How can a World Heritage site offer a new perspective into learning? How can multidisciplinary and community learning be put into practice? This series of webinars was organised in January-February 2021. We utilised the experiences from “Ever wanted to be an explorer – Tikkala schoolchildren learning at the Struve Geodetic Arc Oravivuori station point” learning pilot by Humak University of Applied Sciences and Tikkala UNESCO School. Tero Lämsä from HUMAK facilitated the process and shared his experiences of the pilot. During the last of the four sessions, some participating schools shared their future plans to involve our joint World Heritage into learning.
To whom?
The “Ever Wanted to be an Explorer?” webinar series was aimed for teachers and instructors who want to initiate activities with their students or groups of children in order to:
- learn about, enjoy and become familiar with World Heritage sites near us
- implement phenomenon-based learning and take advantage of learning environments outside school
- collaborate with other teachers and actors, especially at the Norhern parts of the Struve Geodetic Arc – from Tornio-Haparanda up to Hammerfest
Contents of this page
Sessions
Session 1, Introductory lecture
Ever wanted to be an Explorer, part I, YouTube »
Tero Lämsä. based on the ”Ever wanted to be an explorer” -learning project carried out by Humak University of Applied Sciences (Humak) and 1st-6th grade classes of the Tikkala UNESCO School located near Oravivuori Strueve Arc station point
- learning goals and preparations
- pedagogical process: warm-up, building team spirit, adventurous day at the struve arc station point
- examples of applications for different school subjects
- evaluation tools of the experiential learning process
Session 2, Mini lecture on adventure education/adventure pedagogy
Ever wanted to be an Explorer, webinar series 2, YouTube »
Session 3, Mini lecture on practical applications on different school subjects
Ever wanted to be an Explorer, webinar series part 3, YouTube »
Session 4, Presenting the learning adventures planned by the participants
Ever wanted to be an Explorer, Haparanda plan for school, YouTube »
Feedback from participants
The learning journey together with other teachers was an inspirational platform, which increased discussion about Struve Geodetic Arc in own teacher teams, too. Schools also started to consider if there could be cooperation between actors. Struve is joining us: countries, schools and culture. Teamwork and hearing about other plans were experienced as a powerful tool in development process, giving fresh perspectives to discussed topics. Awareness is raising also at homes, when pupils have tasks to discuss with family. Learning about our joint history and value of nature is important in protecting our unique surroundings for next generations. Connecting surrounding cultural heritage to the learning journey brought new knowledge to participants from different regions already during webinars. As a conclusion, there are lots of new ideas to work with.
Additional inspiration for material development
Forests: https://smy.fi/en/teach-learn/
Learning site, Finnish World Heritage Association https://www.maailmanperinto.fi/materiaali-aineittain
Norwegian site with a math assignment https://nordnorsk.vitensenter.no/undervisning/mellomtrinn/StruveDiameterForm
Tikkala School visited Oravivuori station point near Jyväskylä, Finland. Photo: HUMAK
A view from Aavasaksa, Ylitornio. Photo: Jarno Niskala.
Pupils from Pudas school climbing up to Nivavaara, where you can observe several Struve points. Photo: Jarno Niskala.
