Wow, just a month left to go. May really flew by. This month I have had a great mix of fun and work. Fun things: Vappu (May Day), forest hikes outside of Tampere, a visit to the Pispala sauna, Finland's oldest, watched Eurovision for the first time in my life, celebrated the new batch of Finnish Fulbright grantees going to the US, and cheered on Finland's champion ice hockey team (with 99,999 others in central Helsinki). Work things: presentations in Mikkeli and Helsinki, visits to high schools and vocational schools in Tampere, and more teacher interviews. And writing, writing, writing. I can't say that I know what form this final product will take, but if I manage to articulate all that I've learned well, I think educators in the US, in Finland and elsewhere could find a lot to talk about. One of the reasons I love education is because it is so messy, complex, and important; and one of the most satisfying things I have been able to do is reflect on all I've read, seen, and heard with my American and Finnish colleagues over the past five months. I used to feel indifferent about educational exchange, but not anymore. It is about more than just me coming to Finland and learning how they do things here. It's also about reflecting on both systems deeply - with my American counterparts who have unique experiences and similar questions as I do, and who are coming up with brand new insights about education in Finland from their research; and with my Finnish colleagues who shed new light on both the American system they saw, and the FInnish system they know so well.
Ah well, I am getting sentimental already.
My fabulous Fulbright colleagues.
