Across the globe, initiatives are being launched to address the educational needs of families with nomadic lifestyles as schools struggle to meet the demands arising from this situation. Furthermore, families are increasingly looking for alternative ways of education for various reasons. NYsKOOL, based in the UK, stands out as one of the unique initiatives that presents the world´s first globally distributed hybrid school offering an educational program based on the Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education. We will explore the innovative world of NYsKOOL with Minna, the head teacher. Join us in this interview to discover how NYsKOOL reimagines and reshapes education to empower every child to thrive holistically.
1. Could you please introduce yourself, Minna, your background, experiences, and educational philosophy?
My name is Minna Suominen. I have over 15 years of experience in the field of education. I have been a teacher for over 15 years. I have done educational admin work as well. I have always known that I want to be a teacher. Even when I was little, I always played teacher. So, when it was time to make a decision about what I wanted to be when I grew up, it was not a hard thing to decide 😉.
NySKOOL´s educational philosophy is based on students' and teachers' well-being. If kids have some troubles at home or someone is bullying, they can not concentrate on learning. Also, kids should not experience stress. School must be a safe place, and learning environments have to be the kind that supports learning. The learning environment has to be flexible; what works for someone might not work for someone else.
2. Could you please elaborate on the Finnish education system for our readers and how NYsKOOL has adapted the core curriculum?
In Finnish education, kids have more equal opportunities for quality education than in many other educational systems. In Finland, we value every student and want them to fulfill their potential. In the Finnish system, we do not compare schools. In Finland, we do not learn just for tests but for the future. We use different teaching methods to provide different ways for students to learn best because we all learn in different ways. We offer support to those who need help with school. Everyone is an important part of society. Every profession is equally important. Also, in the Finnish core curriculum, we have these transversal skills that are
part of every subject. Those are ICT skills, multiliteracy skills, entrepreneur skills, and taking care of myself skills, for example. We also have objectives that tell us that kids should learn to read and write in grades 1-2, or in the third grade, kids should learn all the multiplication tables, but we have a lot of objectives like, kids should learn critical thinking and collaboration skills. These are the reasons why we chose to base our curriculum on the Finnish core curriculum. As I said before, we can´t know what kind of knowledge kids will need in the future, but we can teach them how to be independent learners and critical thinkers who are resilient and self-confident. Ah, that said, one of the important things about Finnish education is that we consider students as a whole and want to support the overall well-being of students. We teach in an age-appropriate way and use lots of playful teaching methods, as well.
3. What do you think the need was for starting an initiative like NYsKOOL?
One thing might be that schools are super traditional. They don´t easily adapt to changing worlds. School districts are so big that it is not an easy task to change something rapidly. Parents are still looking for something new.
Another thing is that we have more and more mobile families that need to have a kind of stable learning environment for their children. In NYsKOOL, you can be in any part of the world. You can participate online or be in the hub, and when you move somewhere else, you still have the same classmates, teacher, and curriculum.
Third is that in some places, parents do not want to send their children to school. Schools are not safe places. Then, we can also be an answer. We want to create a safe, warm, and friendly learning environment, and even though we teach online, we consider the social side of learning and how classmates are important for kids.
4. In what ways does NYsKOOL intend to reshape the traditional educational system and bring alternative voices to the educational landscape?
We are more flexible than traditional schools, and we consider that students are different and all of us learn in different ways and paces. Also compared to other online schools, we take into account the importance of the social aspect of learning and the importance of having meaningful interaction with peers during the school days. Also, students can already know much about something, more than a teacher, so kids can teach other kids, too. Also, in NYsKOOL, kids don´t learn for tests, they will learn for life. We want to arouse interest in lifelong learning and provide kids with the skills they need in the future. No one can predict what skills kids nowadays will need when they are 20, 30, or 40. But we can teach them to be interested in lifelong learning, to find the information, and to be critical thinkers towards the information around us.
5. How do you describe the learning experiences that students have at NYsKOOL, both in the online platform and within the learning hubs?
I think the most important thing is that we see students as individuals. We nurture a warm and social environment even online. In NYsKOOL, learning is fun.
6. What is the school´s vision for the next five years?
In this school year, we provide the elementary program. In the future, we will also provide middle and high school programs. We are also working to get the permission to use IB diplomas. Our vision is to provide quality education to all students all over the world. At the same time, we want to provide flexible learning opportunities that consider the school is not the only important thing in kids' and families' lives.
Breathtaking! Along with the valuable insight this interview has provided, it feels exciting to be able to witness how NYsKOOL plays a pioneering role in the transformation of the educational landscape by providing both online and face-to-face interactions via their learning hubs in different places of the world, enabling students to follow the curriculum no matter where they are and to have friends anywhere in the world. Furthermore, parents do not need to worry if their children fall behind the curriculum while traveling. When it comes to the concept of learning, it has been shaped by the principles in the Finnish National Core Curriculum as its base, as mentioned in the interview.
Here are some photos representing the school values, the conception of learning, and school culture:
Source: NYsKOOL , Instagram
Most educationalists and philosophers would agree with the statements in the interview regarding learning for life but not for tests, considering the well-being of the students and promoting learners to be autonomous learners and critical thinkers. However, in practice, the demanding schedules of the academic programs and student assessment criteria have led the learning environments to offer the opposite in most educational systems. Therefore, this post might serve as a friendly reminder to guide children to experience the joy of learning, operating from a curious state of fresh mind within or outside the school.
Warm regards,
Ceyda 💙
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