and then the trees (quoting Yolanda). This is a typical feature of Finnish teaching. Kasia let the students sing along, and play the flute after her, without caring too much about precision initially. Kasia only corrected the students when the tune goes seriously wrong. This helps them to build up the confidence to keep it up!

Art (handcraft) class at Meilahden ala-aste (Grade 1)

These are the art works of first graders who had only had one month of classes. The theme at the moment was autumn, and the boards showed the works that were completed in just a month, with owls, drawings of body parts, landscape pictures etc.

Susanna, the art teacher, said the general learning objective in these handcraft classes was to train them to observe more, and think and judge themselves what looks nice. She gave them a lot of freedom to do artwork in their own way.

She said the emphasis was to ‘find their own way of doing it’.

The most impressive thing was she had trained them in just a month’s time to be very orderly, and know exactly what they were doing. They had to go here and there for different materials. Say if they needed scissors, they would know where to go (There were labels on cupboards), or glue, they would pour glue for themselves. A little clumsy at times, and if glue fell on the floor, teacher had to clean it up, but in general the little boys and girls were very independent.
They had their own learning pace as well. Some finished their owls more quickly than others, and moved on to knots. They kept asking questions by shouting.
They were going to be introduced to various materials since very early, eg water colour very soon.

This tells a lot about the foundation work done at the first grade.

Woodwork class at Meilahden ala-aste

Best example of how independent kids can be in Finnish schools. The third graders have just started their woodwork classes and making pencil holders. They ran through some safety lessons and training before. What I saw was that each student was competent to handle potentially dangerous machines like drillers on their own with little supervision, though the teacher does keep an eye on them.

Tero, Vice principal of the school and one of the woodwork teachers, said the approach was to explain the objective, give a demonstration once, show the students a model of finished product, and asked how they were going to do it. He left them with a lot of freedom about how they wanted to make a pencil holder, or a clothes hanger.

Another observation was the kids had their own learning pace. Some kids who finished the pencil holder earlier went on to the clothes hangers, and seemed totally in control of what they were doing.

These are the works of the students:

They cleaned up themselves after the lesson, in a very swift and organised manner. A Chinese boy even asked me to help him by holding the rubbish tray for him to sweep the rubbish onto it.

Woodwork is one of the compulsory subjects for primary students from Grades 3 to 6, as well as secondary student in Grade 7. This forms a key part of training for Finns who are very good at DIY, girls included.

Meilahden ala-aste - Primary school (overview)

Meilahden ala-aste was established five years ago. This is a Finnish comprehensive school, with bilingual education offered in various languages such as Swedish (full immersion), Estonian, Russian, Chinese. Terro said it was only ‘one stream’ because everyone studied Finnish, and chose one foreign language. There are 360 students in the school. 100 students with non-Finnish ethnic backgrounds such as Palestinian, Somalian, Chinese, Indian and South African.

It started Chinese bilingual education this year. The main target students who receive Chinese teaching are those who already speak a reasonable command of Chinese. They are generally overseas Chinese or ethnically mixed children with a Chinese parent- in short those who need or prefer Chinese education.

Curriculum: Maths, Science (including geography, biology and physics, Finnish, Art, Music, Woodwork, Textile, religion, Physical Education, languages, History (from 5^th Grade onwards)

This is the school ethos: questions, fun, sunshine ...

Classes that I have observed in the school: Chinese, Mathematics, English, Art, Music, Woodwork and Science.

To jump off the cliff with a parachute: Julius's case

I found Julius at Make up for ever, which is a top-notch make up salon in Helinki. I see him as an example of how a Finn manages to find his own interest and do what he likes. He stands very proudly as he poses for me!

He has shared with me how he has ended up in this profession. He started off working in IT communications industry, but he got fed up with his job, and had to leave it. He told me that he had started in IT industry because of his father’s influence, and economic concerns that this would be a more stable and lucrative job.

This seems to me to reflect the normal pressure that society can have on their people. Although IT wasn’t what he most wanted to do, he nonetheless followed that path initially.

However, the turning point came when he decided to change jobs and go for make up artistry. I asked him how he came to this decision. He had a very compelling way of expressing this decision: ‘jumping off the cliff, but with a parachute’.

