There is this new role in my development as a professional, one where I am forcing myself to take advantage of every possible opportunity that comes my way. I find that I say yes to each request to conduct a lecture or presentation and then a minute later I regret that I had agreed because there is a part of me that is too timid to follow through. Yet, there is this strong sense of purpose when sharing critical information about inclusive education and yes, a little bit of pride for being brave by putting myself out there. The nerves, the worry, the effort to make it just right, the desire to impress, the effort to prepare, and concern to not wanting to waste anyone’s time, are all reasons to not complete the task. In the end, I am glad I pushed through. It’s hard – even with having a theater background, I still have self doubt about why would they want to hear this information from me. But I’m glad I put myself out there, and at the end of each experience I reflect that I have in turn learned from the task and participants. Inevitably it becomes this beautiful collaborative, global, professional exchange.
The passion I have when sharing this platform of inclusive education is my greatest asset and though I am becoming more confident with owning my areas of expertise, I love what each experience has brought. From meeting intelligent educators from around the world, to the fascinating questions I had yet to think they would ask, from the laughter that only like-minded special education teachers share even across cultures, it all becomes an awesome global exchange.
When I was in Junior high, all I could think about was the stereotypical high school experience of being on the cheer team, hanging out with friends after school, and going to school dances. But while in Finland, I have learned more about myself. The best high school experience for me isn’t the typical one as I like to live more independently, be free of drama, and communicate with people who are more worldly than the average 14/15 year old.
It’s been a great experience seeing how everyday people here in Finland are so considerate of the environment. For example, people who aren’t vocal activists do simple things like having 6 or more types of recycling in addition to a trash can in their home, not littering, and if they eat meat, they make sure that the animal was treated well without industrialized farming. Also, my family and I have noticed how well educated about the earth people are in the Nordic countries; they all seem to have a really good global perspective. And I think that’s also linked to their environmental efforts.
Speaking of home, I’ve made up some word vocabulary that has actually become very useful. My family and I refer to both our house here in Jyvaskyla as “home” and our house in Goleta as “home”. It got really confusing when you think someone was talking about one “home,” but really they were talking about our other “home” – if that makes any sense. So, I decided that why don’t we just call our Jyvaskylan home pronounced as “yome” and our Goleta home as “gome”. It’s turned out to be both effective and convenient.
This past week, I found myself struggling a tad with our move to our host nation and was feeling a little frustrated. I realized that some of the things I was feeling were similar to those I’d felt when adapting to life in America 22 years ago. In fact, I was again reminded of how challenging it is to be an immigrant in a new country even when there is no real language challenge, as was the case with me. Sometimes there is just too much ‘new’ and if there is a language barrier, then life can be very challenging indeed for those living in a new country. This issue is part of a teacher’s everyday reality in California, and yet over the years as I adapted to the U.S. it had become more of an intellectual concept rather than a visceral one.
The Fulbright Handbook for U.S. Teachers had some very helpful information to assist grantees adjusting to their new host country. I was intrigued by term, “cultural adaptation” and how this can be very hard when there is a constant stream of new experiences, language, and even verbal/nonverbal “cues” such as body language, and situational “expectations” and norms that the immigrant wouldn’t be aware of. The Fulbright handbook detailed that these daily challenges can be very wearing and may lead to physical problems such as fatigue, frustration/impatience, headaches and perhaps over eating/sleeping. I related to their definition of “culture shock” and how focusing on the negatives can seep into a person’s consciousness due to frustration after the initial glow of moving has worn off.
I wondered how many of my English Learner students and their families back home feel this way, as I was after only a few months; especially those that have barely gained understanding of their new host language. Are they as frustrated? More so? Have they retreated more into the safety and security of their own community than they had intended when they arrived in their new country? I noticed I’ve had limited experiences with native Finns outside of buying groceries, or tickets, etc. I have not joined a club as we’d done for the kids (mostly due to finances rather than an unwillingness to mix) nor had I the daily interaction that Robyn engages in at the university and local schools as part of her research. I had indeed become somewhat insulated in my own community of fellow migrants, and was becoming frustrated at the daily language issues. Then, we had the good fortune to have met Jorma and Anne, and Pekka along with his lovely wife, Sinikka and family in their hometowns. Our family has started visiting a craft museum to enjoy making something, spending more time in the local library, and going for family afternoons at a local pool and sauna frequented by our Finnish neighbors. I realized that all these experiences were very beneficial with regards to making friends and feeling like a community was beginning to form around us. The frustration quickly disappeared with this understanding.
