Anu Aarnio Email & Phone Number

Espoo, Fi

Espoo, Uusimaa, Finland

Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland

Currently teaching 3rd to 4th grade as part of an amazing team of teachers. Our school is built on the foundations of phenomenon-based learning and we do our very best to make every child feel included every day. We are enthusiastic about raising readers - my personal favourite sound is that of a book page turning! The city of Helsinki is our learning space, we love taking our students biking and exploring. If you see 150 kids biking in a row around Töölönlahti, give us wave!

United States

As a Fulbright Distinguished Teachers Award -grantee I spent a semester at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I learnt about the educational systems of 14 different countries, working closely with a group of distinguished teachers from all over the world. I observed and co-taught classes at the local school, learning about the US education system. I conducted a research project and made a toolkit for class teachers about Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching, focusing on the importance of relationship-building in the classroom.

As a class teacher, I've found my most important goal is to create a learning atmosphere that is accepting and encouraging. I strive to flip the classroom so that in my class it is pupils, not the teacher, who are keeping themselves and each other learning-oriented. I have the fondest memories of teaching an inquisitive group of 6th graders, whom I had the privilege of teaching since 4th grade. I think the best part about being a class teacher is learning to know your students, their learning abilities, strengths and how they work together as a group.My teaching philosophy founded in inquiry based learning, I always aim to build connections between the different subjects taught. I am a member of our school’s management group and head of the bilingual education at our school, I had a very active role in our school community. My superiors and colleagues have given me a lot of positive feedback for the work that I do to bring new, cross-curricular and student-centered teaching methods to our school. For several years now I have also helped our students run the student council as I believe student democracy and involvement is at the core of school development.

Helsinki Area, Finland

Dare to Learn is the biggest learning festival in Northern Europe, I’ve been proud to have a small part in making it happen. As an invited member of the board I have brought in my expertise regarding inquiry based learning in K12-education. One of the goals of Dare to Learn was to create an international event which puts teachers in the centre of learning development and treats them as professionals of life-long learning. Our international participants in particular praised the event for bringing grassroots-level educators to the front.

Helsinki Area, Finland

As chairperson I worked as a head of the Student Union, taking care of relations between the Student Union and the University as well as took part in efforts to make the student voice heard in society by large. Steering the 60-member representative council gave me invaluable lessons in how to work together to find a compromise from a variety of different views and also an understanding of how political decision making works.

In addition to being a class teacher for a class of 4th graders, I taught Finnish as a Second Language to students from different grade levels. This included students which language-related learning problems and also gave me valuable experience with co-teaching as I worked closely together with the class teacher. During my maternity leave I was invited to help write the bilingual curriculum for the City of Espoo. This gave me a deeper understanding of how language awareness is crucial to all learning.

Helsinki Area, Finland

Working as an educational policy adviser gave me an insight to how universities work and deepened my understanding of how educational policy is formed. I learnt to work independently on a wide variety of issues and got praise for my ability to form an understanding of complex phenomenon very quickly.

Master'S Degree, Elementary Education And Teaching

My degree makes me qualified as a class teacher, to teach different subjects in pre-school and basic education (age group 6-13) ..

National Certificate Of Language Proficiency (English At Advanced Level)

In Finland, this certificate qualifies me to work as a class teacher in English in bilingual education. The proficiency scale corresponds.

Bachelor'S Degree, Education

Activities and Societies: During my studies I was active in student politics, which I feel has given me skills to look at education.

Fdai Program, Elementary Education And Teaching

Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program