The reasons come to this:

1. He had always had hobbies in theatre, and that gave him quite a lot of exposure to make up artistry.
2. His mom was a fashion designer.
3. There was nothing to lose going for a course in make up artistry because it was very short, and he could easily turn back to IT industry if he wanted to. (this was really the parachute for him)

Reflections:

He is an interesting example because he gave his ‘hobbies’ as the first reason why he could sustain his interest in what he liked that led him to ‘jump off the cliff’. Yolanda Chen has also written about this aspect of the Finnish education system, which aims to cultivate ‘hobbies’ simply for their own sake, rather than some ‘talents’ to show off in CVs. It does not matter whether they excel; what matters is they enjoy it as their hobbies, which slowly incorporate into part of the lives of individuals, and naturally the lifeblood of society. This is a key factor in developing cultural industries not only because people might develop their hobbies into their own professions, but also that a population of audience interested in art and culture is cultivated, which drives the demand for a flourishing culture.

I see this as a key aspect of how the education system and society help young people to develop their interests – keeping up their hobbies.

Another interesting aspect of this is that these industries are in no way considered to be inferior to others in a fairly egalitarian society like Finland. He is happy to be a make up artist, which is a decent job respected by everyone. The prices are quite hefty as well. It could cost 80 euros for one session with an expert. This is probably the other reason for the 'parachute' that helps people to jump off the cliff.

A society that specialises in innovation really needs a safety net that protects the people who might not make any money in their creative endeavours. In Finland, people get unemployment benefits and there are also various funds and organisations such as Sitra, Tekes, Academy of Finland, which provide funds for projects in scientific research or artistic or cultural development.

Hong Kong government seems to assume that culture can flourish on its own in an unfriendly culture. If this remains the case, our artists who don't make a commercial debut will continue to remain submerged. In London, a lot of input comes from private donors, but that's London, where the society values culture already and is ready to chip in when the state is not doing enough.

Preface

I have been asked many times this question, 'why would I, as a lawyer, be interested in education and come all the way to Finnish schools?' Maybe I'm just a bit odd. My interests are not limited to law, and I am not contemplating a career exclusively in law either. This is really just a start for me to do something, and I hope that I can keep it up in some way in the future. I hope that this project can increase our understanding of the Finnish school system, as well as invite us all to rethink what education means, how it could be done better, and what our dreams and interests are.

Acknowledgement

Before I begin a more detailed account of my project, I would like to thank various parties and people here:

• the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Hong Kong for their grant which has been a big financial help, and made this visit to Finland possible;
• Finnish National Board of Education: Mr. Reijo Laukanen for kindly giving an interview and Juha Ojanen for organising it for me in the most efficient manner;
• the Finnish Consulate General of HK: Consul General Timo Rajakangas and Viivi Berghem for their helpful and quick response to my inquiries, as well as sending me a lot of useful information;
• Meilahden ala-aste (Meilahden Primary School), esp Ms. Pia Nasman-Hao, Ms. Paivi Paakkanen (Principal), and Tero , and all teachers therePia

• Meilahden ylaasteen koulu (Meilahden Secondary School), esp Ms. Riikka Maeda, and all teachers there
• Moision Koulu (Moision Secondary School), esp Ms. Anneli Suominen, Mr. Arto Jokinen (Principal) and all teachers there, as well as Maija Pykalainen for helping me connect to the school.

Anneli

• the Education Bureau of Hong Kong (Information and Public Relations Section) for sharing their experiences in Finland with me;
• Mr Julius Sepponen for his interview with me
• Fancy, my sister, for her supplies and my family for their understanding and support;

• Kristina (my teacher) and Sue (Kristina’s friend) for their help in giving me ideas and taking an interest in my project;
• my friends and advisers: Carman and Theodora for agreeing to interviews, and Ray, Kan , Weiken and Natalie for their insight and anyone else I might have missed out!
  

Authors I would like to thank:

• Yolanda Chen陳之華and her husband, Mr. Liu for their very kind reception in Helsinki as well as her extremely helpful and informative book <沒有資優班，珍視每個孩子的芬蘭教育>

• Brian Wu吳祥輝 <芬蘭驚艷：全球成長競爭力第一名的故事>

• Fuyuan Xiao 蕭富元 <芬蘭教育世界第一的祕密>

These books have been incredibly helpful in my research giving me both background information and critical analysis about the Finnish education system. I hope that this little amateurish project of mine will be of some contribution to the existing literature.

