“Thank you, good morning, café noir without sugar, etc.”; the students of the University of Oulu in Finland, Soussanna Hemelienen and Eva Kosonen in addition to getting acquainted with
the educational process at the Pedagogical University within the framework of their research internship, also try to learn Armenian and the country’s cultural heritage.
Its already two weeks that the second year Finnish students of the University of Oulu Faculty of Primary Education have been participating in meetings and acting as auditors during the classes both at the University and in a number of metropolitan and regional schools including establishments for inclusive and special education.
After examining the course descriptions and the curriculum of the Pedagogical University, as well as having a direct participation in the university and school classes, Soussanna Hemeleinen and Eva Kosonen noticed numerous similarities and differences between the educational systems of the two countries. Further on, they submitted their observations and the results of their research to the specialists involved in the internship process – the Head of the Division of International Cooperation Ms. Christina Tsaturyan, the Heads of Departments Ms. Haykuhi Harutyunyan and Mr. Ashot Galstyan, and the University students.
In addition, the Finnish students more noticed the differences between the presentation of the material and its methods; besides, they were surprised to state what a great role is given to the cultural heritage in the courses of native language, history of religion and other courses.
What is more, during their research work Soussanna Hemeleinen and Eva Kosonen got familiar with the guidelines provided by their internship supervisor, the Head of the Internship Department, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor Vahan Sargsyan.
In order to discover the motives of choosing the profession of the pedagogue they conducted interviews also with several students in the course of which they found out that for the vast majority of them the love and desire to work with children is dominating.
“A teacher must be comprehensively developed, and the university education provides such an opportunity”, Soussanna Hemeleinen emphasized when reporting about the internship and added that the teacher’s profession was respected and hard to achieve in Finland.
Referring to the peculiarities of Armenian educational environment, the future Finnish pedagogues first of all highlighted the pupil-teacher, student-lecturer, pupil-pupil mutual understanding and warm humane relations.
To the question whether the Finnish interns would like to work at the Armenian schools they gave a frank and stable answer- with great pleasure.
We would like to remind that within the framework of the cooperation between the Finland’s Oulu and the Pedagogical Universities, student exchange visits and research internships are envisaged the outcomes of which will surely be presented in their graduate works.
