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LEADING

6 CEA ADVISOR SUMMER 2018

IMPLEMENTING LESSONS LEARNED IN FINLAND TO REDUCE STUDENT AND TEACHER STRESS Connecticut teachers share experiences with colleagues to create relaxed, calm classrooms

“The amount of stress trickling down to students is really toxic in our country,” says CREC Education Association member Karen Drake. “We have to pay attention to this.” Drake, an instructional coach at the Reggio Magnet School of the Arts in Avon, says the pervasiveness of stress in U.S. schools was really driven home to her after a visit to Finnish schools this April with other Connecticut educators. Drake and more than 20 of her Connecticut colleagues traveled to Finland as part of the Teacher Leader Fellowship program at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). In partnership with CEA, AFT-Connecticut, and Duke TeachHouse, the fellowship assists teachers in taking ownership of programs, practices, policies, and priorities that effect change beyond their classroom walls. She was really struck, Drake says, by how much the Finns value mindful, purposeful learning and work to reduce their stress. “That was a really big takeaway. The value Finns place on less stress just kept coming up throughout our trip. The value of nature and finding a balance in their lives—that really trickles down to schools,” she says. Less is more While in Helsinki, the Connecticut educators had a

mindful of cutting myself some slack, letting the process happen, and having expectations that are realistic for myself and my students.” She also tries to find opportunities to get her students outside, even just for a breath of fresh air. “When you’re in the classroom and have windows that don’t open, by the end of the day you’re breathing in more and more carbon dioxide. Getting outside refreshes students’ brains as well, and they’re not as cranky.” Sharing lessons from Finland back home Drake and fellow Finland traveler Sarhanna Smith, the principal at Bridgeport’s Read School, presented key takeaways from their trip to other Connecticut educators at a conference run by the Teacher Leader Fellowship at CCSU this May. “Those breaks Finnish students take throughout the day make learning more effective—that’s where you have to shift your thinking,” Drake told her Connecticut colleagues. “Less is more. I’m a coach, and when I go into a classroom and children have been sitting on the rug too long, it’s clear they’re not learning.” “In my district we have lots of children who have experienced trauma in their lives,” Smith said. “The Finnish approach to education is very mindful and soothing. The schools we visited were very quiet and calm, even though no one was telling students to be quiet.” Smith added that the Connecticut educators found the “less is more” theme carried over to classroom design and decoration in Finland as well. “They don’t cover the walls; they keep things simple,” she said. Derby math specialist Liz Robinson attended Drake and Smith’s session about their Finland trip because her husband’s trips to that country have piqued her interest in the education system there. “My husband has visited Finland for work, and he talks about how relaxed it is there and how happy everyone is.” Robinson says she hopes to apply small lessons from what works in Finland to her own teaching, from having students be more responsible for themselves to creating a classroom that’s comfortable and feels like home. Her experiences in Finland have sold Drake on the importance of giving children breaks to play and explore. “I’ve started taking classes outside to read and then play, and I’m already seeing a difference in my students,” she says.

Karen Drake, an instructional coach at the Reggio Magnet School of the Arts in Avon, and Sarhanna Smith, principal at Bridgeport’s Read School, shared their experiences in Finland with other Connecticut educators at a conference this spring.

chance to meet with Tim Walker, author of Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms . Walker began his teaching career in Arlington, Massachusetts, and after putting in 12-hour days during his first year in the classroom, he was pushed to the breaking point and was forced to take a leave of absence. “I had always believed that the best educators were the ones who

worked the hardest, even if it meant surviving on a few hours of sleep, skipping lunch breaks in exchange for more time for lesson prep, and never finding any time to socialize with colleagues,” Walker writes. When Walker moved to Helsinki with his Finnish wife and started a job teaching English to fifth graders, he at first disdained the more relaxed, calmer approach to education he found there, despite experiencing severe burnout as a teacher in the U.S. None of his Finnish coworkers worked 12 hours a day teaching, planning, and grading the way he and his Massachusetts colleagues often did, and they appeared stress- free compared with what he was used to in American schools. “Unsurprisingly,” he writes, “their students seemed to experience less stress too.” A new view Eventually Walker realized he had to let go of his ideology that “my worth could be quantified by my productivity.” While Finnish values and culture differ from those in America, the Connecticut educators who visited Finland have taken pieces of what they learned to implement the Finnish approach in their classrooms. Plainville second-grade teacher Wendy Bender was impressed with the way Finnish schools keep students motivated with regular breaks throughout the day and has implemented creativity breaks with her students. In Finland, teachers and students take a 15-minute break every 45 minutes, allowing them to be refreshed and to maintain focus when they come back to the classroom. Bender allows her students 15-minute breaks where they can choose their own activities—for example, to play a game, draw, or build with Legos. The Louis Toffolon Elementary School teacher says the play-based breaks between academics allow her students to be both more relaxed and better able to concentrate on the work she asks of them. “I’ve also tried to reduce my own stress, because that trickles down to the kids,” Bender says. “I’m more

Finnish six- and seven-year-olds receive only one hour of academic instruction each day, Connecticut educators learned. Here they are happily involved in free play centers, which involve lots of laughter. (Photo courtesy of Karen Drake)

For more information, visit ccsu.edu/seps/ TLFP.

Connecticut educators tagged along with Finnish three- and four-year-olds at an early learning center during a daily excursion into the forest. Young children spend time outside every day, no matter the weather, epitomizing the value Finns place on nature. (Photo courtesy of Karen Drake)