The events of Helsinki Education Week will focus on topics such as the promotion of well-being, the many possibilities of digital pedagogy and teacher cooperation in practice. Learning is made more experiential through means such as learning outdoors, augmented reality, role playing and an escape room game. Many of the events provide practical tips and tools for teaching and education work from early childhood education to upper secondary education.
Some of the events will be held online and others on-site at schools, daycare centres and educational institutions, as well as other venues across the city. Events will be available in Finnish, Swedish and English. The theme week will also facilitate cooperation and interaction with international learning experts. The entire programme can be found online at helsinkieducationweek.com. All the events of the week are free of charge.
Head of Education Division Satu Järvenkallas is happy about the high-quality and plentiful programme of the theme week:
“Our schools, daycare centres and educational institutions are doing wonderful work every day. Helsinki Education Week provides us with an excellent opportunity to share this know-how with others. It’s great that so many of our units will be presenting their operations and best insights. The events held by our cooperation partners and international professionals in the field will beautifully supplement and diversify the offerings of the week. I hereby invite everyone interested in learning and education to attend the events of the week!”
Highlights from the diverse and plentiful programme
This year, the central theme of Helsinki Education Week is well-being. Well-being and health are prerequisites for learning. Over the week, operators will provide presentations on subjects such as wellbeing-related development work at the general upper secondary schools of the City of Helsinki, as well as proactive work to prevent school absences. For example, of the schools taking part, Käpylä Comprehensive School will provide a presentation on systematically practising emotional skills, while Laajasalo Comprehensive School will showcase a safe transition from primary school to lower secondary school. Pupils of Hietakumpu Primary School will provide examples of how pupils’ own actions can yield good things at their school.
The week will provide plenty of good practical tips for education work. Attendees can look into aspects such as various digital tools, AI-based applications, live-action role playing, robotics and how innovative daycare centres carry out digital and technological pedagogy in their everyday operations. Månsas lågstadieskola will provide book tips for getting young pupils excited about reading, while Roihuvuori Primary School will provide tips for schools’ environmental education work. In turn, Daycare Kankarepuisto will showcase play-based science education.
The theme week will also involve heading to a forest and learning under the sky! Outdoor teaching will be showcased during outdoor class lessons held by Paloheinä and KonalaPrimary Schools, as well as Helsinki Vocational College and Adult Institute’s example of learning outside in upper secondary education. Different and experiential learning environments will also be provided by the Natural History Museum’s escape room game, a portable technology shipping container and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s music cart.
Events for the guardians of learners as well
The programme of the week features events that are sure to interest the guardians of learners as well. Please note that these events are mainly held in Finnish. For events held in English, please visit the Helsinki Education Week website.
Guardians are welcome to visit the well-being café of Helsinki Vocational College and Adult Institute’s Myllypuro campus, where attendees will discuss the well-being, safety and communality of upper secondary education students and study communities. In turn, Oodi will showcase general upper secondary schools’ good practices for promoting well-being and learning.
At Playground Kannelmäki, attendees can visit the Tänään tavataan (‘We’ll Meet Today’) café, which is part of playgrounds’ and family houses’ activities for families with babies and small children. The operations of the café promote encounters between families with different languages and cultural backgrounds, as well as joint activities and conversations in Finnish.
In turn, guardians of comprehensive school pupils will be provided with online events focusing on cooperation between home and school and the possibilities of parents’ activities, as well as a presentation on a digital path for learners, which will familiarise attendees with systematic and equal practice of digital skills at schools.
Guardians can familiarise themselves with the Aula service, which provides children and young people with tools to support their learning and enables them to quickly contact their schoolsocial worker, psychologist and nurse. The service also features a chat function that facilitates conversations with health care and social service professionals outside school times as well.
How can you identify learning difficulties, and how can you support learning and make studying smoother? The Finnish Adult Education Centre will provide a lecture focusing on learning difficulties.
Sign up for your favourite events
You can sign up for the events of Helsinki Education Week on the helsinkieducationweek.com website. Signing up requires you to register with your email address. There is an info section for each event providing more details about the event and its target group, scheduleand whether it is held online or physically on-site.
Helsinki Education Week will now be held for the fifth time. The theme week is a celebration of learning that involves sharing pedagogic know-how and best insights, learning from others and exchanging thoughts. The week will also facilitate cooperation with international learning experts. Helsinki Education Week is organised in cooperation between the City of Helsinki Education Division and HundrED.(Link leads to external service)