Finnish education project – Keeping Dreams Alive (Overview)

I was inspired to undertake this mini research project primarily because I felt dismayed by the constraints within the society and education system of Hong Kong that have stifled the development of young people and cultural industries. Few people seem to be able to keep up their interests in life or, in slightly cheesy language, hold on to their dreams. This has led to a rather narrow society excessively focused on its financial system, unnecessarily at the expense of its many cultural talents who would have provided valuable input to our economy, as we have seen a thriving world art market notwithstanding the recent financial turmoil. I believe that we need a better education to help more young people in Hong Kong to pursue their dreams and create a more diverse society, and therefore have set off to find some insights as to how this could be done.



With thanks to the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Hong Kong, I paid a visit to Finland—the ‘Daughter of the Baltic Sea’(as you can see in the map in the picture above, it does look like a maiden with one arm), a country not only strewn with 180,000 lakes and a myriad forests but also one with a cultural appeal as it has given birth to talents such as Jean Sibelius, a classical music master, Alvar Aalto, a leading architect and designer, Tove Jansson, the author of the Moomin Valley series, Lordi, a rock band with its debut ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ winning the 2006 Eurovision Song contest, the Helsinki Design District, etc. It has also come top in growth competitiveness four times in this decade, although it was one of the poorest European countries fifty years ago. Most importantly, it has one of the best education systems in the world according to the last three PISA studies (although the two recent shooting incidents have been alarming). The combination of a prospering culture and a developed education system would explain why I felt the ‘call’ of the home of Nokia. Whilst I appreciate the creative capacity of Finns largely stems from the prior flourishing culture, I believe that its education system has played an important role in generating the right people in order to maintain this continuity.



I visited three schools in Helsinki and Salo (Meilahden ala-aste, Meilahden ylaasteen koulu, and Moision Koulu) to see for myself how students learn there. I had an interview with Mr. Reijo Laukanen, an education expert who has advised the Finnish National Board of Education for three decades, and with Yolanda Chen, a Taiwanese author who has recently written book about the Finnish education system. I also found out a bit about the cultural industries in operation by talking to artists. After my research and personal experiences through these visits and interviews, I have consolidated and summarised my findings and thoughts as follows. For more details and case studies, please see the posts under category Finnish education project.

To say a few words about the Finnish education system in general, Finland has a highly developed philosophy about people and education which is commendably put into practice. The society values its every member and believes that the education should leave no child behind. There is one socio-economic reason behind this: Finland only has a population of 5 million people and its economy needs everyone. In practice, this means free education for all, including immigrants and international students, with free books and even free school lunch. This entails substantial state input which amounted to 6.5% of the GDP. More astonishingly, unlike England for example, state education is very strong and attains a very high average standard, with a deviation in school performance of less than 5% (PISA), while private education only plays a residual role. Students of different abilities are mixed in comprehensive schools without any banding system. The only streaming and entrance tests are based on the learning needs of students, for example, those with special educational needs or international students who need a different language instruction or an international curriculum. All teachers are required to be holders of masters degrees. Teaching profession is highly competitive as only one in ten applicants gets teacher training, although the pay is not very good at all. Students with poor family backgrounds can have access to good education and are just as capable of developing their potential fully. This is achieved by a firm legal basis under the Education Act.



The society of Finland helps its people to pursue their dreams in four main ways. Firstly, its culture has an established tradition in art and music which creates plenty of space for creative endeavours, and the state supports such industries. There is a Finnish Innovation Fund, Sitra set up by Parliament fifty years ago that provides funding for creative and high-tech industries, which is supplemented by Tekes, Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, the Academy of Finland, the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and Finpro. Finland invests around 3.4 per cent of the GDP in research and development.

Second, the social welfare system which takes up ¼ of the GDP provides security for people. This reduces the financial worries and costs in taking risks in innovative work which is often independently undertaken with little funding and uncertain returns. Third, society values equality and generally respects each occupation in its own right. Fourth, individual is the basic unit of society, which means they generally care more about what they themselves want to do, rather than what they ought to do under family pressure, for example. This aspect is a rather widespread attitude among Western countries.

