A little background (not so little!)

                                                   Image: personal archive

We all have been in touch with education somehow our whole lives, as students, teachers, facilitators, mentors, guides…  In my case I will also add that I come from a family of educators, so it was more than natural to be surrounded by teachers, students, books, papers, and different materials/resources to be graded, endless discussions on how to approach certain situations and how to make the exercise of being a teacher more fun, pertinent and at the end of the day meaningful. 

For as long as I can remember education was at the centre of how to contribute to making our country, our city, and our region a better place to live and a better place to thrive. Even when my sisters and I were at school and we had some assignments to take home, the question of how relevant was always present. In the beginning, it was a bit bizarre as most of the families did not question a lot about what the school and the teachers were doing, but as time passed along, I got used to the habit (wondering now if this is a habit or what) of questioning why we did what we did at school. This got me sometimes in trouble as I was “too critical” and made some teachers or even directors uncomfortable.

Later on, at the University, this habit got me to be very involved at different spaces (academic and non-academic) during my studies and became very handy. Even though during my undergraduate studies, it was not clear to me that I would work later in educational settings, it has been the case.

Not necessarily as a teacher all the time, but as a counsellor at K-12 schools, in counselling teams and student success offices at universities, actively working at the Dean of Education Faculty office with teachers and with lots of stuff related to academic and administrative issues. Later, as a consultant for schools and teacher development and in policy design at the Ministry of Education. As life has a very particular way of taking us to unexpected places, I started to work for foreign educational companies and facilitated processes for schools, tertiary and HE institutions, and companies in some countries of the region. So even though I didn0t consider myself as a teacher in the traditional sense at the time, it was interesting and meaningful to apply a lot of what I learned over the years, plus of course, learning while working very closely with teachers and following their progress with their students. 

This was the moment where I was consciously aware that there are many ways to learn and build your path as a teacher and that somehow even as a child and working in my vacation time in my family’s kindergarten on the summer courses for kids, I was starting to learn, unlearn and navigating different educational environments. I started to ask myself how to guide and acknowledge at the same time everyone’s uniqueness and true self. I am still asking this and learning new things all the time. Kind of a self-discovery adventure as you also learn from others. 

After some years I was back at the school I graduated from high school. I got the opportunity to be part of the team as the Academic Director. What a beautiful way of looking at the school years from a different role and perspective. During those and during a brief talk with the Rector and he told me about a story I didn’t even remember. It was also the time I started to know a bit more about Finnish education and EdTech. 

So, it turned out that we started our days at school with “formation” which meant making lines by grades and gender and we would share general announcements, say our prayers, and start the day together and on the same page. During this space sometimes I would raise my hand and make uncomfortable questions, and they would wonder why a girl with such good grades would also be “too critical” and awkward in that sense. That day, according to the Rector I raised my hand and said: I have a question. Please tell me why girls must wear a uniform and boys can wear whatever they want? I find this not only unfair, but it does not make any sense. Complete silence after that and according to him a brief explanation that didn’t really say much. 

Years after I came to school, I notice everyone wearing a uniform during that chat with the Rector he asks me who made that happen and I just told him I had no idea. He said, well you as a student made me this question that made me realize we had been doing this for years, just because it was the way things were done. We started to ask all the students after you graduated and after many considerations, we decided to have a uniform, but a uniform that would be acceptable for families and students. 

I’m not sure that was the outcome I was hoping for when I asked the question and I'm, not sure that even matters now. But it certainly made me think about how we do many things in our lives and especially in formal educational settings just because. This is a simple and silly example, but it has made me question many things I do on “autopilot” mode. 

Part of the reasons I applied and started this certification has to do with being more aware and intentional about what we do to learn together.