Finland is redesigning the way it teaches school ‘subjects’ and starting to teach ‘topics’ instead.
Students learning about the European Union, for example, will study a cross-section of history, economics, languages, and geography. Instead of a model where students rely on a teacher to tell them the answers, some children rush around collecting information about different parts of Africa, while others play chess in a corridor.
The result is “Joyful learning… more collaboration and communication between pupils… to develop their creative thinking skills.”
In a century that is already all about change, where we can’t really predict what is going to happen, it is this new culture and these habits of working together to address the multiple ‘topics’ that arise that will be the biggest benefit to Finland’s children.