Månad: februari 2025

Helena Olofsson, a preschool teacher, and Anton Fagergren, an assistant principal, traveled from Västerås to visit preschools in Lahti, Finland, to gather inspiration and ideas for their own work back home in Sweden.

Our goal and focus

However, our goal was also to share our experiences on what we called sustainable education. Lahti is known for its environmental efforts and its passion for sports, particularly winter sports. Our focus was on pedagogical leadership, special education, learning environments, and sustainability issues.

Visited several preschools

Throughout the week, we visited several preschools and had the opportunity to participate in daily activities, gaining firsthand insight into a typical day in a Finnish preschool. We had the privilege of following both teachers, language instructors, and school leaders. As we toured the different preschool departments, we observed their methods, asked questions to the staff and leadership teams, and, most importantly, spent time in the heart of the educational setting together with the children during singing sessions, language gatherings, meals, and outdoor learning activcities.

One particularly striking aspect was Finland’s clear and structured system for assessing children’s needs. Based on these assessments, resources were allocated to support children with special needs. We noticed that Lahti placed significant emphasis on ensuring that preschools had access to special education teachers as part of their daily work, with most preschools having their own dedicated specialist. Additionally, Finnish preschools provide mother-tongue support in a way that differs from Sweden. Children with another mother tongue received extra training in Finnish, and we had the opportunity to observe such a session. It was fascinating to see how effectively they worked with language development using visual aids and storytelling.

Learning environments indoor and outdoor

Since we in Sweden have spent a great deal of time developing our learning environments, we paid special attention to this aspect. The learning environments in Finland were quite similar across the different preschools we visited. We understood that there were stricter guidelines regarding what educators could modify themselves, compared to the greater autonomy we are used to in Sweden. The classrooms and preschool settings were often equivalent and standardized, which could be seen as both a strength and an area for further development.

One fascinating detail was the strong emphasis on physical activity in Finnish preschools. Every preschool we visited had some form of sports area or physical activity space. One preschool had a huge indoor sports hall, another had access to a basement with a basketball court and soccer goals, while a third had a smaller space with a climbing wall and various balls. Some preschools even had ride-on toy cars for indoor use. Many classrooms were also equipped with ropes or climbing apparatus that could be attached to the ceiling, reinforcing the importance of movement in everyday activities. This strong presence of sports and movement is likely an influence of the athletic culture in Lahti, something that we definitely want to take with us as inspiration for our own work.

Outdoor environments also followed a relatively uniform design across all the preschools we visited. However, they were well-maintained and of high quality. Like in Sweden, many Finnish preschools frequently used the forest as a learning space, reinforcing the value of outdoor education.

New ideas and what we have learned

This visit has given us much to reflect on and a wealth of new ideas. It has been exciting to see how a neighboring country, so geographically close to Sweden, operates in ways that are both similar and very different in certain aspects.

Some other key takeaways from our visit:

• In Finland, children nap or at least rest all the way up to preschool class.
• There is a clearer division of tasks based on educational qualifications.
• Preschool leaders also oversee preschool classes and have the flexibility to allocate staff across these groups.
• Finland excels in the use of visual aids (picture support) in education!
• Many Finnish educators take great pride in their work, and rightly so. However, this made us reflect on how we in Sweden should also celebrate and acknowledge the high quality of our own preschools, including those in Västerås.
• Finland is currently facing a declining number of children in preschools, a challenge that we are in the middle as well. Perhaps this is an area where collaboration between countries could be beneficial?

Final words

A huge thank you to everyone we met during this journey! Your hospitality, knowledge, and dedication have been truly inspiring.

Anton and Helena

For five days in September, I visited Lahti to job shadow two principals, get an insight into the Finnish preschool and exchange experiences with our Nordic twin towns Akureyri, Ålesund, Lahti and Randers. On this occasion Randers unfortunately did not have the opportunity to attend.

Meeting with the municipal management

My visit in Lahtis started with participating in a meeting with the municipal management. In the meeting, we got an insight into how preschool activities are organized in the city. There I met operational management and school principals. On the same day, I attended a preschool where I had the opportunity to shadow the management during the whole day. I also got to visit the preschool’s learning environments and participate in gatherings with the children. The preschool I visited was located in a socioeconomically vulnerable area and there were several children with neuropsychiatric disabilities and children of other origins.

Visit a preschool in the country

On the second day, me and two of my preschool teachers got to visit a preschool that was out in the country but with socio-economic stability. There we got to meet the principal who told us about how her work was organized at the preschool and how they work with sustainability. We got to visit all learning environments and meet children and staff. We also had the opportunity to visit the preschool class for which the preschool principal was responsible.

Organization and staff

During these days, I learned a lot about the organization of staff and how they optimize staffing at the preschools. We talked a lot about pedagogy and learning. I also had the opportunity to discuss the importance of children’s recovery in order to create the best learning possible. I was both strengthened and confirmed about the subject based on research. I was able to clearly see how the organization at the preschool enabled time for reflection and planning of the teaching, which in turn benefits children’s learning and development skills. The preschool teachers have the opportunity to plan the education and reflect both from home and at the preschool. They don’t work 40-hour weeks like we do in Sweden, and full-time work is about two hours less a week (scheduled).

Meals at the city’s preschools

I also gained insight into equivalence regarding meals at the city’s preschools. All preschools prepared food based on the same ingredients but it gets cooked under the influence of the unit’s chef. One of the preschools baked their own bread for lunch together with the children for teaching and educational purposes, but also based on joyful learning. It was also very interesting to study how the principal cooperated with her employees and I felt that they had a trusting relationship. The leadership felt clear and trustworthy.

Wonderfully well received

My colleagues and I were wonderfully well received by our hosts in Finland. It was a very well-planned program throughout our days. The preschools were well prepared and full of anticipation for our visits. The children were curious about us and some were fascinated that we had traveled so far to see their preschool and what they learned during the day. One of the children said: ”They have traveled across the ocean to meet us”.

The principals greeted us very well and I feel that we have formed bonds of friendship to see each other again and visit each other’s preschools and also talked about how to expand cooperation between the countries.

During the days, we mostly spoke English to each other, but our hosts also tried to speak Swedish with us, which was much appreciated. I take with me lots of new thoughts from our visits and I feel strengthened both in my leadership and in my mission as principal.

Insights and inspiration

The warm reception and the job shadowing in Lahti have given me insights and inspiration. I bring with me many good thoughts and experiences from our Finnish sister city that will benefit me in my leadership and in the development of teaching at the preschools. After my visit, I can see many similarities between our Nordic countries, and I feel a strong bond between the countries. Now more than ever.

Anna-Maria Barnelius
Principal, Västerås stad Skolverksamheter