Basically, it takes time to adapt to life in a new country. It takes active participation in experiences that are often far outside your comfort zone, and a positive attitude to help maintain the extra energy required to deal with daily frustrations. Branching out of your own safe zone by taking a class, or joining a club is a good idea. The handbook shared that being patient with yourself and not taking things quite so seriously helps, too. It is also healthy to remember your own cultural identity by keeping family traditions (even simple things like Taco Tuesday and Shabat are meaningful for us!)
As for those hosting immigrants in their town, and I use the term purposefully as it’s similar to someone staying at your house, a tender understanding and forgiving attitude is key. It is not simply a matter of someone learning the language for all to be well. Be patient and cognizant that there is constant change when living in a new country; an ebb and flow of successes and failures or embarrassing moments. That many daily challenges, although seemingly small, can wear a person down or make them feel continuously foolish or unable to complete tasks they’d thought well within their abilities. Really, just being kind goes a long way, and I for one will remember this when we return home.
My mom and I heading towards Stockholm on the ferry
This past week me and my family went to Stockholm, Sweden. My mom had another conference down in Helsinki, but after that we hopped on an overnight ferry to Sweden. That was a new experience for me. I have been on a sleeper train and busses, but have never slept on a ferry overnight. It was pretty cool, me and my family shared a small cabin with a tiny bathroom. It was 9 by 15 ft, so it was very cramped, although I got to explore the ship and look outside at the passing Swedish islands.
When we finally arrived at 10 am, we walked through town to our hotel. When we went back out in the damp Swedish town I started to remember the first time we went here in 2014. We went to the old armory which they turned into a museum. It was very interesting, then we visited the Swedish National Museum near the Baltic Sea which explained all about the history and culture of Sweden. When we were all done looking around we decided to have a little walk in the town. The next day was my father’s birthday, and we had a walking tour of the old city planned. I got to see a lot of old buildings and many different statues with diverse meanings. At the beginning of the tour we came upon the mint square where many thousands of children were protesting climate change instead of being at school.
That’s it for this week, bye.
Another ferry following us through the island channel
Professional freedom is where it’s at. Being trusted to create and implement this project on my own with a free rein provides a tremendous amount of flexibility that I am just not used to as an American overachiever striving within the confines of my employment. However, it has been awesome to stretch these autonomous wings.
Establishing relationships with Finnish educational personnel in schools is trickier than I thought- I really wanted to work within an inclusive setting for students with moderate and severe disabilities. It has taken many, many emails, visits, phone calls, and meetings with some amazingly dedicated professionals to find any semblance of this. However, none really offer what I had expected. And during each visit, much of the classroom teaching that I see surprises me. Yet, the conversations and discussions with professionals throughout this country is inspiring and so far the communicative exchange is my favorite aspect of this global collaboration.
To round out this opportunity I am making full use of experiences with Finns. I have connected with professors, doctoral students, parents, and anyone interested in talking SpEd. I have also followed my personal interests indulging in several side interests such as swimming, hiking, running on ice, and crafting. I know that I won’t regret a minute of time I spend exploring such hobbies even if they are non-project related aspects of Finnish life. In fact, I think they add dimension to my inquiry. Furthermore, they will really allow me to bring Finland home to my students and community.
I really enjoy being able to get together with the other Fulbrighters- we have long, glorious conversations about our different projects and similar thinking. Agreeing that a world with no childhood poverty; a flexible system of education that values finding your bliss; relative income equality; accessibility to free higher education, childcare, and healthcare; and a strong work ethic seem to be the answers to all our different questions.
I love the freedom to discover concepts and areas beyond the proposed project and am enthralled with this chance: free to be me.
Greta Thunberg somewhere on stage flanked by thousands of fellow demonstrators demanding change in Stockholm, Sweden
In and amongst all our sightseeing in Stockholm, Sweden yesterday, we discovered a huge student strike in Gamla Stan Old Town at Mynttorget (mint square) between Parliament and the Royal Palace. Thousands of people, mainly secondary school students, gather there and at hundreds of other cities worldwide instead of going to school every Friday to encourage governments to make positive choices to halt any further increase in global warming.
Greta Thunberg, a local teenager, started protesting alone at this spot last August instead of attending school on Fridays as she felt strongly that her generation’s future as well as those that will come after was being taken away by adults who were not doing enough to stop global warming. Her calls for attention and change have been heard by young people all over Europe and have grown exponentially ever since. The FridaysForFuture (FFF) movement now has over a million participants worldwide. Indeed, there were estimated to be 1,400,000 participants on March 15, alone. It was amazing to see so many people attend the meeting and listen to Greta speak in her now famously direct way. We felt that we were part of history being made as we joined the crowd to listen to the speakers, the singing, and the chants.
