Finnish School Leaders Admire Penn GSE's Teacher Education Program

July 31, 2013 - “When you start your job as a teacher in a new area, you should get to know the neighborhood of that school. Knowing one’s surroundings, the culture and history, makes you commit to your own neighborhood.”

That was the major lesson for Finnish visitors Kati Sormunen, Minna Kukkonen, and Tiina Korhonen as they reflected on the Penn GSE Urban Teacher Education Program’s practice of sending new teachers into their communities before the start of the school year.  “That was the one thing above all that we want to bring back to Finland with us.” 

The delegation of educators from Koulumestari Elementary and Helsingin Normaalilyseo (Normal School) visited Philadelphia in June to learn about Penn GSE’s teacher-leader programs and to lay the groundwork for future cross-cultural collaboration. The group visited two schools, Knapp Elementary in Lansdale and the Science Leadership Academy in Center City before meeting with GSE’s Teacher Education faculty.  

It was the second meeting between educators from Finland and Penn. Last March, the University of Helsinki’s School of Education hosted students from GSE’s Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership interested in exploring how Finland’s educational system—one of the best in the world—might shed light on challenges facing the U.S. educational system. The participants continue to share their thoughts and experiences through a variety of social media platforms, including the dedicated blog Penn-Finn Learnings. 

“Every school leader striving to enhance their practice has a world of professional colleagues with whom to learn; they’re a tweet away,” said GSE Senior Fellow and Mid-Career Program Director Mike Johanek. “To learn well, though, we must understand more deeply their context, their world, and that still makes in-person visits so critical – even more so as social media ties us more closely together.”

Photographs: Allison Dougherty