Preview of Article:
Wise, Wiser, Teacher
Illustrator: Therese Quinn
On a tour of an elementary school in Tampere, Finland, I was thrilled by the teachers’ lounge. It was large and stocked with long tables, full bookcases, and not just comfortable-looking, but stylish—that great Finnish design—cherry red armchairs. A table held a coffeepot and a box of Fazer chocolates; a large window looked out on a stand of birch trees. During the 20 minutes I spent there talking to the school’s director, teachers stopped in to chat with each other, to sit and rest, or to work.
I also loved other things I saw at this school: boys and girls knitting puppets in an art room; sock-footed children sitting on their classroom floor playing chess; a hot lunch served on china plates and eaten by students and teachers together at tables with flowers in vases. But I was awestruck by what the teachers’ room indicated—someone who made decisions about space and resources knew that teachers should have lots of both.
That was 2006. Three years later I returned to spend a semester as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Helsinki. While there I visited seven elementary and high schools, and four universities. I talked to many parents, teachers, and professors about education in their country.