I found myself confronted with my own green shortcomings as an adult who slowly veered away from more idealistic and passionate views about the planet’s environmental crises as I became a working home-owning parent. Of course, we recycle and reuse/repurpose at home, are changing over to LED lightbulbs, have downsized to one car, and try not to be super consumers. Yet, this is a mediocre kind of attempt at preventing global catastrophe and making our planet a healthy and viable place for future generations to inhabit. I noticed that there was a very tangible concern that time is running out (or has already) and that such an extreme time needs extreme action by everyone. Coincidentally, a few days prior Meggie asked me about population growth and environmental concerns when I was her age. When I shared what I knew (starting with the world’s population doubling in 1970) she asked me why her mom and I had kids instead of adopting if things were already bad. She explained that’s what most of her friends are talking about doing. In other words, we knew the world’s population was in trouble and was growing exponentially, but we only added to the problem and didn’t take direct action to help. I mumbled something about the biological pull to have children which sounded kind of lame and unconvincing even to my own ears.
The young people’s passionate calls for action, and the perception that everything is as simple as black and white is easy for older generations to refute as being naïve or unrealistic, or perhaps even anarchistic; an attempt by a younger generation trying to break down the work and rules of the older generation. And yet witnessing this demonstration and my daughter’s questions awoke my own passion for being more proactive with regards to protecting the environment. I like to surf, kayak, and scuba dive, and have paddled with whales and dolphin countless times, yet how many hours have I spent as an advocate for the ocean? How am I protecting these amazing creatures? I don’t agree with industrialized farming, but how many changes have I made to our diet? What organizations do I belong to that are dedicated to facilitating change? The troubling questions go on and on. I think that as I became a husband and father with a career and a home, my wider view narrowed and certain parts of me became dormant under the daily necessity of work.
This demonstration in Stockholm followed by our inspiring visit to the Nobel Museum has stirred things up and has reopened doors and channels I hadn’t even been fully aware had almost totally closed during the past decade. It is often said that it is never too late to do the right thing, and that it is better to do what is right rather than what is easy. I would like to be able to look my grandchildren in the eye and say that yes, things were looking pretty bleak back in the early 2,ooo’s, but we each made big changes and turned things around by our own efforts. We didn’t wait for anyone to tell us what to do or make the changes. We were the change. Is it too late? I sure hope not…
I frequently have the difficult conversation with my teacher candidates that you often learn more from what you don’t expect to see than from what you actually do. At this moment I need to take my own advice because I came to Finland to learn. As a Fulbright mentor shared, it is an interesting comparative description to experience, and I guess this is what a Fulbright opportunity is all about. Encountering a different culture is not always perfect; in fact it can be messy and reflective. It’s actually difficult work to wrap your head around the realities and cultural differences of something you are very passionate about. Before I came to Finland, and even when I first arrived, I had the assumption that it was inclusion inclusion inclusion everywhere. However, as I get into my research and am learning more, I am starting to see the authenticity of what the Finns consider to be the definition of the term, inclusion. Using my global perspective and growth mindset I am exploring more about the culture and philosophy behind this. I am fully aware that I came with my own foundations regarding education, diversity, equality, and inclusion which happen to be fundamentally different to the Finnish present circumstances.
So now I am looking into the cultural definition of ‘inclusion’ here in Finland. It might be different than what we think it is back home. I am here to learn, thus I will keep digging and exploring in hopes of finding a way to explain their distinctive approach to supporting students with special needs.
One thing that our latest trip to Helsinki taught us is that the Finns know how to turns small things into a community. The central library Helsinki (Oodi) for example, consists of three floors. The first, holds a nice restaurant/cafe with a lounge area. Up the escalator one floor, you go into a multi-use level with 3D printers, a recording studio, studying pods, crafts area, and a computer room; all are open to the public. The third level, ironically, is the only place in the entire library building that contains books. But it also includes a cafe and unique lounging area that gives a 180 degree view of the city.
We also discovered the public sauna (Allas) that has many extra characteristics that really humbles our own basic apartment sauna. There were three saunas, each with lockers, and showers: men’s, women’s, and mixed. Allas is on the very banks of the Baltic Sea, so before or after going into the sauna, one would do avanto (immersing yourself into ice-water). We can agree that next time we go into the Baltic, it will be in the summer.
On the first day we were here, our mom observed that the Finns are systematic with pretty much anything like libraries or saunas, using the best of their resources and keeping up with modern architecture. They keep their heritage, but like to include the modern too. Meg and I like this because it’s interesting
During the past few days in Helsinki, we’ve had the good fortune to spend time in the new and already famous Oodi Central Library. I know what you’re thinking: one library is much like another apart from the architecture. Wrong! Oodi breaks all the usual preconceptions pushing libraries into a whole new realm.
