How about a school day where everyone had someone to say hello to? Or what if there was a moment when a teacher would stop to ask how you are doing? Helsinki's general upper secondary schools are developing practices that build this kind of everyday school life. Strengthening the community spirit in school students and the whole school community is part of the common approach of the City of Helsinki's student welfare services and general upper secondary education, called the pedagogy of hope. The pedagogy of hope supports children and young people's faith in the future by supporting their wellbeing, inclusion and learning.
At our school, the challenge was that not many students were attending homeroom group guidance sessions. So, we started thinking about how to make these sessions into more meaningful encounters.
Becoming part of the community at the start of general upper secondary school
Young people's experiences of loneliness have been highlighted in the School Health Promotion studies. At the same time, it is known that a sense of belonging is one of the most important factors contributing to wellbeing and faith in the future. In general upper secondary school, each student has their own group and a homeroom teacher whom they meet with during homeroom group guidance sessions.
– At our school, the challenge was that not many students were attending homeroom group guidance sessions. So, we started thinking about how to make these sessions into more meaningful encounters, says Kallio Upper Secondary School of Performing Arts teacher Kati Sinkkonen.
As a solution, Kallio Upper Secondary School of Performing Arts teachers Kati Sinkkonen, Monja Kataja and Ulla Mäkilä developed the Homeroom Group Guidance Passport. The idea is to have first-year general upper secondary school students work on small group assignments that help them get to know each other and become part of the school community. For each assignment completed, they receive a stamp for their Homeroom Group Guidance Passport.
– The idea was that everyone would have at least a few faces that they are familiar with. Everyone would have someone to say hello to in the hallway, says Monja Kataja.
The assignments are small but meaningful: a shared lunch, getting to know the school premises or a small act of kindness. At the same time, students get to produce their own content for homeroom group guidance sessions. Students’ experiences of the approach have been encouraging.
– The students enjoy being able to do things together. They have found that the group has a nice atmosphere and that you can talk to everyone, says Monja Kataja.
Kati Sinkkonen's findings also confirm this: “The students enjoy homeroom group guidance sessions, and no one is in a hurry to leave.”
Students and staff working together to improve the school
At Sibelius-lukio Upper Secondary School, the pedagogy of hope brought students and staff together around the same table. The school held a pedagogy of hope workshop, in which students and teachers discussed how to strengthen hope and inclusion in everyday school life.
– We wanted to involve the students in the development of the pedagogy of hope from the very beginning, says Tiina Rautiainen, the teacher responsible for the workshop.
In the workshop, students and teachers were divided into small groups that each focused on different themes, such as pedagogical practices, identifying strengths, resilience and ways to support young people's faith in the future. The joint discussions reinforced the perception that the school is genuinely being developed for the students.
– It is understandable that teachers sometimes find it difficult to put themselves in the students’ shoes. The workshop gave us students an opportunity to bring up things they hadn't thought about, says student Helena Rauha.
The pedagogy of hope also brings new perspectives to school management. According to Milla Rantanen, vice principal of Sibelius-lukio Upper Secondary School, strengthening community spirit requires conscious, present work community management and structures that facilitate interaction.
– Community spirit needs to be systematically built into everyday life. Because of this, it is important that the theme is included in meetings and shared moments. Investing in community spirit has advanced the interaction within the work community a great deal, says Rantanen.
This article was produced as part of the development project Toivon pedagogiikan johtaminen (“Managing the pedagogy of hope”), which is funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund.
What is the pedagogy of hope?
The pedagogy of hope is a research-based model for the City of Helsinki's general upper secondary education and student welfare services that supports learners' wellbeing and learning by building a good everyday life and faith in the future. While the model’s focus is on children and young people, it creates wellbeing for the whole school community.
The aim of the pedagogy of hope is to embed research-based practices that strengthen the hope of children and young people into the everyday school operations and practices. Significant change happens when things are done systematically, regularly and with a follow-up.
The pedagogy of hope was created in Helsinki by Head of General Upper Secondary Education Tarja Aro-Kuuskoski and Head of Student Welfare Services Riina Ståhlberg.
With the pedagogy of hope, we strengthen a culture of community in general upper secondary education, where everyone feels valued and significant as part of the learning community. The work is one of the objectives of the City of Helsinki's development work under UNICEF’s
Child Friendly Cities Initiative(Link leads to external service).
Read more about the pedagogy of hope:
Pedagogy of Hope | City of Helsinki
Text: Anna Savonen
