Twenty students from the Jane Addams School of Berlin in Jyväskylä with Erasmus+
Students of the Jane Addams Oberstufenzentrum – future nursery helpers, special needs teachers, after-school care workers among others – explored their field of study during a two-week-stay in Jyväskylä. The career exploration was possible due to Erasmus+ funding and was coordinated by Experience Workshop.
Early childhood education centre visits
Kukkumäki and Pilke
The group visited one of the “Pilke” private daycare centres, which has a bilingual profile – Finnish and English, and also the public daycare centre Kukkumäki. In both early childhood education centres children spend a lot of time outdoors, even among the worst weather conditions. The backyard or the nearby woods are as much educational environments as the rooms inside the facilities. During our visits, children were playing with the melting snow.
At the university: how far is childhood digitalized?
Thanks to university lecturer Olli Merjovaara, students of the Jane Addams school had the possibility to participate in seminars and lectures at the university, and also to join small group work of Finnish students.
In the wonderful buildings and interiors designed by the architect Alvar Aalto in the 1950’s, visiting students have received an insight into the study programme. They could also observe how Finnish students work with children. In the so-called demo-rooms of the university, which closely resemble real daycare interiors, students welcome children from the nearby daycare centers and test the activities they’ve developed.
Special education
Kypärämäki Primary School
Kypärämäki is the only municipal primary school in Jyväskylä providing special education for children with autism spectrum disorders. The principal Tiina Saarenketo has shown us around the classrooms and spaces especially created for autistic children and explained how their school day is structured from arriving by school bus, following the same curriculum as their peers in the regular classes, until afternoon care and return home. Children with autism study in their own classrooms, where each student has a learning niche on their own.
Spesia Vocational School
Spesia is a special educational school based among others in Jyväskylä. Here, students can choose from a variety of professions to learn, such as car mechanics, housekeeping, logistics and visual arts among others. We had the chance to spend time with the visual arts and artisan classes. We thank the visit to special education teacher Sini Saarikoski.
We’re also allowed to enter Spesia’s dormitory. Here, students living in distant places have the possibility to stay during the weekdays.
Learning more about Finland and playful learning
In the coworking space Crazy Town, Kristof Fenyvesi, STEAM director of Experience Workshop, gave a workshop on the possibilities of STEAM learning in early childhood education. Maiju Saarivaara on the other hand, introduced typical notions of Finnish culture.
Further places for children: Family centres, playgrounds, after-school care centres
During the two weeks, a range of organisations and institutions employing educators were also visited. These include:
- the Mäki-Matti family centre with one of the best playgrounds in the city
- the Gloria multicultural centre
- the Yrttisuo family centre
- the Halssila primary school and after-school care centre, where kids were baking a cake called “mokkapala”
Work with young people: youth clubs
In the Perttula youth club, young people gather from the part of the city called Huhtasuo. This area has a high percentage of immigrants. We thank the visit and the very informative presentations about youth work in Jyväskylä to Rasouli Sowail, Satu Paasonen and Ismael Omar Sheikh Musse.
The so called Tyttöjen Talo or girls’ house, a safe gathering place for girls, run by the NGO Jyvälän Setlementti. Elina Ahtikaari and her colleagues showed us around.
What else…
Sauna… grilling…. Jyväskylä from above… a weekend in Helsinki…
Feedback
In the future I would like to adapt and implement the activities that the Finnish students have prepared for the children.
I loved the grilling in the forest, because of nature. The demo rooms, because we could observe the children and students.
I liked the barbecue and the sauna the best because those gave an insight into Finnish culture.
Photo credits: Nora Somlyody, Kristof Fenyvesi, students and teachers of the Jane Addams School
The program was implemented as part of the Erasmus+ KA1 programme, with the contribution of Experience Workshop Jyväskylä and the Gesellschaft für Europabildung (GEB) Berlin.
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