At a full city block long with flowing contours offset by sharp modern lines, Oodi is a visual 3-storied treat. The roof flows like a gently rolling deep ocean swell. Patterned windows 30 feet or higher wall the 1st and 3rd floors flooding the area with natural light and views of the city (wonderful when it’s snowing out). The middle floor has angled wooden beams that create geometric boundaries to seating areas and study pods (large as well as private-many with computers). Also on the middle floor is a green area with living wall for wellness, a robotics lab, several recording studios, a bank of 3D printers, a craft area complete with knitting and sewing machines, a gaming lab, and two huge digital printers for photographers capable of 4-5 foot long images. The first floor offers exhibitions, a cafe, and a small child playground, while the upper floor has books, another cafe, peaceful reading areas (especially at the upwardly sloped wooden/terraced end of the building) study tables, and many potted trees that create a peaceful space.
Opening early at 8:00 am weekdays, students, office workers, the young and young at heart all gather here in peaceful serenity. I find it baffling how so many people can disappear into quiet solitude inside this wonderful building, yet it remains almost totally silent, peaceful, and uncluttered. This is a must see if in Helsinki-even if you want to take rest break for a spell. It’s truly captivating and a great example of multi-use planning.
Note: Arrive early if you want a private study pod as they are popular and fill up fast on a first come/first served basis…Otherwise sit and lean against the glass at the sloped glass-walled apex to enjoy a few quiet moments looking down over the city and the top floor.
Jorma and Anne’s cottage on the shore of Kemijarvi
After leaving Oulu, we spent a few days up in Rovaniemi which is the gateway to the Arctic Circle. Our host, Jorma, came to collect us and drove us to his cottage on the shore of Kemijarvi for a homestay out in the wilds of Lapland. After 20 minutes, we turned off the main road into a white world still in the grip of winter and drove for another 40 minutes. The entire drive meandered through endless forest where reindeer could be spotted nibbling the lichen on the trees. The gorgeous red cottage we were to stay at sat serenely on a couple of acres of land in an area almost devoid of sound, in fact there were times when it was completely silent when the breeze ceased stirring the trees. We greeted Anne, Jorma’s wife and their beagle Poncho and began learning about life in rural Lapland, beginning with the food which is almost exclusively made from scratch.
Life in Lapland, we discovered, includes a lot of planning and time outdoors. During the summer people gather a variety of wild mushrooms and many types of berries including lingon, cloud, and redcurrants to freeze or preserve. Fish are caught in the lake, moose shot, and reindeer meat gathered from the forest or from local herders. Many grow their own root and leafy green vegetables which they use year round and also bake their own bread. Quality items are bought or made and then kept for decades rather than replacing cheaply made items often. And of course firewood is cut and stored for heating, cooking, and sauna. Jorma shared that they had decided to raise their 3 boys in the forest as the wilderness would be a shaping and defining experience for them. Our host went on to explain that the work and adversity sometimes encountered by homesteading provides a way for people to maximize their potential as humans. This means not just being productive, flexible, and good problem solvers, but also better humans who appreciate the outdoors, others, and life in general. Indeed, our short time with Jorma and Anne became a very powerful antidote for the corrosive effect induced by living in our modern self-serving and disposable culture.
There was also a sense of joy and contentment in their small and somewhat isolated community. Jorma and Anne used to attend an amatuer theatre group and go dancing at a nearby campsite during celebrations in the summer months. Volunteers from other countries who came to help on their organic farm were hosted as were students from abroad. Their own children had reciprocal experiences abroad also so as to help their own development. And of course, there are the hobbies that Finns all value and participate in that helped them through the dark winter months (which by the way, many in Lapland enjoy almost as much as the midnight sun during the endless summer days).
We enjoyed skiing and snowshoeing, dog sledding, learning how to set passive pike fishing ice traps, and just walking on the frozen lake listening to the quiet and feeling the peace that seemed to flow over and through the land. Our time in Lapland brought about many feelings and thoughts that will take a little time to digest and process. Like our glimpses of reindeer in the forest while snowshoeing, a different existence was briefly experienced that I hope will have a long-lasting positive impact on our lives. I want to return to Lapland, and as the kind and thoughtful Jorma said, “next time, you come to visit as friends, not airbnb…” What a treat that would be.
Panoramic of skiing on the frozen lake, KevijarviJorma’s meals were fabulous, and were a great time to talkJorma’s boat patiently waiting for the ice to meltTrailblazing across the frozen lake for a morning walk
