Finnish teachers use cutting-edge school design to address learning challenges, with EU financial backing

Finnish educators are adopting innovative approaches to learning in response to a widening gap between top students and weaker ones and the shortened attention span of digital kids. New schools in Järvenpää and a suburb of Espoo have abandoned traditional long hallways and closed classrooms. Instead, they are open, flexible spaces that support the collaborative projects that encourage students to communicate and solve problems together, as well as expressing their own personalities.

Tarja Edry, principal of Harjula School in Järvenpää, says the new campus is “totally different.” Teachers no longer have a dedicated classroom. Instead, they move around the building with their students, and often join up with other classes.

Harjula is part of the Constructing Education pilot project led by the Council of Europe Development Bank and the European Investment Bank, the European Union’s financing arm. The pilot project is looking at innovative ways to design schools and examines the kind of support educators need to adopt cutting-edge teaching practices.

The European Investment Bank, which is owned by the 27 EU member states, has provided over €1 billion for education in Finland since 2017. It’s just one of many investments in Finland by the European Union’s financing arm. Last year alone, we invested €992 million in the country.

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