As an educator for over 15 years (I don’t know exactly how long anymore) I’ve seen education transform first hand. Gone are the days of concentrating on textbooks and now students are seen working in corridors, under stairwells or outside, in groups, deciding planning and creating.

Education for me has always been about getting students ready for the outside world. Sure, the academic side is important yet I feel schools in the past have focused on students’ numbers without really focusing on their social and collaboration skills. What we at Time Repair want to achieve is to put pedagogy at the forefront when it came to educating students. Schools, especially in Finland are moving towards using soft skills such as the 7 Transversal Competencies or known as Life Long learning which is essential to all students for the future.

The Finnish 7 competencies focus on 1 Thinking and learning to learn 2 Cultural competence, interaction and self-expression 3 Taking care of oneself, managing daily activities, safety 4 Multiliteracy 5 ICT competence 6 Competence required for working life and entrepreneurship 7 Participation, involvement and building a sustainable future. Finland sees these competencies as essential to life-long learning.

When we create our lessons and units, we think what the learning goals should be and then how to accomplish them by using these competencies and the 21st Century Skills. Our goal is for everyone to be able to realize that they have the strength and courage to be able to make a difference to not only the environment but also to society. And for this to be achieved, these soft skills are essential.

What do you think is the most essential element of education? 

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