The education system facilitates the development of the interests of young people in two main ways. Firstly, the system tries to get the most out of every child. It provides free, good education for all so that children’s potential is not compromised by sub-standard education or financial problems. Another distinctive feature is that it discourages competition and ranking when students are still developing until high school, which starts at Grade 10 and encourages every child to learn at their own pace without worrying about others. If a child finishes early, he moves on to the next task; conversely, it is ok for the kids to take their time. This is possible in the classroom with small class size. The underlying philosophy is every person learns differently, and speed is only a difference which is not a cause for celebration. As a result, students who don’t learn as fast are less likely to be discouraged.

Secondly, the system facilitates the development of interests and hobbies. The curriculum itself is very diverse and has a lot of options on the table. The state also supports further education in music, art, design, architecture, theatre, film and various technical industries. The general teaching approach seeks to inspire an interest in learning. As Yolanda Chen suggests metaphorically, teachers show the students ‘first the forest, and then the trees’—meaning that when students get started they dabble in subjects such as languages, art, music, woodwork, freely with hands-on work to explore for themselves, without much emphasis on honing the skills. For example, students learn to speak foreign languages well before they start to learn the grammar and play the instrument for fun before learning the theories. So students are more likely to enjoy what they learn and develop an interest and motivation, which will naturally lead to further pursuit. Interest comes before skill.

More importantly, children develop their hobbies and keep up what they like. It does not matter whether they excel; what matters is they enjoy it as their hobbies, which slowly incorporate into part of the lives of individuals, as well as the lifeblood of society. This is a key factor in developing cultural industries not only because people might develop their hobbies into their own professions, but also that a population of audience interested in art and culture is cultivated, which drives the demand for a flourishing culture.

The implications for Hong Kong are not entirely clear because of the different social and economic conditions here. Whilst reforms are under way, what we could learn from Finland is probably something quite simple, yet fundamental: to value the education of each and every child, and do it from our heart. In Finland, I was most impressed by the attitude of almost all sectors of the system: education board, schools, teachers, students, parents, publishers, political parties—it takes a concerted effort by different parties to create and sustain an excellent education system.

Insights

There have been many inspiring moments/conversations/people these days.

I was very pleased today to have a very engaging debate with the participants of my workshop (which takes place every Saturday morning at my old school). It was probably the most engaging debate of my entire time with them this year and last year - a testimony to their improvement :) It was on the motion, 'Functional constituencies should be abolished.' I was very impressed by the depth of their ideas and the quickness of their rebuttal. More importantly, their brains were set in motion and the arguments both sides put forward kept advancing as the debate went on. That was a proper exchange of views and clash of ideas - very thought-provoking indeed. ^^

It started off on a rather superficial level regarding purely the representation of the interests of the industries in the legco. But we later debated on deeper questions like how the interests should be represented (by a secure vote or other ways?) and what kind of political system Hong Kong really needed (a completely democratic system with universal suffrage or a continued dwindled role of functional constituencies) and discussed the compatibility between functional constituencies and universal suffrage. It was a very dynamic debate. I'm very proud of them They are doing what I couldn't have done when I was their age. :) They are now debating in English comfortably with some scant notes. Maybe I was being too pessimistic about the change of times and all the generation comparison prejudice. Please forgive me if I have been in any way too mean.

I joined in as well to fill the numbers and it was a lot more fun getting involved myself. I hope I gave them helpful guidance without being intimidating or too much of a bully. They inspired me to think a lot and set my mind working. I was still quite rusty but debating reminded me of my days in HKU Debate team. I realised that though I didn't fully grasp the techniques then, a lot of the good models I had seen had somewhat mellowed these few years ad I matured a bit more. It's a good feeling to see that I've made some progress these years. My thinking is slowly taking shape now. I hope I can pass it on and am helping them to improve.



Another inspiring conversation was at a very congenial dinner with a very harmonious and accommodating family after my informal and non-professional attempt of legal consultation to Mr R. W. R shares a similar background to mine and their family prepared a seven dish meal for 5 people - goodness me what a tremendous effort it must have taken his mom. I have always enjoyed seeing relatives of my friends because that helps me to see where they come from - what makes them how it is now :) His family is very intelligent and observant. I couldn't believe they could actually prompt me to make a tirade and withstand it all. And I was talking about what many people find boring eg my time in oxford and all the academic struggles, as well as my Finland project and Scandinavian systems etc. It was a very sweet time and I understand a bit more now.

