Today we began our day bright and early by going to the University of Oulu. We toured their campus and were amazed by the lounges for students to work in, as well as a beanbag room to take a quick power nap. Then, we listened to a lecture from Iiris Kivioja about the University and its education programs. We learned that it was very competitive with only 120 spots open in their education department. She also talked about improvements they wanted to make in terms of social justice and equality. After this, we went to another FabLab, one of many studios for large scale printing, 3d printing, and woodwork that we have come across here.
Next, we went to VTT to learn more about the advancements they are making in the realm of technology. Their main focus was consolidating the technology needed to operate cars, planes, and medical devices into something small, lightweight, convenient, or even able to be worn by the user. We thought it was cool that they used plastic for their products, but were also making an effort towards sustainability, as that is one of Finland’s main values.
For lunch, we rode over to the University of Oulu’s Teacher Training School where we ate alongside students in their cafeteria. The staff here was the most friendly out of any of the schools we have been to. Lunch was followed by a lecture from Dr. Raimo Salo about mentoring, how it works at the University of Oulu’s TTC, and how to apply it to our educational careers. Although one of us wants to be a teacher, the other still found the advice insightful for situations outside of the classroom.
After a well deserved nap, we went to dinner where we debriefed the day. We went to Hanko Sushi, which is located in a nearby mall! We all enjoyed different kinds of food including poke bowls, sushi rolls, Korean fried chicken and more! One topic of discussion at the table was the DEI policies and procedures found in the schools so far. The general consensus was that although Finland is making efforts, due to their history and attitudes towards immigrants they still have a long way to go before they can add cultural diversity and inclusion to their long list of successes in their education system.
We ended the day in the most Finnish way possible: karaoke and a sauna.
Kiitos!
Morgan and Paisley