Page 11 - 樂善堂梁銶琚學校（校刊2019）

Reflections on the Finnish Preschool

Education System Education

Simonkallio Early Childhood Education Centre

Aplichau Kaifong Primary School

ELCHK Faith Love Lutheran School
King’s College Old Boys’ Association Primary School No.2
Pak Tin Catholic Primary School

Pui Tak Canossian Primary School

Simonkallio Early Childhood Education Centre (Kindergarten) opened in September, 2016.
The building uses wood and concrete and has a large area of glass, offering both a positive balance
of energy through the building envelope, and sufficient daylight to reduce the need for artificial

lighting.

The school incorporates open-plan principles, exchanging traditional walled-in classrooms and

rows of desks for a more flexible and informal open layout. There are lots of small group spaces for
different kinds of activities, a separate dining room and a large gym. Attractive, colourful, quiet and
relaxed learning environments help create a low-stress experience.

The arrangement is really good for kids. Safety, cleanliness and protective furniture do not

explicitly suggest “education” in the formal sense but the promotion of the health and wellbeing of
every child.

There are eight different groups for 140 children aged between one and seven years old. For
every seven children above 3-year-olds, there must be one qualified teacher or care worker. One
qualified worker must be present for every four below 3-year-olds. It is also legally required that
there must be one preschool teacher for every three qualified workers. The ratio of teachers to
that of 3-to-7-year-olds is 1:7. Teachers are totally responsible for students’ learning and free time

activities. The salaries of teachers in Finland are similar to those in Hong Kong.

We found that instead of explicit teaching methods, daycare centres in Finland seem to focus

more on integrating theories and teaching methods into children’s daily school life. Teachers
introduce the concept of mindfulness to children in Simonkallio, which helps them to express their
emotions daily and learn how to regulate their emotions via cartoon cards. Students learn through
the phenomenon-based approach, where the questions asked and issues covered are naturally
anchored in real-world phenomena. The information and skills learned can be directly applied

across borders between subjects and outside the classroom in situations where they can be used
in practice. An example of this concept of natural transfer is young children deciding their dress
code and the belongings to bring for outdoor activities, to cope with the current weather situation.

Children are also encouraged to discover through an experiential learning approach.

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