I guess it left me thinking about myself and comparing this experience to my own family. We're both going after a very similar route with very similar goals. We've been feeding off our families and it's our time to contribute in return for their kindness. I wonder what it will be like in ten years' time.

A new beginning

So I've finally refurbished my blog with a nicer picture that symbolises the breadth of a whole new world out there to explore.

I can feel that I'm reawakening now lol. The last few weeks since I came back to HK from oxford, and then the exams, and the trip, and a two-week void, I think I've been worn out somewhat. The previous year has indeed spent all my energy and enthusiasm, and all this is really my post-oxford syndrome. The actual workload has physically increased my headaches and the readjustment is slowly coming by now - yes i'm settling in HK again (though I'm about to leave again)... A chat with Ray has clarified this stage that i'm going through - a feeling of being constricted and stifled within the confines of HK (its lifestyle, mentality, climate, physical conditions etc). There's been pressure from different sources which I haven't had to deal with for a long time when I was abroad, and now all of it came together. In other words my excuses of being abroad and having finals to work towards (amongst others) are gone.

I am also feeling that what I have acquired and learnt, all the insights and beliefs seem to be slowly fading away - yes already in such a short time. I really don't want my passions and ideas to die away, so I must revamp this blog and recreate a new world. It doesn't have to sound so cheezy but I like this phrase, and it sounds better lol.

This blog was originally dedicated to intellectual exchange of ideas and sharing of experience. I have evidently not done enough to promote this blog, let alone having abandoned it for so long. But I agree that the internet is the way to go, and it's 21st century after all... I'm in particular interested in education (and predisposed towards ranting about my life), but anything is welcome here.

PLEASE WRITE.

Maybe life is really like that

A friend of mine used to repeat all the time, 'life is like that.' I had thought that it is up to the person in a way - even for the darkest clouds, there's a silver lining. If you catch that chance and go for the opening, you might be able to escape from the cage. Of course experience only tells me that the chance doesn't show itself as "EXIT" or "AUSGANG"; even if it does, there are usually enough hurdles in your way and the chance disappears soon enough.

Youth has an appeal. A friend told me last night, 'your niche is your youth.' I keep wondering what i means. Maybe it's because I can start the race a bit earlier, and logic tells you that in a marathon, the earlier you take the lead, the easier it is to win the game. Maybe it's because I have the energy of a young man. Maybe it means every decision I make is not laden with the same burden that an older man in the same position would. But is that true?

I'm feeling rather annoyed because every decision I make now feels a lot heavier than before. The room for change is getting reduced, and every spare day is a luxury of time. Every decision has a much stronger impact, and the pressure against change is ever greater. Lets say I plunge into the legal profession as soon as I graduate, everyone tells me I won't ever be a teacher again. If I get married to someone now, I'll have to get divorced if I want to make love to someone else legally. Is the decision worth making? I don't really like commitments.

Maybe that's what is going wrong with the society nowadays. People fear commitments. And only commitments can produce some lasting relationships between people and things. And only lasting relationships will establish a meaningful product and a continuity of traditions.

It's a vague thought and a massive generalisation. But it may be the time to take things a bit more seriously.

Teaching

We've all been taught and might have even taught others ourselves. But what exactly is teaching?

Some say teaching is about passing on knowledge, but others say it's about getting others to think in response to some sort of inspiration. The idea really is about getting the student to learn 'actively'.

I haven't tutored for three years now and I'm feeling very rusty to start again after a long break. I'm slowly getting back into it now - yes after a few rather lame and boring lessons. Teaching is meant to be interactive and I think the best teaching should be responsive to the needs of the student. Thats what I'm trying to do with my students.

When I first began teaching, I used to keep imposing my own thoughts onto my students especially when I get impatient with them. (very often I'm not very impressed by what they have to say in their writing)

But I'm making more of an effort to hold back my judgment and ask them to reflect themselves first on their own reading alound and writing, for example.

This is however nothing compared to the way the Finnish teachers apparently teach. All they do is to help the students to find the answers themselves. Their students can have their own schedules in their schooltime - any age, any level, anyone. Each student has their own agenda and quietly does their own work, at their own progress in the classroom every day. I really can't picture that in my mind.

Will write more on Finland later.

I'd better pull myself together again.